Venice Post

My mom came to visit Galway, so we decided to go to Venice for a quick three night jaunt. The added bonus was that it was the beginning of Carnival. So the atmosphere was very festive in Venice.

The obligatory St. Mark’s Square photo, first thing we did when we got in:

Then we found this little bar with a jazz trio, very nice. I took a picture mainly to memorialize our good night there.


Day 2 in Venice, as you can see it was pretty rainy. The view from the upper level of Saint Mark’s square:



There were a lot of people dressed up, but we never really were able to ascertain where they were going. Their main purpose seemed to be taking pictures with tourists, of which I was one:


Typical Venice canal view:


Being one never to shy away from attention, Paty decided to dip her toe into the tourist experience and this is what happened:

I think the wine might have ‘encouraged’ her to wear the mask more.

The Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal at night:


Rialto Bridge during the day, this is the view from right in front of our hotel:

We caught a break in the weather so we picked up a bottle of wine and headed on our gondola ride. I know that this is the typical tourist thing and that it is way overpriced, but if you are ever in Venice this is something you NEED to do. It is unique and totally worth it.

While on the canal as part of the Carnival events, these guys were rowing vigorously through the canal.


In keeping with the spirit of Carnival these guys seemed like they were in a race or something, but they were just rowing vigorously with nowhere to go.

The weather held up, so we decided to cruise around the city more and just see the sights. This was the second full day of Canival, but the first nice weather.

So everyone was out and about all dressed up in their outfits with no where to go. Again it seemed as if posing for pictures and showing off was the order of the day.


This girl was standing on the fountain just posing and acting as if she was a Veniatin court courtesan:

Some people’s outfits were even more elaborate:

I had to get in on the action as well:

That one might be a candidate for my new wallparper.

As usual, some people liked to show off more than others:


We had to catch the flight back to Shannon in the evening, so we spent the day walking all over the city. We saw another church that was very imprssive just for the sheer size:


A masterpiece by some renaissance painter whose name escapes me:

Stopped for pizza with the Academy bridge in the background.


Before we left, Paty decided to feed the pigeons. Brave girl.



All done.

Let’s just say that these birds were a little more aggressive than Porfy! But their beaks were much less sharp.

All and all it was a great trip, we ended up with some good weather towards the end. We saw most of the sights. This was Paty and my second trip to Venice, but my mom’s first time. I hope she enjoyed it, I know we did.