Venice, Italy

I have seen SO many pictures of Venice. I have always wanted to go there. It's such a beautiful and unique city on the water. This fact also makes it very inconvenient to get around. We had to get on a VERY crowded boat to go from place to place.

However, it was VERY fun to photograph. The high volume of people made it difficult, but I think I got some good shots despite that fact.

We only had three things on our agenda in Venice. #1 - Eat gelato. #2 - Buy a mask (Venice is known for their masks... gotta get one) and #3 - Ride in a Gondola. I'm happy to say that we checked off all 3 things.

I wasn't sure how much I was willing to pay for a Venetian Mask, but I did know that I wanted a nicer one instead of the cheap plastic ones you get get from anywhere. So Allison and I wandered into this nice mask shop. The lady told us all about the masks and the artist that made them and gave us a deal... so we got nice quality masks. I love mine. I love that it is like a design on my face instead of a full mask that covers my face. I also love that it has some bling. If it were Winter... we would have paid to go to a Masquerade that night... but it wasn't the right season. We are going to need to find one in Utah and go now that we have our fancy masks.

As for the Gondola ride. I really wanted to do it.. but wasn't sure if we really would or not. When we looked online, it was super expensive... more than we were willing to pay. I told Allison we would be able to find a deal once we were there. We did! We of course had to share our gondola (which we happened to be paired up with two older fat British women who were mother and daughter) but at least we got the comfy seats. We went at night so everything was lit up and our ride even came with a serenade! A guy singing and another guy playing the accordion. Doesn't get better than that! Well... unless we were with dates instead of the two of us sharing with the old British Women... but whatever. I got to fulfill my dream.

The night was just as picturesque as the day. Oh and the moon that night was unreal! I tried to capture it... but it just doesn't do it justice. It was stunning.