Another great day on an amazing trip! We started with breakfast at a cute cafe, and then we wandered the little streets of Venice shopping and discovering.
It was really fun to see the different things that drew the kids in (particularly ties for Eli and masks for Sophie). We found a small music museum that had really bizarro old instruments, plus some very interesting Venetian eyewear (check out the price)!
We ended up in St. Mark’s Square
and took a trip through the church. It is amazing how old and how insanely ornate it is. Afterwards, we got some lunch and then went to the top of the tower for an amazing view of the city.
Next, we hit the many, many, many stores in the Rialto (purchasing more and more stuff!), even the equivalent of the Venice Dollar Store!
Then, we just sat on a wall of one of the canals and watched life go by and recharge our batteries. We did some more wandering again, but this time going off the beaten path into more residential neighborhoods without all the touristy shops. It was beautiful, although Eli responded to Italian dentists the same way he responds to American ones!
Later, we happened across a gondolier, and Nancy struck up a conversation with him. He ended up taking us an amazing ride. His name was Emiliano, and he was fantastic telling us about life of gondoliers and what it is like to live in a rapidly changing Venice. Gentrification happens everywhere apparently. He said that there used to be 90,000 Venetians ten years ago, but now there are less than 55,000, as housing prices have soared squeezing out locals. We ended with a great dinner at a restaurant that Emiliano recommended, took a vapparetto back to our hotel, and enjoyed the full moon over the canal one last time. Ah, Venice!
