Mom, I promise to update soon. Venice has no Internet close. We are leaving for Florence today. I will update then :) love you!!..
June 20-22 Venice
June 22
AHHHHH! We are in Florence. The train was smooth and everything was great until we arrived at our hostel, but I will tell you more about that after I fill you in on Venice. Venice was absolutely everything we ever imagined it to be. It is one beautiful canal and bridge after another. It is 100 percent wheeled vehicle free. The boats are used as buses, taxis, cars, and trucks. There are no bikes, scooters, or motorcycles either. We would watch them ship produce and other products in on boats every morning, and we even road on the bus boats ourselves. Our train ride from Munich to Venice was a piece of cake, but I couldn't rest because of what happened to us from Paris to Munich. I just knew the conductor would tell us, any minute, that we needed to get off and get on another bus, or train, or maybe boat. I know I am neurotic, but what can I do? We quickly learned that Venice is no ordinary city. We walked over our first few bridges, and down a couple of long alleyways, and were completely lost. It took us over an hour to find our unmarked hostel. When we got there, we almost wished we hadn't found it. We walked in, and there were huge rooms full of beds, partly separated form the main room with curtains, and there were young drunk people everywhere (probably about 50) waiting for the free dinner. We quickly discovered that there were only two bathrooms for these fifty people, and both were full. We were told, by the American worker, that we would have to stay at a "sister hostel" that was a three minute walk away, and that he would take us after dinner, which we were apparently right on time for. We assume this is because we do not look you enough, hip enough, or fun enough to hang with that particular crowd. About an hour later dinner was served, and shortly after, we were walked all the way across the island to our new hostel home. It, however, was much quieter. We stayed in a room with a couple from New Zealand, and we shared a bathroom with about ten people. I forgot to mention that at the first hostel the owners, who apparently owned both hostels, were screaming at each other in Italian. They were two men, and Cody and I thought it would come to blows at any minute, but it didn't. This screaming occurred regularly at our hostel, because the owners lived there. Besides the occasional screaming Italians, it was nice and quiet at our new hostel, but was further from the important sites, and the showers were freezing cold. The New Zealanders were not all that friendly, and Cody must have really hated them, because he shouted, "Send those Australians back!" in his sleep, and I had to wake him up to get him to stop sleep talking. Other than that short list of negatives ;) we loved Venice. It is a wonderful vacation spot. We went to St. Mark's square the first night, and it was beautiful. Orchestras were playing at outdoor cafes and people were dancing. The Basilica is one of the most amazing buildings we have seen yet. We also went to the Rialto Bridge which was beautifully lit at night. We took lots of pictures. The next day we woke up and decided to do the whole museum thing, so we went to an art and natural history museum and saw the typical ancient paintings and statues.:) It was really neat and we learned a lot about the history of Venice. We saw a coin collection from the beginning of currency it seemed; many of the coins had been discovered by accident, and this fueled Cody's desire to hunt for treasure. We also saw a mummy.....Anyway, the most interesting museum was in the building attached to St. Mark's Basilica. It was the Doge's Palace. Doge is a term for the highest ranking nobleman in Venice, like a King, or Head of State. This place was decked out with gold and art. We saw armories and what is apparently one of the largest rooms in Europe where the business of the government was conducted back in the day. The artwork in this place was amazing. It was more or less a bunch of paintings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, along with scenes of battles fought in Venice. It was a really cool place. After the museum, we had our first of like five servings of Gelato. It was SO good!!! Then we went to the Rialto Market next to the Rialto Bridge. It is a colorful fresh produce market. We bought some cherries and prayed that we wouldn’t get Eccoli. Then, we went to crazy commune house and had our free pasta, and two bottles of cheap wine we bought at the grocery store. Cody got drunk and started talking to a Korean girl. Just kidding, kinda. We became fast friends and went out with her for more gelato. Then we went to bed. :) The next day we decided to try our hand at the water buses, and we headed to Murano, Burano, and