I tried not to like Venice, I really did. However, although it is flawed like everywhere in Italy that I’ve seen, it is still one of a kind and absolutely beautiful.

Prices…yes they are high, but nothing dramatic. One thing that did annoy me was that many of the churches charge an admission fee. At the same time, those churches give you a laminated information card to read while you’re looking around the church so you at least get a slightly better experience for your money. I still feel it’s wrong for a church to charge an admission fee. A big sign saying donations strongly encouraged would be cool, though.

Petra and I got to see everything we wanted to, at least for this trip.  We didn’t see EVERYTHING, but we certainly saw everything major.

My highlights, I think in this order, were:

The Doge’s palace
St. Mark’s basilica
San Zanipolo (The Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo)

Our hotel was interesting…we never did figure out what she was saying.

Anyways, I don’t know why, but I haven’t been in the mood to write lately, I’ll blame the heat.  Here’s a few pics:

 

Tags: Venice, SaintMark’sbasilica, Canal, SanZanipolo, Doge, Church, birthday, gondola, bananas