As we stood in the square, we knew this place would be a little kooky! First, a guy came up to us in the square calling us "bella" and staring oddly. Eek! Then a man seriously dig a jig and sang to us with a purse in hand. I'm not talking a "murse", but a full on blinged out Chanel purse. He was singing in Italian and in our heads he was singing "I just stole this purse and yours is next"
We stopped for pizza along the way. It was really good, but the place was a little odd...run by Turkish people, I think...with music blaring. From there, we walked through the San Marco Square then out to the water, with a brief stop to feed the pigeons...oh you know I had to do that! I don't care if people call them flying rats!! I love the ratzos too! :) 
Once we got out to the water, what a beautiful view! We took pics with the bridge of sorrows. It was the link between the Doge's complex that housed the court and the prison. So, here we are being "sorrowful". Later, we found out it was the bridge of "sighs"...oops. Close enough.
From there, we went up to the top of the famous tower in the square. The views were quite incredible, and they were made even better by the fact that there was an elevator! It seems these towers usually require lots of stairs...so yea! After that we visited the San Marco Church. The mosaics inside were stunning. They were all in bright jewel tones with deep golds, blues and reds. No pics were allowed inside, but they had some of the art pieces at the entrance. We also saw St. Mark's tomb and listened to the history behind a beautiful art piece at the altar. I am so ADD though, it's terrible. I don't think I remember a thing about the audio tour...just in one ear and out the other. But, if they would let me touch it, I'd remember every detail! One very cool thing I did learn from Joe is the symbol for St. Mark is the lion. YEA! Love that!! Yippee for LEOS! Once you started to look you would notice Lions everywhere...was very neat. :)
Next, we went to the Doge's palace. We went through what felt like 500 rooms and kept hoping at every turn that we'd get to the bedroom. After visiting the first antechamber, second antechamber, the senate, the navy room, etc., we realized maybe it wasn't to be found! We did get to see walk the bridge of sighs and explore the prison...but the pinnacle was seeing the drawings that the prisoners did back in the day. We were a little delirious by the time we got there, so they were even funnier! There were a TON of naked ladies, but almost all were profiles of busts with the random boobs in the front. My stomach was hurting from laughing by the time we left. Sorry kids, no pics were allowed in the room, so you'll have to use your imagination.
Next, we decided to be the ultimate tourists and do a gondola ride. Our guide barely spoke English, but he was nice and pointed out a few things here and there. We got to see the Grand Canal, meander through the buildings and even see where Mozart had lived. I love the light in the first pic below! It was so pretty. :)
From there, we were starving, so we went to one of Joe's favorite restaurants called Al Vagon. The house wine was reasonable (as compared to everything else in Venice) and it was probably the best wine I've even had in my life! The food was phenomenal as well. I tried mussels for the first time and even those were scrumptious! This sign was hanging above the register...I wonder if the owners were really Costa Rican!? :)
After dinner, we decided to do something cultural so we went to see a chamber orchestra perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Wasn't sure if I'd know it, because I know very little about classical music...but I knew a bunch of the songs (probably from weddings) and it was beautiful. The main violinist and the cello player were the favorites. I picked up their CD for my padre too. I highly recommend seeing one of these performances if you're in Venice. This hall was even modeled after the same sized room as the one Vivaldi originally performed the same symphonies in, but his were inside St. Mark's next door! There was a lady there too that was very touching. She swayed and closed her eyes and moved her hands to every song. Watching her in pure bliss was fun.
We went to drinks at a local bar then to one other more chi chi place, then called it a night. We spied this in a shop window along the way...I got one for all my friends, so if a big crate with ladies shoes sticking out of the top arrives soon...Merry Christmas!
Thanks Joe for being a great guide and filing us in on all the details of the city!
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