Girl Gone Running: Europe 2021...Day 8: Venice...

I have wanted to go to Venice for as long as I can remember. I cannot really describe why I am so attracted to this city, but it has been on my list to visit for years.

Italy was not part of our itinerary when we first started planning this trip, but we decided to take advantage of Europe only being open to a few countries and the lack of cruise ships docking in Venice and visiting this enchanting city. I was so excited!

The Matterhorn showed off for us one more time before we left Zermatt. It was simply breathtaking.

We had an early train out of Zermatt to make our way to the floating city. Our train ride was about 6.5 hours, which is about as long of a train ride as I can handle. I loved riding past Lugano and seeing the palm trees and hoping to add it to our list of destinations someday.

We arrived in Venice and it was just as intriguing as I thought it would be. We checked into our hotel and went out for lunch and Aperol Spritz of course!

We found a local place with darling side canal views.

We enjoyed 4 euro Aperol Spritz, which was a nice welcome after paying 12 francs in Switzerland. We also tried the cicheti, which is what is written on the paper on the window. It was as local as you can get and I was only able to have a bite of one of the items since I am allergic to shellfish. It was interesting. The Aperol Spritz were delicious!

We spent the remainder of our first day in Venice just wandering around and getting lost, which is what you are supposed to do in Venice.

Venice, Italy

Every corner you turn, you see canals and bridges. The entire city is one giant postcard.

This was one of my favorite pictures

The Grand Canal

We found a restaurant with outdoor seating that overlooked the Grand Canal and we stopped for a bellini. The Grand Canal is super busy, and I was glad that we decided to stay off of one of the side canals, away from the hustle and bustle.

We did not take a gondola ride, but I did enjoy seeing all the gondolas in the water.

We were planning on walking to Saint Mark's square and somehow got completely turned around. We ended up in a little ally and saw this really cute mask shop, La Bottega dei Mascareri. A carnival mask is the one thing I had told Ken I wanted to buy in Venice to take home. We went into the store, Ken was just as intrigued as I was, and before we knew it we found a mask we wanted to buy to take home. The owners of the store, two brothers, were so nice to us and we learned that they created the masks for the movie Eyes Wide Shut. They were excited to learn that we were from the USA and that we were traveling. The one brother signed my mask and wrapped it up for me so that it would get home safely.

The mask that we brought home. I cannot wait to hang it up in our basement.

We left the mask shop and realized we were completely turned around getting to Saint Mark's Square and ended up back by the Rialto Bridge. We decided to cut our losses and stop for pizza for dinner.