Day 34 Enchantment on the Grand Canal

Day 34- If you know anything about my life, you may know that my husband Russ is …hmmm how can I say this…budget minded (cheap).  So when trying to book a hotel for Venice I had to check price and parking…two things that everyone thinks about when they think of Venice…not.  Somehow I stumbled upon the hotel Santa Chiara…it claimed to be on the Grand Canal and have parking… and it fit our budget!  Who knew?  I have to admit, I was not expecting very much when we did our last minute booking…but hey I figured at least we were in Venice right?  It was late when we got to our hotel…and the first thing I noticed was that it was right on the Grand Canal…and it looked dare I say it charming…not “charming” if you know what I mean!  When we walked in a very friendly man checked us in…he informed us that he gave us an upgrade with a big smile…so I am thinking that means we are not below the water level…but what it actually meant was that our room was right on the Grand Canal…with 2 huge windows we could open up.  It was like a dream…seriously I was speechless!  The hotel and the room are super Venetian Silk wall coverings, chandelier over our bed, beautiful wood furniture, and let’s face it a teeny tiny Italian shower!  As soon as we got our stuff moved in, we were off to explore Venice!  Our hotel was in between the newest (and might I say ugliest) and most hated bridge in Venice…but hey at least we could get across it!! As we walked around Venice I couldn’t help but think, that this is not real.  It kind of reminded me of a giant theme park (I feel horrible for saying that…I really do) but it was just so surreal!  I have always dreamed about Venice and what it would be like…and it did not disappoint!  And oh my was it crowded!!  I kept thinking that I could only imagine what it must be like in the summer time, when tourist season is in full swing…because it was pretty crazy even in November!

One thing I noticed as we bopped around that first night, just soaking it all in, were these interesting table things that were in the middle of the street…it was odd to me.  Why would they have these things here?  Well the next day I found out!!!