the search for delicious -- venice, pt. 2

Despite getting a combined 5 hours of sleep, Dana and I lost no time exploring Venice. We took a vaporetto, or water bus to our hostel on Guidecca Island, which is not one of Venice's "main" islands but is pretty close and way cheaper and less touristy. Our hostel was rather uncreatively named "Ostello di Venezia." It was in an old granary building, so it was very large and had these rustic-looking wooden beam ceilings. Dana and I stayed in a dormitory room with 12 other women (the floors were single sex). Along with our bunk beds, we got sheets and blankets and pillows, a locker with a key for our stuff, access to a bathroom with hot showers, and free breakfast of coffee, juice, and rolls with jam and nutella. This was my first hostel experience and I'm happy to say that it was a positive one. Here is the view from our hostel at sunset:

After dropping our bags, we ate some delicious pizza at a restaurant next door that somewhat hubristically advertised that they had the "Best Pizza in Venice Here." We weren't sure if it was the best, but it was pretty damn good and fresh out of the oven. Later we headed to Murano, one of the outlying islands that is world-famous for glassblowing. Here are some pictures:

We watched a man make a horse out of molten glass, wandered the streets, and eventually bought some glass earrings. After boat trip back to Venice regular and some pasta near Piazza San Marco we were ready for bed by 9pm. Unfortunately there was a very loud and obnoxious Italian school trip also staying at our hostel, so we had to endure lots of giggling 15-year-olds in the dormitory until their caretaker came by and yelled at them in Italian. Gracias a Dios!

Friday dawned just as beautiful as the day before and after nearly 12 hours of sleep only slightly disturbed by chatty teenagers, we were ready to hit the streets (or rather, canals). In the morning we went to the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, and the Rialto Bridge area. These are pretty much the only "tourist" sites in Venice; we learned pretty quickly that people come to see the city itself. I really liked the Doge's Palace. Before the Italian Republic, Italy was just a bunch of city-states that functioned independently. The office of Doge had no specific individual power and actually couldn't leave the palace without the Council's permission, but nevertheless was Venice's figurehead. Within the palace, we also got to see the dungeons and armory. To get to the dungeons from the palace, we passed through the famous Bridge of Sighs:

According to Lord Byron, prisoners were taken over the bridge on the way to their executions in order to have one last glimpse at beautiful Venice. This is most likely a byronic load of b.s. because a) the prison was only a short term holding-place for petty criminals and b) the bridge was built after those kinds of public executions were phased out. There's also a local myth which claims that if a couple kisses under the bridge at sunset in a gondola, they will be happily married for the rest of their lives. That sounds like a complicated endeavor to pull off, so maybe it's true!

That afternoon, we spent a lot more time wandering around and generally getting ourselves lost. Dana's map and spectacular sense of direction were assets; my directional arrogance and lack of map were definitely weaknesses. After a few hours of aimless strolling, a gelato, and a quick nap at the hostel, we ended up in Campo Santa Margherita by dinnertime. We split a buffalo-mozzarella, cherry tomato and basil pizza at a restaurant that MAY have had the best pizza in Venice. It was definitely the best we tasted. Afterwards we walked over to the Venice Jazz Club to drink Bellinis and attend a concert.

Dana and I fell in love with the singer, a 40-something Venetian woman whose voice was so beautiful that I wanted to record it for lullabies for my future children. Plus she was singing in Italian, which sounded super glamorous to boot. After a long day of walking and eating, we were ready to sleep by 11. Here's Dana on our luxurious bunkbed:

Sorry to make this post heinously long. If you haven't tired of this topic, stay posted for my next and FINAL venice post.

Besos,
S