Jared Birt Photography

Venezia. Wow, this place was pure magic. Nothing could prepare me for the sight of Venice as we made our way by boat from the mainland to our hotel in the heart of this city, near St. Marks' square. I've seen Venice portrayed many times in movies but to see this beautifully fragile city in person was such an amazing thing. I don't know why it surprised me but they are absolutely no roads, no cars in Venice. None. Everything is done by boat...taxis, taking out the garbage, the morning's produce delivery...everything goes in and out by boat. Rebekah and I were so fascinated by this way of life. True, it was very crowded with tourists but once you lost yourself in the maze of bridges and alleys further from the Grand Canal, Venice was almost eerily quiet and you found yourself in a completely different world. It was the same feeling when we woke up at dawn on our last morning there to go take photos in St. Mark's square. Except for the pigeons, and the gondola captain's getting their boats ready for the day, the square was deserted. This is pretty cool since during the day, St. Mark's square is packed with thousands of people. But now, this early in the morning, we basically had the place to ourselves. Magic. That's not something a lot of people can say ; ). We finished off that last morning in Venice by enjoying coffee and tea at Café Florian, one of the oldest coffee shops in Italy. True, it cost more than the last night's dinner but to sit there in the red velvet chairs, listening to a string quartet overlooking the Basilica was priceless.