5/8/10-Venice!!

I departed Switzerland at 7:54am and was due to arrive in Venice around 2:40pm. I went on the same bus as Moushira, as she was departing for Egypt to go home. It was a long train ride, but I enjoyed some sleep, music, reading and eating. Along the way, I saw small Italian towns, vineyards sweeping across the mountain, and numerous lakes along the way. I love traveling on trains by myself, so I really enjoyed it. But, as soon as I landed, the Venice train station was jam packed with tourists from all over the world. I then needed to get Euros and purchase my Rolling VENice pass (the youth transportation pass). Once I purchased that I was on my way to meet Alex. Venice is a city built on about 118 islands, so therefore the only form of transportation is by boat. And, when I arrived, it was raining, so there were umbrellas galore and many people just wanted to get on the boat. The line onto the ferry boat was very long and I finally got on the 3^rd boat that came to the train station stop. It was absolutely crazy, it was as if we were sardines squeezed into a can. But, after a 30-40 minute boat ride, I finally arrived at Piazza San Marco. I took many photos along the way. I walked about 5 minutes over to go meet Alex, we had some difficulties finding each other because there were so many tourists. She told me she was on a bridge, well that was helpful since I crossed about 5 bridges until I finally found her, but anyways it was fun none the less. We met at a more recognizable column instead. We then walked through narrow streets, weaving in and out of people wearing hats, cameras and carrying many shopping bags and suitcases, until we arrived at our hotel. Hotel Anastasia was located in Campo Barozzi, just West of St. Mark’s Square, which is the number one tourist spot in Venice. I was able to put my bags down and change into more appropriate attire. Alex and I then set off to wander the streets, alleyways and canals and search for a place to eat as well. We walked around for about an hour, it was fun kind of getting lost through all of the streets, but we always eventually found water. We stood on a bridge and watched the gondolas pass by, it was a lovely evening, and the rain had stopped. We finally found a restaurant, and all we were in the mood for was some pizza and wine. We ate at a place that was very dark inside, with bricks and black walls. It was really nice and we conversed with our waiter about the Italian language. We were the only ones in there since we were eating kind of early and most people don’t eat till 7-9pm. Alex and I sat and conversed, laughed, told stories and reminisced on the past, and two hours later we finally finished eating and left the restaurant. It was a lot of fun! We then wandered the streets some more, until we ended up at Piazza San Marco. We decided to climb the Campanile di San Marco (the bell tower). It has an interesting story; in 1902 the bell tower tumbled to the ground, so the Venetians had to re-build it in order for it to be safe for people to climb. The view from the top was beautiful; I could see churches, the surrounding islands and red roofs all around. After our adventure to the top, we went and watched the Grand Canal and saw many boats pass by. We did some more wandering until our feet hurt and then we walked back to the hotel to go relax. We watched an episode of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, before quickly falling asleep. That was my day in a nutshell. Ciao!