Venice, Italy - The Last Day

After an amazing twelve days aboard the ms. Nieuw Amsterdam, our ship pulled into Venice and the cruise was officially over. There is only one flight from Venice to Atlanta each day early in the morning, so we had no choice but to spend another day in Venice. We couldn't have been happier about that! We stayed at the same hotel as before the cruise, so we dropped off our bags and headed out for the last day, the grand finale of our big summer vacation.  We already knew our way around, and we had already seen the sights so there was no pressure to do anything in particular. It was the best way to end such a fantastic trip.

Venetian flag

During our first three days in Venice, I took a ton of pictures of bridges, especially along the Grand Canal. Apparently on our last day, I was obsessed with taking pictures of the tiny side canals. These are just a few of our favorites - we are thinking about having a collection of them made into canvas prints to hang up in our bedroom, which would be a nice change from all of the framed photos we have in our home. Realistically though, it might be a few years before this actually happens, seeing as I am still "working on" our honeymoon photo book...maybe by our tenth anniversary?

Bo went into the Frari Church, which he really liked. I didn't bother bringing my shrug this day - I was a little church'ed out - so I wasn't allowed in. We found a side door so I could sneak a peak inside anyway. Very pretty!

While Bo was inside, I took some more pictures of the canal just outside the church...

We also walked by the Scuola di San Rocco, which contains Tintoretto's ceiling painting of the Sistine Chapel. We thought about going in, but it was pretty pricy and they had pictures of it on the outside that we could look at for free. Easy choice.

We stopped to eat at a cute, outdoor cafe along yet another canal. We had some amazing beef carpaccio and gnocchi - so good that we remember what we ate even though I don't have any pictures of it.

 

 While roaming the streets, we thought this place looked interesting, so we stopped inside. We were pretty curious when people kept stopping by to take pictures, and then realized the walls were covered in newspaper and magazine clippings all containing rave reviews and pictures of celebrities at the restaurant. Apparently, Ostaria Antico Dolo is pretty famous!

We told the waiter we wanted white wine and asked for his suggestion, which is one of our favorite ways to discover new wines - and this one was a big hit. He recommended Soave, which is a dry Italian wine and we both loved it. Bo declared it his favorite from the trip and it was our summer drink of choice after we returned from the trip.

After his discovery of Soave, Bo wanted to try a few others for comparison purposes to make sure he really loved it. He did :)

Our hotel was pretty close to this pub that we had passed at least twice every single day we were in Venice, so we were determined to finally check it out. 

I loved this sign on their front door - this picture is for you, Leslie and Paul!

We both tried Gradisca draft beer - which was pretty good

skull & crossbones hanging from the ceiling, even in Venice! chi o all the damn time ;)

cheers! ♥

After all that wine and beer, it was time for some food. And a little more wine. We found another outdoor restaurant along the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge, Osteria al Pesador. We had a great view of all the gondolas going out for their last rides of the day.

 

And what is a trip to Venice without a gondola ride?! I was very excited about it, even though I know it's pretty cliche and kinda cheesy. At least our guide didn't sing to us like most of them do! We went just before the sun was setting and it was such a nice ending to the day. It somewhat reminded us of our previous trip to Italy, when we saved the boat ride through the Blue Grotto of Capri for the last day of our honeymoon. Pretty different sceneries, but both gorgeous in their own way.

fyi: they let you bring drinks aboard!

Some of these bridges reallllly cut it close.

 

the sun setting over the Grand Canal

And that concludes this series of Our 2012 Summer Vacation posts. We had an absolutely amazing time, and it was our second favorite vacation, only to our honeymoon. Hope you all enjoyed reading about our trip as much as we enjoyed reliving it! The End.