I knew when we booked our trip to Italy that there would be a strong likelihood of rain, it was spring after all.  But, I had hoped for a few days of sun so Lee could experience the best of a few places.  One of the sunny days I had hoped for was one in Venice (it's a different place in the sunshine) - and we got it.  Our first night and full day there were gorgeous! We arrived by train and took a vaporetto down the Grand Canal to our B&B which was just a 5 minute walk from the Piazza di San Marco.  We stayed at 3C.  It is in the Castello district, run by the nicest people who make a mean hot chocolate, a great breakfast, and even leave out snacks in the afternoon and evening.  Our room was also terrific - a great find!

Our first night there we ate dinner at a nearby trattoria recommended by the B&B owners.  The place was packed, lively and delicious! We had our first gelato tartufo and spent the rest of the trip looking for more! It's a treat we definitely need to learn how to make.  We then wandered the streets by night, loving the churches all lit up and moving to the music in Piazza di San Marco.

On Monday we had pre-purchased tickets for Palazzo Ducale and the "Secret Itinerary" tour.  I was disappointed that the tours no longer take you down into the "newer" dungeons, but this "Secret" tour was pretty cool.  We had access to and learned about prisoners in the "older" cells, stories of Casanova,  secret passages, etc.  We also had the standard access to Palazzo Ducale and crossed over the Bridge of Sighs.  We then took advantage of the sunshine and paid to go to the top of the bell tower to see the great views.  The remainder of the afternoon was spent wandering the streets, being entertained by the soccer games in piazzas, eating gelato, and taking a gondola ride.  We enjoyed it all, but wished the gondola ride would have lasted longer than 30 minutes.

Tuesday was the day the clouds arrived and later that evening, the rain.   We visited St. Mark's Basilica in the morning before heading over to the Rialto Markets and checking out all the fresh fish and seafood.  We then made our way to the islands of Murano and Burano.  We somehow missed all the glass blowing demonstrations (which we're still disappointed about), but found a delicious pizzeria and several souvenirs.  Our stop in Burano was brief, but colorful.  And during our boat ride back to Venice, it started raining.  Unfortunately it made our last night in Venice a little soggy, and we were all the more grateful for the prior two evenings.

Wednesday morning before we picked up our rental car we meandered through parts of the Dorsoduro sector.  We really liked it and are sorry we didn't have longer to explore. But, it was time to check out of our B&B, time to pick up the rental car and the Chistes were expecting us for dinner.  We certainly had an enjoyable couple of days in Venice and it was fun to be there with Lee!

Pictures of Venice are part of the Italy album.   Check them out if you'd like.  You know the password.