Walking Venezia

It's official. I have a new favorite place. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the weekend in Venice for the first days of Carnevale. It was truly magical. Last time we did a weekend excursion, we filled it up with tons of sight seeing. I loved that, but I also loved this trip which pretty much involved walking around the entirety of the city, just to see what we would find.

We used our handy map quite a bit, blending in quite well with all of the other tourists in Venice. But we really did walk around the entire island. Of course, there were a few highlights, so let's see how well I can organize my thoughts.

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When we arrived at the bus station, we hopped on a people mover, to get us over to the island. Yes, it really is called a people mover. I'm not sure the best way to describe it, but it's kind of like a suspended subway. Once we figured this out, we walked over the first of many bridges. I was in heaven. The island is gorgeous and I absolutely adore water. We kept stopping to take pictures, but really my first priority was to check into our hostel, put my stuff down and use the bathroom.

But look, it really is that stunning. And we had perfect weather all weekend. It definitely added to the happiness.

We got gelato and a cappuccino and made our way to San Marco. You can't go to Venice without spending some quality time in San Marco. And it is definitely worth it.

Oh, that's me. In Venice. Casual.

Monique described San Marco as regal. I think that's a really good way to describe it. It's really very different from other European squares I've seen so far. But it was beautiful. I can show you some pictures I snapped when we were back at night time too...it's a whole different look.

Isn't it regal?

I don't have a real clear sequence of events to explain, so hopefully all of this makes a little bit of sense, but mostly I want you too look at the pictures and become 100% convinced that you need to get on an airplane immediately to go to Venice...just so we're all on the same page.

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Saturday, we hopped on a vaparetto (water taxi) and went over to the island of Burano. This was fantastic for a number of reasons:

1. I love boats.

2. Burano was actually adorable and beautiful.

3. We ate a delicious lunch at an adorable restaurant suggested by Sam's father.

4. I took lots of pictures of water.

5. I love water.

6. I bought a new scarf...no surprises there...

Is this not the cutest little island ever? We spent quite a bit of time walking around here. Burano is known for it's lace so we saw lots of shops selling different lacy things. Super beautiful. (Murano is one of the neighbor islands that's known for glass...just for reference.)

This is Monique, Angela, and Sam right outside of the restaurant. We were literally right on time for our reservation so we were pretty pleased with ourselves.

And even the menu was adorable. 

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After Burano, we headed back to the main island to continue the Carnevale festivities. Of course we had to buy masks.

Look at those! Aren't they amazing?? There were masks everywhere. We went for more economical versions, but still super pretty.

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Even though we were out pretty late Saturday night, we still wanted to get up to go see the parade on the Grand Canal. It was definitely worth it. So many beautiful colors and lots of people, and it was just a really happy atmosphere.

This is the bridge that we stood on to watch the parade. Rialto. It's pretty famous...no big deal.

From this excellent vantage point:

And lastly, I'll do anything for a view. We went up the bell tower, for a truly stunning view of Venice. By that point in the weekend, we had been to most of the island already so it was cool to be able to look out and say that we had walked all over. Also, we could see the water, and all the buildings, and just generally feel on top of the world.

I would say this was an EXTREMELY successful weekend. But I'm super exhausted and we only have three days in Siena before we head off to Milan so I'm going to stop for now and go to sleep but I hope you enjoy all of the glorious photographs!