So a few weeks ago, my roommate Lucas and I wanted to plan a trip together in order to get to know each other better. We chose to take a power trip (meaning a day trip to Venice). In addition, our friend Kristin wanted to go as well and so it was the three of us who left at 7:30 AM and bought tickets to go to Venezia. The three hour Eurostar trip there went well and I had a chance to meet a group of Malaysian tourists who were also taking a day trip to Venezia. After 
the long train ride, we were not too sure on what to do, so we pulled out our friend Rick Steve’s from my pack. Wanting really just to be able to relax and wonder the islands we were not too concerned on what we really wanted to do, but having a little bit of some helpful tips such as buying a 12 hour water bus ticket and recommending to go to Rialto and St. Mark’s square were helpful.
The weather was sunny with a few clouds, but it definitely was much colder in Venezia than in Firenze. Bundled in our layers we hopped onto the #82 water bus and took it to Rialto where we were able to take photos of us on the famous bridge and wander the hundreds of stalls of the merchants. It was very overwhelming, since there were hundreds crowded on the boat and we hardly had any room to move, let alone get off the boat when it was our stop. The day went smoothly and I was amazed at how the entire city was able to function solely with boats and gondolas as a mode of transportation.
I really loved not having to dive around cars or motorinos throughout the day. After wandering the markets and grabbing some good pizza by the slice, we crossed back over the Rialto bridge and wandered slowly to Piazza San Marco (St. Marks Square). We arrived there and were amazed at all of the pigeons. Literally, it was disgusting at how many pigeons there were and to add to the chaos of birds there were vendors selling bird seed to tourists to experience being bombarded with frenzied birds! It was a really interesting and disgusting visual experience. The square was beautiful and since we arrived during siesta time there were not many businesses open, so the square was solely filled with tourists and pigeons.
As I was taking photos, someone had the smart idea to try and steal my camera. Luckily…it was one of my friends from school who was visiting Venezia with his parents. It was not a nice thing to do. It totally freaked me out, and once I met Marcus’ parents his parents told me I should have punched him. Haha. It was scary and I will have to try and get him back.
After saying goodbye we headed to the Doge’s palace. We entered and convinced the ticket person to admit us as “European Students” to get the reduced 6 euro fare instead of the 13 euro fare. I was amazed at the intricacy and the amount of wealth that were shown in the palace. It was enormous and definitely showed the power and wealth of the Venetians. Room after room were inlaid with gold, frescos, and paintings that were the length of the entire rooms which ranged from a few meters in length to over 60 meters + in length. It was a great experience. We also were able to tour the prisons of the Doge and see how prisoners were kept in the drafty cells. 
After the Doge’s palace we went into St. Mark’s Basilica where there were more frescos and mosaics of the Venetian wealth. Everything inside was fully mosaic and the jewels and altars were all gold, emerald inlaid and more. It was very cool to see. We climbed the façade of the church and had a nice view of St. Mark’s square, the bell tower, and the famous clock.
Departing St. Mark’s square we wandered around again, bought a few items known for Venezia, such as Murano glass and witnessed the process of how chocolate is made. We then wandered through a part of the Jewish quarter and found a small trattoria for dinner. We then wandered and shopped some more and then concluded our journey to Venezia by taking the last train back to Firenze. It was a lot of fun and I have hopes of returning to experience it more justly in the near future. It definitely is an expensive city and is mainly run based on tourism, but it was fun to be a tourist for the day!
the long train ride, we were not too sure on what to do, so we pulled out our friend Rick Steve’s from my pack. Wanting really just to be able to relax and wonder the islands we were not too concerned on what we really wanted to do, but having a little bit of some helpful tips such as buying a 12 hour water bus ticket and recommending to go to Rialto and St. Mark’s square were helpful.The weather was sunny with a few clouds, but it definitely was much colder in Venezia than in Firenze. Bundled in our layers we hopped onto the #82 water bus and took it to Rialto where we were able to take photos of us on the famous bridge and wander the hundreds of stalls of the merchants. It was very overwhelming, since there were hundreds crowded on the boat and we hardly had any room to move, let alone get off the boat when it was our stop. The day went smoothly and I was amazed at how the entire city was able to function solely with boats and gondolas as a mode of transportation.
I really loved not having to dive around cars or motorinos throughout the day. After wandering the markets and grabbing some good pizza by the slice, we crossed back over the Rialto bridge and wandered slowly to Piazza San Marco (St. Marks Square). We arrived there and were amazed at all of the pigeons. Literally, it was disgusting at how many pigeons there were and to add to the chaos of birds there were vendors selling bird seed to tourists to experience being bombarded with frenzied birds! It was a really interesting and disgusting visual experience. The square was beautiful and since we arrived during siesta time there were not many businesses open, so the square was solely filled with tourists and pigeons.
As I was taking photos, someone had the smart idea to try and steal my camera. Luckily…it was one of my friends from school who was visiting Venezia with his parents. It was not a nice thing to do. It totally freaked me out, and once I met Marcus’ parents his parents told me I should have punched him. Haha. It was scary and I will have to try and get him back.
After saying goodbye we headed to the Doge’s palace. We entered and convinced the ticket person to admit us as “European Students” to get the reduced 6 euro fare instead of the 13 euro fare. I was amazed at the intricacy and the amount of wealth that were shown in the palace. It was enormous and definitely showed the power and wealth of the Venetians. Room after room were inlaid with gold, frescos, and paintings that were the length of the entire rooms which ranged from a few meters in length to over 60 meters + in length. It was a great experience. We also were able to tour the prisons of the Doge and see how prisoners were kept in the drafty cells. 
After the Doge’s palace we went into St. Mark’s Basilica where there were more frescos and mosaics of the Venetian wealth. Everything inside was fully mosaic and the jewels and altars were all gold, emerald inlaid and more. It was very cool to see. We climbed the façade of the church and had a nice view of St. Mark’s square, the bell tower, and the famous clock.
Departing St. Mark’s square we wandered around again, bought a few items known for Venezia, such as Murano glass and witnessed the process of how chocolate is made. We then wandered through a part of the Jewish quarter and found a small trattoria for dinner. We then wandered and shopped some more and then concluded our journey to Venezia by taking the last train back to Firenze. It was a lot of fun and I have hopes of returning to experience it more justly in the near future. It definitely is an expensive city and is mainly run based on tourism, but it was fun to be a tourist for the day!
