Venice: Starting things of with a bang...or a boat?

For our 2 days in Venice, we scored a sweet deal on a nice little hotel right by the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute--the huge domed church you see in the picture below.
This was my first trip to Venice and I really enjoyed it. First of all, I love to walk around and get lost in cities and Venice is pretty much the ideal city for that activity...zero cars and views like this every time you cross over one of the city's 400 bridges:
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Venice was one of the most powerful cities in Europe, full of commerce, art, music, and religion. All of that combined to create great sights for tourists like us to enjoy.
My favorites were: the floor of the Basilica di San Marco, the Doge's Palace with it's enormous frescoes on every wall and ceiling, and the beautiful art at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (known as Tintoretto's Sistine Chapel). So, if you go, those are my recommendations. :)
We also did a lot of people watching...
...and got a great taste of everyday Venice, complete with some really great old people.
We did not take a Gondola ride because we didn't want to take out another student loan to finance the experience.
We did cruise the Grand Canal on the local water-bus to get a different view of Venice...then ran around trying to get the perfect shot of the picturesque gondoliers.
What a great way to start off the trip! Someday I'm sure we'll come back here when we're at a stage in our life where we can afford to eat more than bread, cheese, and prosciutto from the supermarket (which is actually a very tasty combo)...but I'm not sure it can get any better.

If you have some time, Venice was a great place for Rob to exercise his photography muscles (as demonstrated by the following slideshow). :)