Day 4: Venice!

August 28th, 2015

Venice!  What a unique, spectacular, fun, and exhausting city!  We had so much fun on our first full day in Venice, where we continued our crazy pace of non-stop tourist action, and despite the 90 degree heat, we loved it! 

Pretty much every canal bridge is a perfect photo opportunity!  (But it seemed like we rarely passed one up.)

My mom and I started our morning with a nice trip to the local produce market near our apartment.

Out on the terrazza of St. Mark's Basilica.  What an incredible structure!  We were blown away by the size and the era it was built.

Panoramica di terrazza!  St. Mark's Square down below.

Cheerfully doing her best to stay cool.

Boston had the time of his life chasing pigeons around St. Mark's Square.  He was inexhaustible and basically never stopped running.  He would catch a good fat pigeon in his sight and run full blast at it.  As soon as the pigeon ran away, he would quickly spin around, acquire another bird in sight, and run after that one.  It was so fun just to watch him with that motor.

The water front along St. Mark's Square - a classic Venice spot!

Leaving behind the craziness of St. Mark's Square and the bustling walkways of central Venice, we ventured out to the quieter waterfront area called the Zattere.  It had a much calmer, more residential feel, and it was really fun to experience the peaceful side of Venice.  We walked along the water, ate delicious gelato at a 50+ year old gelateria, Gelato Nico, and gaped as a giant cruise ship slowly glided right past us. 

Can't pass up random bridge photos!

I love this photo opp.

One of the most incredible things about Venice is that it is absolutely saturated with stunning, amazing buildings.  In any other city, each building would be like the coolest architectural design around, but in Venice, each and every building is gorgeous.  This one is the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.

While on our way back from the Zattere, we were all too tired to make the long walk back.  So we hopped on the Vaporetto, which is basically a water bus, to take us back to the apartment.  But we hopped on going the wrong direction, so instead of a quick 15 minute ride to the apartment, we got an hour long evening boat tour in Venice!  An accidental, inexpensive, and fun way to see the city!

This is the last known picture of this pacifier.  Boston was pretty attached to it through the trip up to this point, but after a moment, he was empty-mouthed and reaching out toward the water, saying "Oh no!  Pacifier!  Help!"  Us: "Boston, did you throw your pacifier in the water?!"  Boston: "Yes."

So, now Boston's pacifier lies at the bottom of a Venetian lagoon.

Family boat tour!