Day 8: Venice: Take 2

Venice, day 2 was just as amazing as day 1. And also, just as hot. But this morning we actually got a bit of an earlier start, so waiting in lines to see things wasn't quite as unbearable.

In the last post I mentioned that we had to check out of our room early, and our flight didn't fly out until almost 10pm, so we had to carry our bags around with us everywhere. We had decided the day before that we would wait to do some of the inside site seeing for day two, just for the fact that indoors it would be A LITTLE bit cooler. We were so smart... ;)

St. Mark's Square

Lots of pigeons. Pigeons always remind me of traveling. Funny how movies influence your ideas of things.

This is actually the exit from the palace. The Cathedral is just to the right of here. That was our first stop. We were grateful that we waited until day 2 because the line was MUCH shorter than it had been the day before.

This is just a little nook on the outside of the cathedral. There were several like it. I just thought that it was so so beautiful.

Front doors to St. Mark's Cathedral

Waiting in line

We didn't get to take any pictures of the inside of the Cathedral... Sadly it is not allowed. It is SUCH a beautiful thing to see. I was totally fascinated. Even despite the occasional whiff of BO that always comes from being way to close to way too many sweaty people.

Next, we ventured into the Palace! They have turned the palace into a museum, where they have all sorts of incredible Venetian artifacts. We literally spent HOURS inside. Fascinating!

So so pretty.

These are parts of the original construction of the palace. Over time a lot of it has been replaced.

Just one of the rooms. It seriously amazes me that people can actually create things like this by hand!
Ok, cats out of the bag. I got in trouble in this room for taking pictures. I'm going to admit to being a dumb tourist here. I saw a sign that showed no cameras, but SO many people were taking them, and we had left the room that the sign was in, so I thought MAYBE it was ok. I was wrong. And of course, I'M the one that got yelled at. Ooops!

This was so awesome! The beautiful Golden Staircase.
At this point in our day, we also met a couple from Utah! Such a small world. She asked me where we were from, and if we were LDS and said she had figured that we were because she could see my garment line through my shirt. Too funny! She was pretty pregnant, and clothed about the same as me; I don't know how she survived the heat! Her husband had been on his mission to Italy, so they were touring the whole country together. So fun :) It was pretty refreshing to meet nice people from home!

These are giant globes that I thought were so cool! The near one is a map of the heavens, and the far one is a map of the earth. Once again, fascinating.

Gorgeous... everything, just gorgeous.

In this room, I knowingly played the part of the ignorant tourist, and got yelled at again for taking pictures. I couldn't help it. The lady in that room followed me around for awhile after that. Weirdo. I did deserve it I guess.

This is the prison courtyard. It seems so strange to me that the prison would be inside the palace. But I know that is very common in old places, where the use of the building served many purposes.

More prison cells.

After the Palace we just wandered around some more, and looked for souvenirs to take back:

At one point my shoulders were killing me from carrying my bag around, so I strapped it on fanny pack style. I was feeling pretty darn hot ;) The relief was worth it!

These next pictures are all on our way out of Venice. I was so sad watching it all go!

The water Taxi... at a time where I could actually move enough to take a picture. I couldn't believe how many people crammed onto this thing!

And here we are. I love vacations. Even though at the end of this mini trip I was absolutely exhausted. Venice was such an amazing place, and I hope we can go back someday. Just not in August!

We boarded a bus and headed out to the airport. We made sure to give ourselves plenty of time, which ended up meaning that we had to wait in the airport forever. The workers there were not nice. I keep thinking that I shouldn't write those things down. But, they were rude enough that I'm not going to forget about it, so I might as well make it known on here, haha.

Once again, Tyler was the most awesome ever, and took the hour drive to pick us up from the airport and another hour to take us back "home". The sleep that night was pretty awesome, to say the least! :) What was even more awesome was that the next day was my birthday! And if you know my sister, you'll know that she always has something planned to be extra excited for.... ;)