In Spanish, honeymoon is luna de miel; literally “moon of honey.” If you’re my husband (ohhh, doesn’t that sound weird and oh so nice at the same time!), a moon made of honey would be welcome. Mario and Winnie the Pooh love honey about the same amount. If you are what you eat, Mario would be bread, olive oil, and honey. Probably in that order. (I would be tomatoes. Boring.)
Thank you for letting me completely off track. We spent our honeymoon in Italy. Italy! To Spaniards, Italy is a short plane ride away; to me, Italy is a dream honeymoon. I imagined Venice, its canals snaking quietly through the city, Florence with its marble-covered cathedral and Renaissance art invading every church, Rome with its quiet ruins … we got all that. I forgot to imagine the heat.
We arrived in Venice at 10 p.m. and stepped out of the airport in search of a bus. I had forgotten how humidity envelops you, invades your lungs and your pores, causes the air itself to feel heavy and dense. We nearly gasped. Oh yes, the heat was already upon us. Sweat, we would.Luckily, our hotel, located right on the Grand Canal, had air conditioning. Sweet, sweet, environment-destroying air conditioning. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
We set off to explore the city immediately after breakfast, winding our way down alleys and stopping at numerous dead ends, consulting the map every two minutes. Venice was a maze, but we were determined to conquer it.
We found our way to Piazza San Marco, St. Mark’s Square, where the Basilica of San Marco overlooks one of the most beautiful piazzas of Europe, the heart of Venice. To the right of the Basilica is the sea, the bay of San Marco, which was the way the people arrived—by boat. Also in this square is the Doge’s Palace (try not to read that as the dog’s palace). The Doges were the rulers of Venice for over a thousand years.
There are more pictures of me because Mario is very camera happy
If you lived in Ancient Venice, you had to be wary of your neighbors. Around the palace we saw these mail slots, which were for nontie serete (secret denouncements), if you wished to snitch on your neighbor for their wrongdoings. And there were no appeals for death sentences. Good luck!
Afterwards, we wandered around a bit more and tried not to get lost
Next we splurged on a gondola ride. Sure, they’re totally a tourist trap, and they definitely overcharge. But still, you’re only in Venice on your honeymoon once, so live it up. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, this was a major form of transportation, and there were upwards of eight to ten thousand gondolas in that time period, whereas today there are only about four hundred, mainly used by tourists.
Our gondolier talked to Mario about Italy’s defeat in the Eurocup and then took a few phone calls
We came back to a big leak in our room, so we headed downstairs to reception to ask for help. They changed our room … to a suite overlooking the Grand Canal, which normally costs approximately a gazillion dollars per night. Score! They told us we would have to change the next day, but in the end we got this amazing room for two whole nights. Needless to say, we didn’t complain.
We also couldn’t complain about our breakfast setting. The breakfast itself was superb, with everything from tomato juice to yogurt with toppings to scrambled eggs to meats and cheeses. And, of course, lots of cappucino.
We spent a lot of time in Venice exploring. Besides the Piazza de San Marco and the Doge’s Palace, there’s not a whole lot of “sights” to see, but there are a lot of places to be explored. Including a very interesting bookshop that I thoroughly enjoyed. But don’t ask me how to get there.
Venice is not made for the busy tourist. Instead, it’s for the tourist with time and patience, the one who wishes to be and not do. It’s hard to accept for some, but once you do, Venice grabs hold of you and stays with you.
Photo by Mario
Beautiful! Both you, the city and your marido.
Heh. Getting married was easy for you, since you only had to add one letter to change Mario into “marido”. :-)
Mario says, “Dile que ese chiste ya lo he hecho yo.” Haha, we did joke about him being “Mario, mi maro,” with a kind of andaluz accent!
Excellent. I figured it wasn’t novel, but when I had to actually type out “marido”, it occurred to me.
Let’s see…what can we do to your name? Add an O for “¡Qué lío!” :-) No doubt your Marí’o thought of that one, too.
Congratulations! Beautiful photos, too. Looks like you really soaked it all in. What fun :)
We tried to! We got back exhausted, though.
Congratulations and those are some beautiful photos. I can’t stand heat and, especially, heat and humidity so I’m not sure I could’ve enjoyed myself there (I would think winter or spring would be the time to go there).
I love how the ocean looks in some of those, absolutely gorgeous, it actually looks blue (well, blue/greenish), amazing.
Cheers,
Andrew
Well, Italy in July is not a good idea for those who can’t stand heat or humidity or, worse still, heat and humidity!
The water is not super clean, but it’s not as dirty as I expected.
I would honestly expect the water in the canals to be absolutely filthy. I just don’t see having waterways that close to a heavily populated area not be filthy.
looks like the newlyweds enjoyed the new camera. The pictures are wonderful. I love the blue colors in the photos by Mario.
You could say that … especially for Mario.
I love all the pics! what fun. I somehow managed to unfollow your blog, heavens!! I am forever accidentally clicking on things because of this darn touchpad. I just happened to think that I hadn’t seen any posts of yours in my feed so I went looking and there were two. Goodness!! so, I’m back on the follow list. not that you needed an explanation but in case you were wondering….ha ha. Thanks for sharing these wonderful pics!!
Haha, ahhh, thank you! I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve not had time to comment and/or read really at all! I’m glad people are still reading here.
Loved Venice, I can’t imagine how hot and humid it must be in the summer though, yikes! I always thought it was kind of a sad city, imagining how beautiful it must of been and how its now just slowly decaying and crumbling away! I was there in winter a few years ago and it kept flooding, so sad. after seeing your pics I wish I could have gone in the summer sun though :)
Ohhh goooosh, I do not recommend summer if you can go in September or May. July is hot, hot, hot!
all I’m going to say is: I want your dress.
and also, I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! Venice is too beautiful!
Mango, rebajas :)
thanks (hihiihihi)
Hey Kaley, my sister is going on a trip to Venice with her husband. Could you share some recommendations, tips, etc? Greatly appreciated! Thank you!