Venice

We only spent a day in Venice, so this will be a short post.
We stayed at a hotel just outside of Venice called Villa Dori, which was cheaper than some of the hostels we've stayed in so far. The young man who checked us in was a HUGE help and pretty much customized a map for us pointing out his favorite and cheapest places, including a sandwich shop that sold basic meat sandwiches for .80 euros each (I did not have one) and an excellent chocolate store that had treats such as balsamic vinegar-flavored dark chocolate. For the record, that particular flavor was very good, probably one of the best pieces of chocolate I've ever had.

We are finding that some things are consistent throughout Italy, such as passionate graffiti and dressing in all purple. Jack's sense of direction kicked in unexpectedly while in Venice, which was nice as I was at a loss reading the map. We experienced high pressure sales tactics when we left San Marcos and went to Murano, which is really just a bunch of houses and glass shops. Most of the glass items were gaudy but the smaller pieces were interesting, such as the model of a full symphony orchestra featured in a display window (picture included). We saw the typical Venetian scenes and I was particularly impressed with the gondoliers who were able to multitask and chat on their cellphones while working. We skipped the basilica and opted for a few smaller exhibits such as The Inventions of Da Vinci and the Vivaldi Violins, which is exactly what it sounds like: a small museum of violins, violin cousins and a continuous Vivaldi soundtrack.

The one mistake we made in Venice was buying the all day bus/ferry pass, which everyone recommended. There is no system of checking tickets and it was a complete waste of 32 euros. Overall, we both really enjoyed the city and for the most part, were able to avoid the more costly side of visiting such an expensive city.