Kendra's weekend in Italy - 1st half

My friend Cheryl from MSU was in Milan, Italy for a workshop the week before my birthday. She invited me to take a city-hopper and join her for a long weekend in Venice. How could I refuse?

Cheryl Murphy - she and I both have joint appointments in FW and LBC at MSU.

I flew on Flybe from Belfast City to Milan on Friday afternoon, where Cheryl met me and we took a bus to downtown Milan where the train station is, so that we could hop on a train to Venice. Map here: http://goo.gl/maps/MjhOn

The Alps were sooo amazing to fly over! I hadn't realized how close they are to Milan.

We arrived in Venice ~9pm to the smell of the Sea, the lights over the water, and pleasant temperatures. Ah...We got a bit lost getting to our hotel, passing a young couple snogging multiple times as we tried different little passages in hopes of finding Locanda Sant'Agostin (http://www.locandasantagostin.com/). I decided that an entrepreneur should start a business meeting tourists at the train station to walk them to their hotel - seems like they would do well! We did, eventually, find the hotel and were pleasantly surprised. Up a steep flight of stairs, and we entered into a clean and airy reception room with tables set out for breakfast. Our room was large, beds were comfy, there was very good noise-proofing (seriously, we thought that we were the only ones there until breakfast was full) and the shutters blocked out ALL light, which led to great sleeping into the morning daylight hours. Oh, and the shower was lovely...such hot water...such strong water pressure...I think that I am a little starved for good showers after living in Belfast for 7 months!

Anyway, we dropped our bags, washed our faces, and headed out in search of a late dinner. The man at the front desk didn't have any ideas, so we went wandering. We found a bunch of young people and followed them -- they led us to a club, but just around the corner from the club was a really great restaurant! Impronpta Cafe and Restaurant was just what we were looking for (http://www.improntacafevenice.com/venice/restaurant/lounge/bar/impronta/cafe). We shared a nice bottle of wine, I had some amazing gnocchi, and we shared a great tiramasu. Tired, we returned to our hotel and hit the sack.

Saturday morning, after sleeping in, and partaking in the breakfast included with the room (continental - brie and croissant and caffeine for me!), we went out to a square where locals and tourists were milling about. We sat at a cafe, had cappuccino (it is SOOOO good there - step change from the US to the UK and then another large step up to Italy), listened to musicians play, and enjoyed the sun and warmth. Really nice. We next wandered down to St. Mark's Square, wandering (sometimes on purpose and other times accidentally) through squares and checking out monuments and views along the way. Here's a map that shows most of the places we visited on this day as well as our hotel, Impronta: http://goo.gl/maps/X6fLh, the Jewish Ghetto (Cannaregio) and here are a bunch of pix:

The fish market

Check out that swordfish (above) and those octopi (below)!

Oh, the artichokes (above) and sun-dried tomatoes (below)...

Eventually we found the Rialto Bridge...at the very right of the upper pic and below.

One thing that was really, really great about this visit to Venice was the timing - March seems the perfect time of year for Venice! It was 17 degrees and sunny, but very few crowds, no lines at the major sights, and the residents were still there. We were able to actually feel like a part of the real Venice! About 10 years ago when Jubin and I went there, I was not enthralled...and, I think that it was because we went during the tourist season! It was so hot and there were so many tourists and such long lines...

A random, neighborhood square

Eventually, we made it to St. Mark's Square. We did the free walk inside St. Mark's Basilica and then went through Doge's Palace. We shared an audio guide of the Palace that was well worth it. Lots of info! Pix below.

St. Mark's Basilica (above and below)

St. Mark's Square (above) and Doge's Palace (below)

not too shabby inside, either!

The bridge of sighs - prisoners would be tried in Doge's Palace
and, if guilty, walked across the bridge to the jail. 

Cheryl in jail! Stark contrast to the Palace next door...

After leaving the Palace, I grabbed my first gelati of the visit (yum!) and then we went on a motor boat tour of the City. So awesome! The woman narrating the tour was really informative and nice. It was so weird, though - the other people on the tour didn't interact with her at all, not even nodding or smiling at her! Cheryl and I were asking questions and laughing at her jokes, and in return, she gave us some really great recommendations for food that we very much appreciated the next day (next blog post).

The Rialto Bridge from the water, with gondolas a plenty!

A different view of St. Mark's Square

That night, we tried to go to a restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto that Doug Luckie had recommended. However, it had changed ownership and was completely empty... so, we kept walking, found a really cool wine bar where we had some tapas and wine, and then made our way back toward the hotel looking for dinner places. Eventually, we stopped at a random restaurant that had lots of people inside but no pictures of food and wasn't near any of the major tourist spots. The pasta was fresh, the food good, and we shared an amazing bottle of wine (oh, and another tiramasu)!

Off to bed! Looking forward to another LLLOONNNGGG sleep!