Today, we have to leave beautiful Switzerland. It's a sad day. I truly loved our time here. It feels like it's been weeks since we were in Paris, but it was only a few days ago. Does that mean I soaked in the time we had here?
I want to remember the houses nestled in the side of the mountain that is surrounding the deep teal lake. I want to remember the cute brown houses in the mountains that look like something from a storybook. I just don't know how to describe this place--there's nothing like it. I am so grateful to have been able to visit and experience it!
But the trip wasn't over yet. We got to go to another beautiful city. We went to Venice. We took the train from Wengen to Basel where we then transferred to the airport. Did you know that the Basel airport is technically in France? Basel is very close to France and Germany. We didn't have time to go to Germany, though.
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| Leaving Wengen. |
We bought our bus tickets to take us into Venice. Lucky for us, our hotel was literally right by the bus station, so we didn't have to grab a water taxi or carry our backpacks over tons of stairs. By the way, I cannot imagine lugging a 50 lb suitcase around Europe.
We stayed at the Hotel Olimpia. It was absolutely dreamy!
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| The first and only bidet we saw...and no, we didn't use it! |
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| The view from our room. |
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| The courtyard of our hotel was gorgeous! If we would have had more time to relax, this would have been the perfect place. |
It rained right when we checked in, so we decided to text our parents and let them know we had made it. We cranked the A/C because it was HOT and humid, and we got settled in. Once the rain stopped, we decided to head out and explore.
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| The steps up the Rialto Bridge. |
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| View from the Rialto Bridge |
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| View from the Rialto Bridge |
We had a map from our Rick Steves book, but the hotel receptionist gave us an even more detailed map of the island. But one thing I had read was that one of the best things to do is to put the map away and just get lost. So that's exactly what we did. We found alleys and dead ends and it was so fun.
We did end up finding a cute little restaurant to have supper at.
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| Our first Italian meal. |
Once we got back to the hotel, we were pretty much drenched in sweat. Ha! We did end up sleeping in a little bit the next morning, but we started the day with a delicious breakfast at our hotel. It's a good thing that we slept in because things didn't open until 9 am.
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| Their breakfast room was so adorable! I loved it! |
We headed back to the Rialto Bridge to get some pictures and then found our way to St. Mark's Square.
I had read in the Rick Steves book that I would need to wear clothes that covered my shoulders and knees. But nowhere else that we had toured enforced that, although it was mentioned for each of the cathedrals we visited. However, he did mention that St. Mark's was a little more strict. So at the last minute, I grabbed my scarf. When we got in line, there were ladies wearing all sorts of outfits, and they were getting in the door. However, once inside, they had to purchase paper covers to cover themselves. So I'm really glad that I stashed that scarf away.
The cathedral itself was beautiful. It was gold. It was made of mosaic tile. It was so different from the other cathedrals we toured, but so cool.
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| This is a depiction of Jesus' family tree. It was really neat! |
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| This was what music looked like before the treble and bass clef were created. |
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| Doge's Palace is to the left. |
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| Looking out at St. Mark's Square. |
We then purchased our tickets to see Doge's Palace and also got entry to the Correr Museum. I was most excited to see Doge's Palace because I had been reading about the Bridge of Sighs. It was also very beautiful.
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| You can see St. Mark's in the background. |
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| On the Bridge of Sighs looking outward. |
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| On the Bridge of Sighs looking outward. |
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| The Bridge of Sighs |
For lunch, we found another restaurant that was tucked away. We loved it.
We headed back towards our hotel for some downtime, but along the way, we checked out some of the shops and even found us some gelato! I continued to take a million pictures of the beautiful canal.
For supper, we decided to try out a restaurant right around the corner of our hotel. I tried gnocchi for the very first time...I had never even heard of it before. I know...I'm sheltered. We sat out near the canal which was very neat.
...and then...my dreams came true.
We went for a gondola ride at dusk.
Y'all...the gondola ride was every bit romantic as I could have imagined! I always dreamed that I would ride a gondola with the love of my life...but to actually ride the gondola with the love of my life was a literal dream come true.
It was peaceful and relaxing and very romantic. The buildings and bridges were so pretty and the water was so smooth. I am pretty sure I had a smile plastered to my face the entire time. Tyler said that it was the best thing about Venice. :)
I loved being in Venice. It is exactly like you see in pictures. There were tons of people there during the day because of the cruise ships that came in, but in the evening, it was peaceful. I think a day and a half was perfect for exploring. It really was amazing.
Other Posts in this Series:
London #1
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