Venezia: Day One

Sunday, March 6, we arrived in Venezia. The approach from the land is not really very impressive, you travel through Mestre which is a heavily industrial area, and its not that unlike crusing through the Freeport chemical plants. Soon enough though we arrived at the boat docks, got off the bus and hopped into a private cruiser. This first trip around Venice was quite a site. We went through the biggest canal, not the grand canal but the Canale Della Giudecca. This one is big enough that there are no bridges over it. To get an idea of what Venice is like, check out this map:
VENICE!

The Church of Santa Maria Di Salute

We sailed around Venezia toward our smaller Island, the Lido. Lido is a newer residential area of Venezia, and personally I found it to be nicer and more lively than the actual old islands.

A cool building right by the boat docks on Lido, this was our landmark to tell we were at the right stop

Our hotel was pretty cool, just a block down main street in the Lido.

Hotel Cristallo di Lido


We had a pretty cool view out of our window.

So we had a little pow-wow in our hotel the first night and then Dave and I headed off to Venice with Melanie, Alexis, Stephanie, and Chalyce.

The view of Venice from our boat at the Lido

We arrived on the main island and headed towards St. Mark's square, the main plaza of Venice. Turning the corner into the Plaza we had a great view of the tower...

The Bell Tower of St. Mark's Square

We kept walking for a while then spent a bit in front of the Church taking in the sights and sounds. We were at the large end of the square, which is a pretty cool place.

Little did we know this place would be OVERWHELMED with pigeons in the morning

So we took off down the tiny streets of Venice and tried desperately to find food at a reasonable price. Our best find was a Chinese restaurant which only cost about $20 a person. Trust me, in Venice that's dirt cheap. Even a single slice of Pizza could cost $8. Most of the restaurants were in the ballpark of 20-30 euro (30-40 dollars) for basic pasta and fish. Add a bottle of water for another 5 euro... pay the cover charge... you're getting the idea.

That about wraps up day one in Venice. We returned to the Lido and slept, which brings us to March 7.