Two Magical Days In Venice

There is no place on earth like The City of Canals.  It is a magical dream. From the moment we got off the train, we were mesmerized.  

Because we had limited time in Venice, we decided to take a tour on the first day and then explore on our own the second day. Here is a summary of our first day  with Skip The Line tour by Viator.

We began the two-hour guided walking tour around 8am.   Within that two hours, we were so pleased as to all we were able to see and learn from our passionate and knowledgeable guide, Marina.  In St Mark’s Square, we learned all about the history behind St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace prisons. Brooke didn’t care much to learn about all of the decapitations–but history is history.

Heads would be placed on display on these pillars.  For more detail, Ask Brooke! 🙂

 

 

 

We then headed inside St Mark’s Basilica where the mosaics left us speechless.

 Afterwards, we followed our guide down quaint alleyways away from the crowds where we were able to explore the beautiful architecture, bridges and canals of Venice. There were several other historic stops as we continued our tour.

 

We ended this portion of the tour at the Rialto Bridge, and had about two  hours to ourselves to grab some lunch, gelato and shop before our Gondola ride  which was included in the tour.  We loved how we had this break, since we are typically not fond of guided tours. However, we would have never learned all of the fascinating tidbits of the history of Venice, as told by our amazing guide from just reading guidebooks.  The narrative stories she told really brought history alive for us.  We would highly recommend the Skip The Line Tours if you have plans to visit Venice.

A quick lunch in between the tour

When it’s above 90 degrees, you are allowed to break the rules!

 

 

Our second day we spent at leisure. We had already seen all of the sites we had hoped, so this day was just an opportunity for eating at beautiful restaurants, shopping, meeting new people,exploring and just having fun.

 

In March, we are heading back to Italy and will definitely spend a few days in Venice.  It’s been far too long since our last trip to The City of Canals.