Europe Day 2

After an exhausting day of travel the previous day, our group had our first day together of exploring in Venice. We didn’t have much time though, as we had to return to Trieste to catch our cruise the next day.

After checking out of our hotel, and storing our bags in a locker nearby, we wandered around Venice, preferring the side streets to the main tourist attractions. Venice is a small city, you can walk from one end to the other easily within a day.

We observed the unique combination of Italian and Byzantine architectures, admired the numerous bridges and waterways, and walked through narrow alleyways.

After eating a classic Italian lunch of pasta and seafood, we walked over to the St Mark’s Palace, one of the main attractions in Venice. The basilica was incredibly intricate and detailed. My favourite story is of the four horse statues perched on top of the church. With the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the four bronze horses, considered one of the Crown Jewels of the collection, were stolen from Constaninople by the Venetians and brought to Venice and displayed on their most famous church as a symbol of triumph.

After spending a few hours at St Mark’s Square, we took a rest and refueled with some gelato and espresso before returning to our lockers to pick up up our bags before our late afternoon train ride to Trieste.