Venice. We spent basically three full days there, which was sufficient to see the city and the nearby islands of interest. Rob and I plan to do a more complete tour of Italy someday, centering around Rome, and Venice could not conveniently be included in that itinerary. So having the cruise depart from Venice on this trip worked out nicely. I feel that we toured it well and do not need to go back. I very much enjoyed being there, though.

Expectations certainly affect one's perception of a new place, which is something I saw most clearly on this trip. There were several places, which I'll describe in future posts, that we did not have high expectations for. Or, really, just didn't have any expectations for. And those turned out to be the ones we enjoyed the most.

For Venice, I had tempered expectations - unlike, I suspect, most people who visit Venice. I went knowing that the place is a tourist town. Sometimes, in fact, visitors outnumber residents. The city is clearly tailored to tourists - for example, every waiter we encountered spoke at least five languages: Italian, Spanish, French, German, and English. And many restaurants offered a "Tourist Menu." I knew to expect typical tourist trappings, and I think this understanding enabled me to appreciate Venice despite that. I also had read Elizabeth Gilbert's description of Venice as gray, drab, and depressing. I had braced myself for that, although it certainly was not my experience at all. We had gorgeous blue skies for most of our time there, but I can see how the buildings might fade to gray under an overcast sky.

One criticism I do have, however, is the lack of inviting public spaces. There are plenty of plazas, to be sure. But most welcomed nothing more than to walk on through - no benches or fountains or a reason to stop and enjoy. Also, there was very little green space, and the few spots that we found were not well maintained. I couldn't help but compare this to London's plentiful and manicured parks and lawns that were always packed with people. The plazas in Venice, with a few exceptions, were pretty much empty except for people passing through.

Regardless, we found Venice a delightful place to wander. No vehicles of any kind are permitted - it is a pedestrian city. All the guidebooks call it a labyrinth and suggest you tuck away your map and just explore, which is basically what we did. The streets were significantly less busy on the weekdays we were there than during the weekend. But even on Saturday, crowds weren't a problem when we stayed off the beaten path.

Like anywhere in Europe, one of the most striking things about Venice is the architecture. A building so exquisitely ornate that it would be celebrated as a destination here in the States is but one of hundreds in Venice. And to think how old those buildings are sorta blows your mind. Most cathedrals kept their doors open, and we always popped in for a quick peek. I like the moment of stepping from a bustling street into the hushed interior of a holy place. It's an immediate shift for the senses - the elaborately decorated sanctuary is dark, cool, silent, and has that slightly musty smell of old things. I like to think of the many high-ceiling capsules of cool, quiet contemplation sprinkled throughout the busy city.

We spent the majority of our time in Venice roaming the streets, strolling down alley after alley, never sure where we were about to end up. (Surely our most commonly spoken phrase in Venice was, "Wait...have we been here before?") That was my favorite part, I think - not knowing what we were going to find around the bend. The street we're on might open into a huge plaza or bring us to a bridge or lead us to the door of a looming cathedral. Sometimes, we turned a corner only to come to a stop at the edge of a canal. It was delightful. And the one guarantee was that whatever awaited you, it would be lovely to behold.

Click to see the entire gallery.

(Despite the abundant beauty of Venice, Rob and I were frustrated in our attempts to photograph the place. We never felt we did it justice. I'm sure the failure lies with us, but I would also argue that Venice is one of those places in which seeing a photograph cannot even begin to approach the experience of standing in the street. You are literally surrounded by views at every step, and it's the cumulative effect that is so stunning.)

My next post will include my general impressions of Venice, but here are some of my favorite things and moments from our time there...

Bells. There are lots of bell towers (many leaning) throughout the city, which means that pretty much wherever you are, you hear chiming round about the top of the hour. I say "round about" because it seemed to me that none of them were operating on quite the same time. So one bell melody would be followed five minutes later by another, farther in the distance. Lovely. And different from the bell tolls in London, which also permeate the city but ring with the singular authority of Big Ben.

Whenever I'm in a new place, I like to sleep with the window slightly open because I want to hear the sounds of the street. Our hotel was a stone's throw from St. Mark's Square, and waking in Venice to the chimes from St. Mark's Bell Tower was a definite bliss bit.

