That one time...in Venice

Today was our day in Venice!

We arrived by night train at 8:30 AM. The night was long as the sleep was rough. However, I felt more rested than when we actually actually had a sleeper bed and a snorer on our night train from Krakow to Prague. This one only had a sweet older Venice man that talked to himself and us every now and then in Italian and rough English. There were also three other backpackers in our car. It was a fun trip. Just to clarify, we were NOT in a sleeper car, we were in seats because all the beds were sold out. We paid a 13 Euro reservation fee per person for these seats.

As we approached Venice, I stood at the train window and watched us cross the bridge to the city. It is a beautiful ride and skyline. If you travel to Venice, you must watch as the train pulls up to the city. The smell of the salt water is great too...reminded me of Galveston...Just with less seaweed. Also, the seagulls are huge here and they like to fight each other.

When we pulled into the city, we made the decision to not buy an over priced map...because why not get lost! Plus, there are signs around the city that lead you to big sight seeing places. It might take you longer to find it, but you will find it. 

View of Venice as you walk out of the train station.

We also reserved our tickets to Rome as we will head there tomorrow. 

WARNING...in Italy, even if you have a Eurail, MOST train travel requires a reservation fee. Pay the reservation fee before you board the train at a ticket office and don't pay it on the train. The reservation fee usually doubles!

Anyways as we wandered around Venice, we came across a little square with a breakfast cafe. Kevin ordered a blueberry muffin and I ordered an almighty chocolate muffin. Both were good, but mine was totally better! We sat outside the cafe and watched people with their dogs walking by, and children playing games or hiding from their parents on a balcony. The morning is amazing in Venice as there was barely anyone out in our part.

After awhile, it was time to keep walking. Maybe after an hour or so of traveling, we came across Railto Bridge. A funky looking bridge with expensive shops on it and views of the grand canal as it winds through Venice! On the other side of the bridge was a fruit and fish market. The watermelon looked too good to pass up. For 1 Euro we got it and split it in another square not too far away. While sitting there, some pigeons came up and are the watermelon seeds. They are nicer to each other than seagulls. In the middle of the square is s water fountain where you can fill up water bottles, so we filled up ours.

After two hours having passed, we started making our way back to the train station. We knew it would take awhile without a map and navigating the maze like streets where the locals get lost. We were right, after spending about three hours in Venice, we made it back to the train station and got a train to Padova where we are staying with a person from airbnb.

It was smart to leave Venice at this time, as it started pouring rain and we experienced our first thunderstorm in Europe. Through it all, we made it to our town, found our bus, and find where we were staying. It wasn't easy, and took us asking several people to find our way, but we did it.

We got another kebab wrap for lunch and split it and checked into our place around 12:30. The people we are staying with were nice enough to let us check in early. They also have a beautiful female husky named echo that loves people! I was excited to be staying at a place with a dog, even if we were only there for one night. The people showed us around the place, we are our food, ate the delicious Italian chocolate our hosts left us, and took showers. It felt so good, like most showers do after long train rides. We then took a nice 4 hour nap.

After we were refreshed, we headed back to Venice. At the bus station, we met an interesting character who was directing us where to get new bus tickets. Another young man at the bus station helped us out, as the lady wasn't a ton of help.

When we got back from buying or ticket, the lady was talking to us in very rough English about the history of Venice, how she wanted to go to Austria even though she knows no German, how she has 50 books in her home library, and how she is a clinical psychologist. She even showed us her certificate.

When we got off the bus and to the train station, Kevin quoted nacho libre in the accent by saying, "that is a crazy lady." We had a good laugh! Yay for adventures!

After arriving in Venice, we made a goal to find St. Mark's square...again without a map. After an hour of walking and following signs...and making out on bridges and secret alleyways (because it's the city of love so why not) we finally found it. We had to stop for gelato first. After passing many gelato stands, I finally picked one, knowing the square was finally in sight. I got chocolate, of course, and it may have been the best so far! Kevin and I split it! We then walked into the square! The clock tower, basilica, and square were amazing! There were cafes here with instrumental bands playing familiar music. I even heard the sound of music. Kevin and I danced in the square until we were rudely interrupted by a pickpocket selling a rose. After figuring out what was going on, we got him to leave us alone and continued to dance.

 Enjoying my gelato in St Mark's Square

 Saw this in the train station...if you can't read it, it says 83th Avenue...math teacher cringe!

Once we were done, we found a nice place to sit in the far side of the square and listened to Rick Steves tell of the history of the square. It was interesting to hear that when this area floods, it comes up through the cracks in the bricks. That's why you see puddles. When the water level gets high, it starts to seep through.

