Venice is romantic... even without a gondola ride.

Zach and I decided before we went to Venice that we didn't want to spend 90 euro on a gondola ride, so I was completely happy riding the waterbuses all over the city. Here we are near an inlet full of gondolas! This is right by St. Mark's Square in between some shops.

Commemorating our time in Venice :-)

Look at this tiny boat! It's like a boat with the back chopped off!

This is our hotel, Fondazione Levi. I told ya it was right on the water!

Remember how I said some buildings lean in Venice? Here is one of the ones I was talking about. Jonathan took this photo. I'm surprised more buildings haven't fallen over...

During our photographic jaunt in the afternoon, I discovered something--possibly the most awesome mullet you'll ever set eyes on. Zach convinced me to run after him and take his picture. What do you think?? He was definitely rocking it.

We ate dinner at this restaurant Zach had been to during his past trips to Venice. Pretty good!

Here is where my sweet Zach made up for us not taking a gondola ride. He agreed to do a "photo shoot" with me in romantic Venice on a bridge. We've never done anything like that, so I was very excited. And self-conscious. I tested the light and composition first with my model man.

David took these photos. What do you think?

This is my favorite!

I really liked this building.

Don't have any idea what this thing is, but you have to admit it's pretty cool!

Zach took this photo of St. Mark's Basilica. It's beautiful. I hope to see it when it's done being renovated someday.

Don't  mind the chairs or the flagpole. :-)

We decided to spend our later evening hours in St. Mark's Square. Just like the rest of Venice, the atmosphere changes dramatically as the light fades, and it once again became this magical place that I love! This is one of Zach's photos of the square. You can see how immense it is! After dark it is illuminated with lights all around.

My handsome bros. We sat at a cafe sipping wine at the non-coffee bar. :-)

We enjoyed the dueling orchestras all through the evening. Actually, it was three bands all over the square... would that still be "dueling" if it's three?

Pigeons are a mainstay in the square. There's something so precious about kids playing with the birds.

We really enjoyed the wine. :-) This was bought with gift money from a friend, hence the photo to show him when we got back.

We had quite the struggle the next day getting out of Venice and on a train to the Cinque Terre. If you plan to travel in and around Venice, keep in mind that you can't get anywhere fast, and it's really easy to go slowly. During the day, all the boats are packed and everything takes a LOT longer. Give yourself plenty of time to get to the train station... and know which stations are in the general direction you are heading. We booked a Eurostar train to La Spezia--the closest stop to the Cinque Terre. We waited and waited for our train to get there, but never saw the destination posted to tell us which platform to go to. There were no train numbers. Only destinations. Not until a train headed to Rome left the station were we able to figure out we'd missed it... The ticket master basically told us we should have known to get on the Rome train... the Rick Steves book didn't tell us this... it would be akin to booking a train for El Paso from Houston, but the destination says Kingsville. Well duh... you should know! :-) So now, you know!

Luckily, we got on the next train and made it OK. You'll just have to wait for photos from the Cinque Terre though... I'll write about it next!