Venezia (Day One)

So, as you probably read, we were stranded in Venice for an extra day due to a nationwide train strike. We are, however, safely in the city of Firenze.

We had no internet at the last place we stayed at and internet in Venice was insanely expensive, which is why we have been M.I.A for quite some time.
Andrew wants to use the computer (probably to watch anime), so I might just blog one day. We woke up early for our 8 am train. Even though the train station was a hop skip and a jump away from our hostel, I wanted to make sure that we were there on time. This was the first time we were going to have to make a transfer and we had to pay 12 euro a person for reservations for our Villach (Austria) to Venice train and had a 40 minute layover, so i was really emphasizing promptness.


Everything went smoothly, however, on our way to Venice. The only thing really worth mentioning was that in our 30 minutes in Austria, I had to shut Andrew up very frequently because he pulled out all of his Schwartzenegger impersonations. Full force.

Once we got into Venice, we took the vaporetto (or water bus) to the Ponte Rialto. This was much to the horror of everyone else, as tickets for the vaporetto are now 6.50. However, that seemed better than trying to navigate Venice with our backpacks on a very hot day.

Since we followed the directions, we made it to the place free of any problems (other than trying to make our way around hordes of tourist on the Ponte Rialto with our giant backpacks), checked in, put down our stuff, and went out to eat. We ate at some pizza place.

After everyone was full and no longer complaining about hunger, we went back to check out the markets of the the Rialto Bridge, while Andrew complaind about tourists. Mia liked the markets (and bought a jersey) and we also ended up checking out Lush because Mia loves Lush. We next made our way down the crowded streets in search of San Marcos Square.

Once there, we visitd the basillica of San Marco, took a lot of pictures, and then just started walking along the canal to take in the beauty of Venice. We also saw the Ponte Dei Sospiri (or Bridge of Sighs) from the outside because we did not want to pay to see the Palazzo Ducale. In general, I was very surprised by how much history I remembered from the tour of Vencie we took two years ago. We ran into the black market sellers, which Gianni had been waiting for because he has been looking for sunglasses, but didnt get anything because they were very expensive.

We bought some stamps and post cards and since everyon was thirsty, i managd to weave my way to this obscure juice bar that i went to two years ago (was pretty impressed with my navigation skills there, btw).

Since this was our unbearably hot day in Venice, we eventually just made our way back to the hotel to get out of the hot Italian sun and rested there for a while. We came back after the sun had set, so we could explore Venice at night (prettier, less hot, and less crowded IMO). We ended up finding some restaurant where Mia took a picture with the piano player and Andrew liked the waiter because he looked like Mr. Feeney.

After eating, we went to San Marcos Square for a quick night view and then returned to our hotel, showered, and slept. Will let Andrew use the computer now. Will post more later.