St. Mark's Bell Tower. We went to the top for a bird's-eye view of Venice. The bells began to ring while we were up there, and it was amazing. The melody starts with one bell and then another joins in and then another and another until all the bells in the tower are swinging heavily back and forth, their pendulums within arm's reach of those standing below. It was loud, but not unbearably so. There was no chance of speaking over them, and so the entire tower of people stood watching in silence, the vibrations reverberating through our bodies. And then the bells gradually ended their cadence one-by-one just as they had begun, each bell swinging less and less until its pendulum no longer struck its sides.

The Alps. They are within view from Venice. I had no idea. Flying in, we were over snow-covered mountains only moments before I saw the coast. And one clear morning in Venice, we saw the snowy peaks rising up in the distance, above the horizon of the city.

Dueling orchestras. I had read about these, and was determined to hear them. In an attempt to get business, a couple restaurants within St. Mark's Square each hire an orchestra to play at their outdoor tables. And each orchestra tries to outperform the other and win the affection of the crowd. There was a clear winner the night we were there, with people circled around and couples dancing. At one point they played "New York, New York" which felt oddly asynchronous to me. (Pictured below is the losing, but lovely, orchestra.)

Laundry on the line. Everywhere you look there's laundry hanging from the line, draped across window sills or stretching across alleys. This obviously isn't unique to Venice, but what I did notice here that I hadn't other places was the distinction of dark and light loads. We saw lines full of only dark clothing, or only light. And interestingly, it tended to apply to an entire area, not just one residence. We'd walk down a street with white shirts and sheets waving overhead, and Doreen would remark, "Today must be whites day."

Shutters. These are also not unique to Venice, but can I just say that I love having shutters that actually open and shut? Why do we attach ugly plastic fake shutters to the sides of our houses in the States? Throwing open solid wooden shutters is such a simple, but significant, joy.

Party in the plaza. There was a small enclosed plaza below our hotel window, and one night it was host to some sort of party. They had event tents set up, so I couldn't see anything, but we lay in bed and listened to the laughter for awhile. SO much laughter. Someone would speak loudly in Italian, telling an animated story I couldn't understand, and then everyone would erupt in laughter. It was so joyful and contagious, I might have even laughed myself.

Water taxi ride. We were given a free water taxi ride for reasons that aren't relevant and I'm not going to bother to explain. And IT WAS AWESOME. It was just the four of us and the driver, jetting down the canals of Venice. We had been on the waterways already, but we'd ridden in the public transport boats which are big and slow. The water taxi was fast, and could navigate the narrow canals. For me, this was one of the best moments of the trip. The drivers of these boats are so skilled, and it's amazing to watch them maneuver. And often they are going slowly enough that the motor isn't very loud, and so they all greet each other or yell curses if someone is in the way. It's like a floating street party. And when the driver cranked it up and darted us through the canals, it felt like we were in one of those Venice high-speed boat chases they always put in movies. Definite highlight.

Fresh market. I always hit up the fresh markets when I'm in a city, and Venice may have had the best one yet. There is a fish market and a fruit/vegetable market, and both are expansive and gorgeous. (Well, as much as a fish market can be gorgeous.) Doesn't hurt that it's situated right along the Grand Canal, either - I'd wager no fresh market in the world has a better location. And the fruit and vegetables were absolutely vibrant. We bought some strawberries, and I don't mean to overstate this point (and I was very hungry so perhaps my perspective is skewed), but I've never had such succulent strawberries. So red! We rinsed them under a nearby fountain spout and sat along the Grand Canal, our feet dangling over the water, as we ate them.

Evening plaza stroll. On our last evening, Rob and I took a stroll before dinner and he guided our route to a plaza I don't remember the name of that was filled with people. It was lined with restaurants and there were definitely plenty of tourists here, but there were also lots of locals. It was a long rectangular plaza, and we watched the activity around us as we slowly ambled through. Some young boys were chasing each other with water guns. Several people were carrying boxed pizzas home to their apartments. A young Italian man was introducing a young woman to an older couple, presumably his aunt and uncle or something similar. It was a fantastic snippet of local life.

Dining along the Grand Canal. Our first day in Venice, we lunched along the Grand Canal. And our last night in Venice, Rob and I ate dinner along the Canal as well. Food is pricier there, so we didn't do it often. But it was worthwhile to do a couple times. The hustle and bustle in Venice is on the water, and so it's entertaining just to watch the boats go by. Plus it's utterly picturesque. Every now and then I'd look around and realize, Holy shit. I'm in Venice. It's hard to be unhappy while sipping a glass of wine by the Grand Canal.