We also learned that apparently the remains of the apostle Mark are in the church under the altar. Interesting to know, although the church was closed and we were not able to go in. Also the symbol of Mark is a lion, which is why you see them everywhere not only in the square, but in Venice.

After getting our fill of the square, we walked over to the Doge's palace. We learned that he didn't build an exquisite, huge castle because he wanted to prove to other rulers that he didn't have to intimidate his people in order to rule them. He ruled with love, not fear, and it worked. Venice used to be one of the most powerful cities in all of Europe.

In front of Doge's palace are lots of beautiful gondolas! We considered taking one, but then decided no. We know the view is unbeatable from a gondola, but we were enjoying our view from the streets and bridges. We didn't need a boat to be romantic in Venice. While we were standing by the gondolas, we watched the sun go down and the street lights turn on! Venice took on a whole new look and it was beautiful! Venice truly is different at night and something to experience.

We then walked and saw the Bridge of Sighs. It connects the Doge's Palace to the prison. You can tell because the building on the right has bars on the windows. Apparently the government could just pick you up off the street without warning, take you to be tried at the palace, and then throw you into prison. One day you could be walking the city, the next you are gone! Locked up!

The story goes that when prisoners crossed over the bridge they would sigh, knowing that they were in such a beautiful city and that they wouldn't get to see it again for a very long time or if at all. It has been romanticized though, of course, with tourists being told that when you cross under the bridge and kiss, your love will be eternal! Who knows if either story is true, but I do know that bridge takes you to a prison.

We walked around a little more and enjoyed the views. It was around 9 PM at this point, and knowing how long it takes to walk everywhere, we decided to head back to the train station. As we walked back, we did notice that there were more and bigger puddles in the square, and that there was a huge amount of water by the entrance of St Mark's church! Crazy!

On the walk back, we passed the Rialto bridge again, and a big party/concert going on in the market we had our muffins by before! It was hopping, but we didn't stay long as there was a lot of smoking and alcohol...not our scene.

As we left, a Venetian man followed us a little bit...We were nervous obviously as we were in darker, uncrowded streets...but as we started talking to him we found out he is an English teacher in Venice of the high school level and a nice guy! He just wanted to practice his English with natural speakers. He guided us to the train station, we said goodbye, and still had all our things. He found out I was a teacher and said something very good and true of teachers, "teaching is very hard. The secret is that if you care about it, you will always be trying to improve." It spoke to me, which I guess is why I still think about teaching and look at teaching things even while on an amazing trip to Europe. I guess because I care :-)

When we got to the train station, we found out there wasn't a lot of late night trains to Padova...if any. The ticket machine was telling us that there wasn't one until a little after midnight and it was the night train to Rome AND it was full. Nerves set in. As it was a little after 10 PM, we were not prepared to spend the night in a train station as the next one from there was 5 AM. We found the police and asked for advice. They suggested the bus station.

We walked to the bus station, and there was also nothing going to our destination. Panic and frustration set in. We found a taxi...they wanted to charge us 100 euros for the journey. We actually considered it we were so desperate, but said no. We were to try the train station one last time. After prayer, we found a ticket booth that would give us tickets on the midnight train. Relief! It was a scary 45 minutes.

We had an hour to kill. As we hadn't had dinner yet, we walked out of the train station and found a cafe right on the water. Perfect! We were starving, and having walked by literally hundreds of little Italian cafes today and smelt the fresh pizzas and pastas, we were definitely craving some authentic Italian food on our first night in Italy! We finally picked a cafe and sat outside, with a perfect view of the city, the water, and people walking past. I was surprised at how many people were out at night, the city really came alive! We ordered a delicious pasta, with tomato sauce and bacon in it, and it was amazing! We split one order of it to save money, but it was pretty filling anyway!

When we finished, we caught our train to Padova and then got a taxi to our place. We also didn't have a map here, otherwise we would've walked. It wasn't worth it to us at this time at night. Plus, nine euros seemed like a reasonable price to pay for just getting home. We got home around 1:30 AM.

We had a great time in Venice, despite the little fear that we might be trapped there without a bed. Venice is everything people say and more. It was such a great experience getting lost in a city, finding our way with signs, just taking all the views in. I don't think I would do anything differently. There are the famous bridges, but the hidden ones between alleyways and islands are the best. Find the streets without tourists, get lost, and find the romance! It shouldn't be that hard! :-)

Ta ta for now!