my venetian holiday.

9am. We departed from our hotel and took a bus into Venice. Once there, we each bought 16 euro passes for all-day access on the water buses which transverse the entire city. This was one of the highlights of my day. I know I said this about Cinque Terre, but Venice is breathtaking as well!! This city stretches across 118 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon across the Adriatic Sea. After 30-45 minutes on the water bus (Venice's means of public transportation instead of an U-Bahn) in awe of our current surroundings, we got off at a random stop and found a place for breakfast. I had a delightful cup of Italian hot chocolate and a plain vanilla muffin. The rest of our day was spent exploring Venice. We walked over to St. Mark's Square before heading to the Venice Biennale for 3 hours! This is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice. The Biennale houses art from nearly every country in the world. Each country votes on its own artist to showcase; this made the whole experience worthwhile seeing different artistic representations based on geographical placement. I'm convinced I could have spent at least 4 more hours inside this exhibition...oh well, I'm still satisfied with my first Biennale experience. We met up with Samantha and Amber, got lunch at a local cafe and then had our first Venetian gelato! This was the first time I've eaten gelato in like a month! Aren't you proud? The rest of our time in Venice was spent inside different street stores, which sold jewelry, glass, and other Italian specialities. We also made our way into St. Marks, the cathedral church in Venice and one of the prime examples of Byzantine architecture. This cathedral is most known for its ornate design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power. If I had more time in Venice, I would have spent it inside some of the museums, including the Guggenheim and the Leopoldo, but I am definitely satisfied with the way we spent our day! Venice is certainly one of the most beautiful cities I've seen thus far in Europe. I guess I've probably said that about most cities I've been to, but still, the entire city is surrounded by water...I love that! I'm convinced I'm going back someday...on my honeymoon :)

We ended our fabulous weekend with an overnight train (in sleeping couchettes) back to Vienna! I've tried to include pictures in my blog, but I believe they are appearing as blue question marks? Not sure how to fix this problem...