Venezia

Venice was incredible. Our trip could not have gone more smoothly. We had several close calls though. For instance, I completely misread the bus schedule to the Florence train station and had to run the whole three miles to make it to the bus on time. We switched trains 3 times before arriving in Venice, and I still don't know how we managed to do that successfully. Katie is an intuitive genius.

Once in Venice we navigated our way through dozens of charming and very narrow streets. The gondoliers were a treat. All were very attractive and charismatic (that's how they get you in the boat). Katie and I did not take a gondola ride, but we took lots of pictures of other people taking them! Other than strolling and window shopping there is not much to do in Venice, except feed the pigeons. In Piazza S. Marco there were people covered in pigeons and Katie and I had to join in. We bought some rice cakes and doled them out to whichever pigeons decided to land on our arms and shoulders. Only after we had scattered our last rice cake did we realize what we had done. RICE CAKES!!! We hightailed it out of there before pigeons started bursting right and left. We still aren't sure about the fate of those fat little birds, but my guess is they're ok....I hope.

We stayed in a hostel 30 minutes outside of the island. Again, we were very lucky to have found it in the dark. We stayed in a mobile home within a campsite. It was not what I had pictured my stay in Venice to be like, but when you're on a budget...besides, the bathrooms weren't that far away.

The next morning it rained, hard, all day. We spent that morning and the afternoon ducking in and out of glass shops. I found some Venetian coffee for my host family (since I consume so much of theirs) and some gelatini sweets for them as well.

I don't know if I will ever go back to Venice, but I am very glad to have gone. I will never forget the first Venetian we met. He walked behind us for about five minutes singing his own personal version of "Baby I Love Your Way." His version went a little like this: "Ooooo baby I love your EYES. I'll take you on a gondola ride. We'll buy expensive Murano glass. I want to be with you night and day." Definitely a memorable trip.