buongiorno, venezia!

if you can check into your hotel first thing in the morning, like we did, you can take the night train. because when you get to your destination, you can put your things away, and then deal with life a bit better. on the other hand, the lack of sleep makes us very creative. we decided that the water bus system was really the "wetro". and so here we are, riding the wetro from the station to our hotel:

all you have to do is stand there and keep your eyes open. it's so beautiful. 

oh, and there's a church every 100 feet or so. so, you know-- you're set. 

wisteria grows all over venice. 

and here is what's for sale: masks, glass, cameos and t shirts. 

and you can take a picture with her, or other people in carnival attire, but you have to pay them. so this is  a sneaky, zoomed in over ryan's shoulder shot. 

italian police are not screwing around. they have huge guns. do not try to pull anything, got it?

st. mark's, i think. we didn't do a single touristy thing, except go to murano. we didn't ride a gondola. we didn't go to anything that required a line. we walked, and walked, and walked. and then we stopped and ate. it was lovely. 

more st. marks. 

i love these little alleys, and little canals. especially the ones with bridges between houses!

and this was a butcher's shop. we came back on our last day to get lunch for the train. 

and a pasta shop...

and a candy and confection shop, all decked out for easter...

and 1/16th of an amazing display at a glove shop. 

and the posters on the wall of the restaurant where we ate lunch. no, really. 

of course, there were more conventional shots of celebrities too, but not, I don't think, because they've eaten here. 

oh well. we got coke with ICE in it. 

this is the only time we ordered coke in italy. WAY too expensive compared to wine. 

and here is..... the pizza i've been waiting to eat for 2 months (i didn't eat pizza anywhere else in europe; check the blog. I was waiting for italy). it was everything you want a simple margarita pizza to be. 

ryan got one without cheese, and really? what's the point?!?

i ate it all up in about 5 minutes. my body can either be very tired, or it can be very hungry. not both. i was tired; therefore, i was hungry. yum. 

this is where i should live. yuck yuck yuck. 

this was a nifty little t-shirt shop. i got a pathwork-y skirt, and ryan got some t-shirts:

i like ronald eating pizza in disguise. 

put your hands up. 

that's the one he got. and another one that says "MR. TEA". you should come over; he'll show you. the man that worked here was very fun and friendly. he told us his opinion on why italy was in debt, and what could be done about it, and told us that april is the absolute best time to come to venice, so he thought we were smart to do that, and on and on. it was neat.