We are now in Venice!!!! We woke up at 6:45am to get ready and head down for breakfast. We had our "usual" breakfast except it was in fast forward because we started getting a little anxious about our first train ride and validating our tickets. We scarfed our food and left a lot :( had to keep our reputation of wasteful Americans. Oops!! We checked out and hailed a taxi to Termini Station. Once inside the station I had validation duty and Adam had find the train track duty. We were both successful!! After standing in line to get our passes validated we had to wait a little while for our train to arrive. Instead of being relieved that we weren't stressed and we got all tasks accomplished without much hesitation... Adam said "we could have had a longer breakfast" his mind never leaves food!!! He was fine once I told him that our first class train tickets came with drinks and snacks. After a large Asian tour group took over our cabin and insisted everyone already seated was in the wrong seats... we were able to take off on our three and a half hour journey to Venice.
After a few moments on the train we soon found out that our "drinks and snacks" were a shot glass of coke or coffee and your choice of "sweet or salty" cookies or breadsticks. AND you only get it once. We made a few stops along the way and only the "new" passengers were asked their order. SO... good thing "snack rabbit" was prepared ;) While Adam napped I planned our transportation in Venice ie: water taxi and also reviewed restaurant suggestions courtesy of Mr. Steves. I don't really know what we would be doing without Rick... I would suggest his book to EVERYONE! Almost every meal we have had so far is from his recommendation. So, while planning our transportation once in Venice I found out our train ticket didn't get us all the way to the city... Wonderful!!! So with my awesome sales skills..haha... I negotiated with the train attendant to let us stay on :) YEA!!!
Once we arrived in Venice we followed our directions to buy a water taxi pass and take it to a specific stop. We had very shotty directions to the hotel from the taxi "Get off at Rialto stop. Then turn right, then turn left into Calle Larga Mazzini, After 70 meters, turn left and proceed on Marzaria 2 Aprile. After 50 meters, then turn right into Calle die Stagneri...." You get the point. Needless to say neither Adam nor I could figure out where the H#!! we were supposed to be going! And remember we both have 50 pound bags and backpacks!!! AND on top of that you can't give up and hail a taxi because there are no cars in Venice!!! Every person we asked had no idea where our hotel or street was... we about had it! Until we were pretty close and asked one more person that led us to the hotel!!!! What a relief!!! Our hotel is very nice. We are very pleased.
After dropping our things in the room we headed out for lunch and to explore our new city. We realized coming into Venice today that we can't get frustrated because this same situation is going to happen in every new city we visit and then we will become comfortable and figure it out... which we did by the end of the night.
We did have a little bit of our first foreigner mistake today! We set off from our hotel for lunch at a Rick Steves restaurant only to find out that it was closed for siesta... so we walked a little further and found a restaurant that looked pretty good. We went inside, sat down and looked at the menu. They were known for their "fancy bread" so Adam and I each ordered one. We had seen some men sitting outside eating what looked to be brochette so we assumed that was the "fancy bread" only to our surprise that when the bread came out it was the size of a large dinner plate. WOW!!! And then... we got the bill.... 38 Euro for lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it wasn't great! We thought back and now know where we went wrong... the "fancy bread" was the only thing on the menu without a price! We will not do that again! OOPS!!!
From the books we have read about Venice they say to get lost in the city. Because it is an island you can't get too lost. So that is what we did after lunch. We walked until we got to the end of the island and then turned and walked the perimeter. We walked pretty far but the coolest part was that it was quiet, away from all the tourists in real neighborhoods. lt was so cool to see all the kids playing and the moms standing around talking... just like in the USA except we don't do it in a huge church square with canals running through and patios where you can enjoy a beverage!!! I fell in love with one little boy. Adam took a picture of him so we will upload it :) Wish I could have brought him home with me. He was adorable... one day I am sure we will see him on TV playing soccer... he was GOOD for a three year old :)
We came back to the hotel for a bit to relax and Skype with our parents!!! YEA!!! It was nice to see them! In Rome our internet wasn't great so we could only talk briefly with our parents before getting knocked off.... so this was a great treat!! We were only in the room for a minute before heading back out for dinner. This time we went back to the restaurant we tried for lunch and got in after about a 30 minute wait. WOW was it worth every minute!!! We had salad and pizza... I know that seems to be a staple but number one we can't get enough and two we can't read the menu :( So that is about all we know how to order. It had to be the best pizza I have EVER had! Tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta and spinach... oh man I want some more!
We made a quick trip over to Saint Mark's Basilica and Square but honestly it was flooded and Adam and I were tired and wanted to get back to the hotel so we didn't spend a lot of time there. We will go back after our tour tomorrow.
That's about it from Venice.... one more thing... when we get back to our room at night our bed is turned down and in Rome we had Good Night rugs by each side of our bed and in this hotel we have slippers... Adam just put the one size fits all slippers on and is wearing them around the room hahahaha... he is hilarious!!! It is a sight! It reminds me of a guy wearing high heals because he is walking so awkwardly :)
Night night! Love you all!!!
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