Torcello, three of the islands off of the island of Venice.. Murano is where they make glass, and we were herded into a glass factory to watch a" free" demonstration. The catch was that everyone must leave through the gift shop and was highly encouraged to buy some of the beautiful glass. :) It really was cool and beautiful. From there, we took another boat to Burano which is an AWESOME little place with a leaning clock tower and houses painted all different colors. It is known for handmade lace, which was being sold everywhere. Don't worry I took LOTS of pictures. Torcello was different from all of the other islands. It was REALLY tiny and was home to a 1500 year old church, which upon entering was like being transported to a another time. Torcello was also home to Atilla the Huns stone throne in which we took some time to sit and rest. After leaving the islands we went back home, bought more wine and sandwich stuff and had lunch. Then we got lost trying to find St. Mark's square again. We found it, and went inside the Basilica (we couldn't go in the day before because I had my shoulders uncovered and we couldn't find the place to leave our bag, even after asking) I covered my shoulders with a scarf this day and we didn't bring the bag. It was definitely worth the trouble. The entire ceiling of this place is covered in mosaics. The tiniest tiles create intricate detail.. It was fantastic! After that, we had our wine and our free dinner and went to sleep :) We got up this morning bought some more cherries at a local market and hopped on our train to Florence. All was well and good, we found our hostel, and then............no one was there, and the guy I called tried to say we didn't have a reservation. I went a bit crazy and he put us up in a nicer hotel down the street and paid the difference in price. :) The story is a bit more complicated, but I am running out of minutes in this hot sweaty internet place :) We are going to do some walking around and will probably eat tripe on a bun for dinner, a local delicacy :) We love and miss you. Hope all is well. I will write all about Florence soon...
June 20-22 Venice
June 22
AHHHHH! We are in Florence. The train was smooth and everything was great until we arrived at our hostel, but I will tell you more about that after I fill you in on Venice. Venice was absolutely everything we ever imagined it to be. It is one beautiful canal and bridge after another. It is 100 percent wheeled vehicle free. The boats are used as buses, taxis, cars, and trucks. There are no bikes, scooters, or motorcycles either. We would watch them ship produce and other products in on boats every morning, and we even road on the bus boats ourselves. Our train ride from Munich to Venice was a piece of cake, but I couldn't rest because of what happened to us from Paris to Munich. I just knew the conductor would tell us, any minute, that we needed to get off and get on another bus, or train, or maybe boat. I know I am neurotic, but what can I do? We quickly learned that Venice is no ordinary city. We walked over our first few bridges, and down a couple of long alleyways, and were completely lost. It took us over an hour to find our unmarked hostel. When we got there, we almost wished we hadn't found it. We walked in, and there were huge rooms full of beds, partly separated form the main room with curtains, and there were young drunk people everywhere (probably about 50) waiting for the free dinner. We quickly discovered that there were only two bathrooms for these fifty people, and both were full. We were told, by the American worker, that we would have to stay at a "sister hostel" that was a three minute walk away, and that he would take us after dinner, which we were apparently right on time for. We assume this is because we do not look you enough, hip enough, or fun enough to hang with that particular crowd. About an hour later dinner was served, and shortly after, we were walked all the way across the island to our new hostel home. It, however, was much quieter. We stayed in a room with a couple from New Zealand, and we shared a bathroom with about ten people. I forgot to mention that at the first hostel the owners, who apparently owned both hostels, were screaming at each other in Italian. They were two men, and Cody and I thought it would come to blows at any minute, but it didn't. This screaming occurred regularly at our hostel, because the owners lived there. Besides the occasional screaming Italians, it was nice and quiet at our new hostel, but was further from the important sites, and the showers were freezing cold. The New Zealanders were not all that friendly, and Cody must have really hated them, because he shouted, "Send those Australians back!" in his sleep, and I had to wake him up to get him to stop sleep talking. Other than that short list of negatives ;) we