Venice - The City Built on Water!!!

Our last day of school was Tuesday and that night I hopped on a train with Morgan, Katie, and Brittany for VENICE.  I don't think that in my wildest dreams prior to this European Adventure I would have imagined sailing through the waterways of Venice, Italy!  But so it was and I had a little jump for joy the entire trip (minus the TRYING to sleep part).

Riding on a train was becoming near second nature for me.  But I don't think I could have envisioned just the sleeping all night part!  Thankfully, the only people in our cabin were 3 of us (Katie, me, and this guy!).  The seats all slide down to make a complete bed.  Although the bed was semi comfortable, I didn't sleep much at all.  No worries...I awoke to some fabulous views of the Alps.  The morning sunlight was beautiful...much more gorgeous than the pictures show.  I am glad that I was awake to see it, regardless of being so very very tired!

We got to Venice the next morning...hopped off one train and onto another back to our hotel!  We got there JUST IN TIME for breakfast - and caught them before they closed it all up!  Showers were next (Venice was much more hot and humid than Vienna - reminded me of home) and then into the city!  I really didn't know what to expect in the way of how I felt.  I had seen pictures and heard how beautiful it was....but they paled in comparison as to what I saw and experienced!  I was truly amazed!  Truly!!  And the entire time I was baffled as to how they built a city on the water.  I have since looked it up and checked out the good old google and 'wikipedia' way to see that it is really built on like 117 little islands in a Lagoon in the Adriatic Sea.  People settled there in 421 AD...holy cow!  Did that date REALLY exist!!!!  THAT alone baffles my brain.  America is such a baby in relation to the rest of the world!  But still....to know that it was built without machinery and all the fancy do dahs that we have now....AND in the middle of the water!  I think that will FOREVER boggle this little brain of mine.

We saw the Basilica - built in 829, the 3rd renovation in 1019 (yeah...like 1200 years ago!).  It was stunningly beautiful inside.  Out of respect everyone had to cover their shoulders and legs.  What a beautiful sight (the Basilica AND the make shift shawls they had to wear!)

ALL the sights were beautiful in their own way...the size, the age, the construction, the wear and tear!  It was so amazing!

We spent our day just walking around seeing the sights.  We ate lunch late and wanted to eat right on the water.  However, in order to have a table on the water you have to order something BIG at certain places.  We just merely wanted pizza...so we went somewhere else!  The waiter was super nice and we had a good time.  THIS experience was a first for me - the ENTIRE trip I would joke about my overpriced water being BIGGER (because it was taller - and yes...skinnier) than the less priced beer.  I told them that HERE IN VENICE I would pay LESS and get MORE.  I had been saying that all along, but this time it really was true!

totally legit....more water for less money!!!!

 

All along we had decided that we WOULD be paying the price for a gondola ride....a lot of money, but a once in a lifetime event which means it's a must!

Oh, what fun!  I told the girls that they had to choose the best looking guy since he would most likely be in our pictures.  This guy didn't really sing for us...but gave us lots of fun information.

Let's see...what other fun things...??? (besides a slide show of all the cool sights and stunning views)

Ok - here's some laughs (some with a pic, some without)

• Morgan woke up on the train that first morning in having had a dream of me riding by her on a Vespa waving.  She woke up with a bloody nose so wondered if the dream was real and that I came by and slugged her.  I laughed and laughed...not that I wanted to hurt her, but just a funny dream.  And then I see this sweatshirt and I SHOULD have bought it IMMEDIATELY because by the time I got back the store was closed and I lost my chance.  I WILL find a way to make one...mark my words!!
• Morgan wanted to get a sailor's hat for a friend.  We walked all over and she wanted the black one.  She had seen it for cheap and we walked back looking for that best price.  I totally led her astray (accidentally, of course) and we bought one just to find the cheaper one a few booths away!
• I think this one might be the most funny as well as the hardest, most mean!  I had found JUST the sweatshirt I wanted for Spencer.  It was TOTALLY him.  I had to do something so had Morgan go pick it out.  When I got back she had it all ready for me to purchase.  I paid for it and walked out with the bag.  About that time she and the clerk began laughing and laughing.  I wondered what the joke on me was and she wouldn't say.  I finally let it go KNOWING she would NOT tell me.  We got on the train BACK to our hotel and I looked through my black hole of a bag for my camera so I could look at pics from the day....only to find it WAS NOT there!  OH BOY!!!  I had ALREADY lost some pics from Dorgastein...surely I couldn't lose my CAMERA too!  I always put it in my bag...but apparently NOT this time!  She let me get pretty flustered digging through my bag.  Finally I started taking EVERYTHING out and had decided it MUST be in that shop so I was going to get off the train and catch the next one.  I have NO idea how my face looked.  I just know how desperate and horrible I felt.  Just as I was about to get off she showed me my camera.  Sure enough...the clerk had picked it up and handed it to Morgan making sure Morgan didn't tell me (hence the laughter as the joke really WAS on me).  I wondered why on the train Morgan, usually very sensitive, wasn't even really caring or saying much!  Boy....super funny NOW but not so much while I was frantically searching in vain for my camera!!!!
• Only ONE ice cream (gelato) in Italy ... where it is from!
• The men yelling at each other on the water bus...we had no idea what was going on since we (again) didn't know the language.
• Sadly, the AC in our hotel didn't work so well.

All in all it was a fabulous time!  The island of Murano where they blow glass was really cool.  Shop after shop after shop after shop.  Interesting how some are overpriced and some reasonable...seemingly for very similar items.  Some, of course, were stunning and were high priced legitimately!  While there we had a cool 3 course meal.  It is so funny to me that the salad comes LAST!  They begin with PASTA!  It was good....and huge (which was nice because even tho we had said that we WOULD NOT wait so long to eat...it was nearly 4:30 before we had lunch).  Since I was leaving we didn't have a lot of time.  We searched and found (in our characteristic way of going the long way around) the Jewish Ghetto and then ventured back to the Clock Tower to ride up and get the best view of all! 

THIS was a perfect last thing to do in Venice with my new awesome friends (thanks Morgan and Katie!!!)...and in Europe, for that matter!

My favorite parts?

• Water buses
• View from the Clock Tower to close the trip for me 
• The views all over
• ALL the water
• The gondola ride
• Paying LESS for MORE water
• Not being able to fully comprehend how it was built on water so very very long ago
• The age of things
• More walking and stories with friends

I'm ultimately glad I went to Venice.  It was such a good time.  Seeing things I may never see again....priceless!

Enjoy the pics!