Venice, Italy: Day Two

 After a super long first day in Venice, day two consisted of seeing the unseen. 

Nothing will ever compare to our first day in Venice, though. 
The awe and wonder of a city holds much of it's value upon first impression, based on my own experiences. I must add that Venice doesn't stop 'wowing' her visitors, but climbing her bridges does grow tiring.

Now that we knew how to navigate this beautiful place, we let Venice guide us the second time around!

After hopping off the train at the very busy St. Lucia station, our first and (seemingly) only navigation decision of the day was to take a different bridge across to the main area of Venice.

Most people, like ourselves the day before, opt for the first bridge that's visible: 
Ponte degli Scalzi. 
Instead, we took Ponte della Costituzione (Constitution Bridge) across, and although the area was unfamiliar at first, it wouldn't be long until we started noticing things we had seen before.

Somehow we managed to end up around the domed church that we had spent an hour trekking to the day before. Only this time, it took us about 40 minutes from the main train station. We didn't plan to be there, but maybe it is true: You can get lost in Venice IF you allow yourself to do so.

Once we hit the church, we turned around (because there's only one way back to the main part of Venice) and we eventually found ourselves at Piazza San Marco. Maybe all roads lead there? Hmmm.

Pretty Lladro pieces in a shop window. They remind me of my grandmother who has a collection of her own Lladro figurines. Lladro can be found all over Venice, although the brand is based out of Spain.

We approached the back of Uffici Giudiziari within Piazza San Marco without even knowing we would. We walked through some HUGE arch way curtains, and BAM, San Marco Basilica was right in front of us!

We had officially gone full circle. Ha! 

I finally and reluctantly snapped a photo of San Marco's front facade. Note the restoration taking place that I had mentioned one my Venice, Italy: Day One post?

We took a few photos, grabbed some water from a nearby vendor, and decided to see what the entry queue looked like for the basilica. That was a no-go! 

It was already hot outside, and we melted if we didn't keep moving. 

The line was TERRIBLE; about a 3.5 hour wait in the baking sun. 

Although I really wanted to go inside, I decided it may be best to return at a less touristy time of year to do so.

*If I have learned anything about living abroad, it's that you should never count the places you missed out on, but instead count what you did get to see, do, and visit. 

The sites that I've missed give me all the more reason to return someday.

Instead of taking a right (as we did the day before) at the two huge columns by the water, we took a left. We scoped out Doge's Palace (again, an insufferable line), and continued to walk along the water. 

I totally forgot about the Bridge of Sighs being in Venice until I had came across it! The Bridge of Sighs is named for the "sigh" noises that prisoners would make whilst crossing on their way to interrogation. More folklore than truth, but nonetheless, a neat tidbit about one of Venice's famous bridges.

Window goodies: YUM.

Cheesy? YES. But why not?

At this point (mind you, no map involved throughout most of our day) 

we didn't know where we were! 

We stumbled upon a pretty park area with tons of benches, grass, and shade. We took advantage of the shade to rest and gulp down water, and I then decided to pull out our map. At first I didn't think I was looking at the map correctly because the only thing on it that fit the description of where we were was seemingly far, far away from everything else we had seen earlier.

I saw a park map near us, walked to it, and indeed, we had walked further than we had realized: It noted our location at Venice's public garden/park near Monumento alla Partigiana veneta.

Well, alrighty then.

We were technically-officially lost in Venice.

The ONLY flowers alive in the garden

Knowing we had wandered pretty far from the train station, we turned around to head in the direction of the Naval Museum, whose signs we had seen on our way to the garden.

Gelato break!

The area around the Naval Museum of Venice is quiet, and doesn't seem popular with tourists. We didn't visit the inside of the museum, but walked around towards the Venetian Arsenal; a shipyard founded in the 1100's.
*Historical Note: This area was the biggest industrial area in Europe before the Industrial Revolution. It took up 17% of Venice in it's hayday!
P.S. Galileo (you may have heard of him) frequented the arsenal quite a lot, and was a military adviser to shipbuilders here.

 I really dug main gate of the place, named Porta Magna, which is often confused with being the entrance to the Naval Museum. Nope. This leads you to water, folks.  

We were getting close to ending our day, and the heat wasn't letting down. I chose the wrong day to wear a long dress! The beautiful part about some European cities is that you can find public fountains to drench yourself in if you become hot. It is important to note that not all of them spout out drinkable water...

Our second day in Venice had came to an end. We went back to the hotel, ate some dinner, and got a good nights rest before heading back to Nuremberg Germany via car.

Passing Verona (Yes, 'Fair Verona' from Shakespeare), on the way home.

The city of Innsbruck Austria

Honestly, the drive to and from Venice was super easy; easier than going to some of the German cities that are closer to our home. Driving through Northern Italy reminded us of being on the west coast in the US. The highways (autostradas) are a lot like US highways. Funny how things on the other side of the world aren't too different after all.

Because the drive was so easy, we are actually considering driving instead of flying to Florence and Rome next summer. We'll see!

Overall, Venice was my second favorite city, thus far (Paris still wins, don't judge me), and I have a feeling it will stay second for awhile, if not forever.

Amo Venezia!