Venice Our first two nights in Italy were spent in Venice.
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April 2, 2003 - Venice Airport We began our trip in Venice. After taking two connecting flights, our plane landed at 11pm and we took a shuttle bus to the water taxi stand. It was miserable out -- dark and raining and very cold (45 degrees) -- and there were no water taxi's to be found (a little worrysome). Luckily there was a 12:10am waterbus going to Venice (it's an island you know). After an hour ride, we were at Piazza San Marco. With a map we had gotten off the internet we wandered around in the dark until we found our hotel and crashed.				Tired on the boat to Venice
Our Hotel - Hotel Violino d'Oro	Our Hotel Room	Our Hotel: Hotel Violino d'Oro Our hotel was a great three star hotel just down the walk from Pizza San Marco. We couldn't have asked for a better location and the room (and the shower) was great.
April 3, 2003 - Venice Just our "luck" it was still raining in the morning. After breakfast we bought an umbrella and headed to the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) for their "Secret Itinerary Tour". The Palace, built in the 12th century, was the seat of power for the Venetian government for hundreds of years. It was the home of the Doge (the Duke) and had rooms for their Senate meetings and prisons as well. On the secret tour we saw torture rooms and the cell of the famed "Casanova". The palace was just amazing, the rooms were all huge and beautifully decorated with paintings by Tintoretto and other Italian artists.
Palazzo Ducale	The courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale	The courtyard at Palazzo Ducale	Torture Room Inside Palazzo Ducale	Saint Mark's Basilica
After the palace, we went through Basilica San Marco which was built in 1063 to house the remains of St. Mark which were stolen from Alexandria by the Venetians. We couldn't take pictures there but it's just amazing. The ceilings are filled with golden mosaics and there is a large gold altarpiece filled with all sorts of precious gems (a little over the top). We went up to the loft and took these pictures of the square. We grabbed lunch at a bar and then spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Venice.
	Piazza San Marco		Piazza San Marco
Campanile		Pigeons landing on Craig in the square
	Us at the Rialto
Dinner - Wandering in and out of all the streets and bridges of Venice we came across a little restaurant that looked good and we decided to have dinner there. As we were sitting there we realized that all the guests were American and all had "Rick Steve's Italy" guidebook. He recommends Trattoria Al Cugnai saying "an unpretentious place run by three gruff sisters serving good food at a good price". He was right. By the end of the evening we had met everyone in the room and a nice couple from New York offered to pay for our dinner. Somehow though that offer got lost in the translation and they thought they paid for our dinner, but only managed to buy us wine before they left. (or is it that the nice old lady ripped us off?) Either way it was a great evening and the first of our great dinners in Italy.				Three sisters who own/run Trattoria Al Cugnai Nice couple from New York offered to buy us dinner

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