loved Venice. It is a wonderful vacation spot. We went to St. Mark's square the first night, and it was beautiful. Orchestras were playing at outdoor cafes and people were dancing. The Basilica is one of the most amazing buildings we have seen yet. We also went to the Rialto Bridge which was beautifully lit at night. We took lots of pictures. The next day we woke up and decided to do the whole museum thing, so we went to an art and natural history museum and saw the typical ancient paintings and statues.:) It was really neat and we learned a lot about the history of Venice. We saw a coin collection from the beginning of currency it seemed; many of the coins had been discovered by accident, and this fueled Cody's desire to hunt for treasure. We also saw a mummy.....Anyway, the most interesting museum was in the building attached to St. Mark's Basilica. It was the Doge's Palace. Doge is a term for the highest ranking nobleman in Venice, like a King, or Head of State. This place was decked out with gold and art. We saw armories and what is apparently one of the largest rooms in Europe where the business of the government was conducted back in the day. The artwork in this place was amazing. It was more or less a bunch of paintings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, along with scenes of battles fought in Venice. It was a really cool place. After the museum, we had our first of like five servings of Gelato. It was SO good!!! Then we went to the Rialto Market next to the Rialto Bridge. It is a colorful fresh produce market. We bought some cherries and prayed that we wouldn’t get Eccoli. Then, we went to crazy commune house and had our free pasta, and two bottles of cheap wine we bought at the grocery store. Cody got drunk and started talking to a Korean girl. Just kidding, kinda. We became fast friends and went out with her for more gelato. Then we went to bed. :) The next day we decided to try our hand at the water buses, and we headed to Murano, Burano, and Torcello, three of the islands off of the island of Venice.. Murano is where they make glass, and we were herded into a glass factory to watch a" free" demonstration. The catch was that everyone must leave through the gift shop and was highly encouraged to buy some of the beautiful glass. :) It really was cool and beautiful. From there, we took another boat to Burano which is an AWESOME little place with a leaning clock tower and houses painted all different colors. It is known for handmade lace, which was being sold everywhere. Don't worry I took LOTS of pictures. Torcello was different from all of the other islands. It was REALLY tiny and was home to a 1500 year old church, which upon entering was like being transported to a another time. Torcello was also home to Atilla the Huns stone throne in which we took some time to sit and rest. After leaving the islands we went back home, bought more wine and sandwich stuff and had lunch. Then we got lost trying to find St. Mark's square again. We found it, and went inside the Basilica (we couldn't go in the day before because I had my shoulders uncovered and we couldn't find the place to leave our bag, even after asking) I covered my shoulders with a scarf this day and we didn't bring the bag. It was definitely worth the trouble. The entire ceiling of this place is covered in mosaics. The tiniest tiles create intricate detail.. It was fantastic! After that, we had our wine and our free dinner and went to sleep :) We got up this morning bought some more cherries at a local market and hopped on our train to Florence. All was well and good, we found our hostel, and then............no one was there, and the guy I called tried to say we didn't have a reservation. I went a bit crazy and he put us up in a nicer hotel down the street and paid the difference in price. :) The story is a bit more complicated, but I am running out of minutes in this hot sweaty internet place :) We are going to do some walking around and will probably eat tripe on a bun for dinner, a local delicacy :) We love and miss you. Hope all is well. I will write all about Florence soon...
Bridge over the canal in front of our hostel.
Gelato! YUMMMMM!
Rialto Bridge our first night in Venice.
Venice was Beautiful!
Cody bought his favorite, cherries, at the fresh produce market in Venice :)
St. Mark's Basilica in the famous city square.
St. Mark's square.
The cathedral viewed from Doge's Palace.
These ornate masks were all over Venice.
Gelato, again!
Wine on the balcony of our hostel.
Glass blowing demonstration on the island of Murano.
Burano. We loved the crazy colors :)
Lace Fans
Colorful tile gateway into a residence.
Burano's leaning clock-tower.
The island of Torcello
Ancient Cathedral on the island of Torcello
Stone chair thought to be the throne of Attila the Hun
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