Carnevale in Venezia!

Grand Canal

I'll preface this post by saying this: we LOVED Venice!
After taking a night train and arriving in Venice at 5:30 am, we tried to find a warm place to get some cappucini and cornetti, but had to wait out the cold in the train station for half an hour. We did find a bar open at 6 am and spent a good deal of time warming up before heading out to find our hostel. Venice is absolutely beautiful -canals everywhere! This was the perfect place for someone so enamored by water. Half an hour later of winding around quaint little streets we found our hostel and were delightfully surprised. It was the cutest little bed and breakfast run by a woman in her home. She served us a nice little continental breakfast each morning and our room and bath were huge and beautiful. Our first thoughts were: why didn't we just come here for the entire week!? The first day we wandered around oohing and ahhing at the pretty Carnevale masks and Murano glass for sale in the store windows. We also saw the Rialto Bridge and ate a pretty nice dinner at a restaurant. The second day began with frigid snow (unusual for here), then turned to rain. We took the water bus to the island of Murano, saw glass blowing, bought a lot of glass, and explored the Museum of Glass. At the end of the day we enjoyed a Vivaldi concert of the Four Seasons. Dare I forget to mention that we took an evening gondola ride!?! It was also freezing cold in Venice (although our hostel was nice and toasty). The last day we went to San Marco Square, took pictures of everyone dressed up for Carnevale, and toured the Doge's Palace. This was by far the best place I have ever been to on a vacation. Absolutely beautiful! We were a little reluctant to return home after such a great trip.

Rialto Bridge

Our Bedroom

Huge bathroom, complete with tea maker