Venezia!

We boarded a train to head off to Venice bright an early in the morning after our Oktoberfest weekend. Rob was a bit smashed from all the drinking, and Kim was just plain tired! The train ride from Munich to Venice was about 5 hours. Rob surprised Kim by upgrading to first class seats so that we could have a bit more room to stretch out and catch some sleep if we wanted, since the journey was so long. Unfortunately, that train ride would turn out to be THE WORST train ride of both of their lives. There was a family of 4 on the train, with two daughters. One appeared to be about 11 and the other 4. The 4 year old was one of the worst behaved children I have ever encountered and on top of that, her parents were a couple who decided not to discipline their child at any time for anything she did... which was to stomp up and down for a good bit of the train ride and also screech and scream while she talked at all times. I’m not sure how many dirty looks you need to get from strangers before you do something with your child -- even taking her to the dining car to give everyone a little break would have been appreciated. Instead, Dad took pictures for the first three hours straight and mom just sat there.

Dad having a good ole time.

No words to describe.

Luckily, Kim remembered after 2 hours of this nonsense that she had my headphones, but even then the sounds of her voice on the very quiet train would penetrate her skull. Poor Rob was miserable and hungover and not a fan of the experience either. Karma came back around from this bad parental behavior as the family was also going to Venice for vacation -- Kim was wishing and hoping she didn’t end up seeing them there -- and at Verona they boarded a train for Venice which was leaving 10 minutes prior to ours. The father, for whatever reason, got off the train to look at the car... maybe he was checking the car number ... and while he was outside the door closed, locking his family inside and the train pulled away without him. Wonder how mom coped, and I am sure dad was just happy to continue to take pictures on his own.

Stranded-but with camera, so all is not lost for Dad.

We arrived at Venice on time and had about a five-minute walk from the train station to our hotel, dragging and lugging our giant bags behind us. Because Venice is virtually sinking into the sea, the streets and foundations of homes have shifted and moved and nothing is really flat where you walk. Trust me -- I tripped just about a dozen times from what appeared to be virtually nothing. We stayed at the La Locanda di Orsaria hotel, which was very nice and had fabric covering the walls.  The hotel was located in the Cannaregio district, and I was a bit concerned about booking a hotel  “so far away” from the action of Venice at St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto bridge. But I must say that the location was perfectly fine, and just a short and enjoyable ferry ride to the other side of the island for the sights we wanted to see.

Our room in Venice.

Venice fascinates me by how it is laid out. You have the Grand Canal running through it, where everyone from taxis, to garbage trucks (or rather, garbage boats), to the UPS guy, floats down the river. While we were there, we didn’t see one single car, which was so nice and refreshing.  The streets are laid out like a maze laced throughout the city, turning this way and that. You will eventually get to wherever you are going if you just keep moving forward. I enjoyed zig-zagging around and just taking in the architecture everywhere. I don’t think I saw one building I didn’t think was beautiful in some way and from the number of pictures I took of just “ordinary” buildings, I can safely say I loved it.

Making a delivery to a business Venice style.

View of the Grand Canal atop the Rialto bridge by night

The gondolas, however, we were a bit dubious about once looking at them from the street.  There are only 400 gondolas in existence today and are pretty much only used for tourists.  I really wanted to ride in one, but after we had only been there for a day, it came across as cheesy to me. The gondoliers were hustling people from all angles and many where yacking on their cell phones. A very different Venice from what it might have once been, I bet. This didn’t mean, however, that she didn’t want to take pictures of them -- they are iconic of Venice after all, right?

Expensive Water rides!

Frari Chruch

Kim's  favorite place that we visited, which was literally during our very last few hours in Venice, was the Frari Church. (Previously, her favorite church was St. Patrick's Church in Ottawa, Canada.) This church was absolutely, 100% magnificent. It was breathtaking and was really more like an art museum than a church. It completely takes you by surprise by how beautiful it is as the outside is slightly unassuming, but the inside pops with beauty, color, warmth, wood and stone. Every single thing she saw there left her gaping. Needless to say, there was a no photography policy, which left Kim saddened. However, she did end up being able to snap a few from the outside looking in through an open door. Even these pictures pale in comparison to the sheer awesomeness of this church.

Kim's second favorite would have to be the Doge’s Palace. It wasn’t necessarily the top thing we wanted to do in Venice, but the line was short so we tried it out. We had a Rick Steves guidebook with us and there were several self-guided tours, this being one of them. Learning about how this giant pink building came to be the symbol of a self-governed country was very interesting. Where can you actually make policy, live, govern, sentence, torture, imprison and kill all under one roof?

Doge's Palace to the right, Basilica to the left! Separation of church and state wasn't something they believed in!

St Mark's Square. That bell tower it literally leaning to the left!

We also visited St. Mark’s Basilica, which was very impressive as the entire ceiling isn’t painted as you might think, but is actually a mosaic. How long did it take to do these things?!?!?!? Dress code strictly enforced here: No bare shoulders or bare knees. It's pretty stressful to think about these things when you are sightseeing all day and its more than 80 degrees outside. We managed to "pass the test" though.

Last shot on the Scalzi Bridge before we left!

Kim was very sad to leave Venice after their very short stay, but was eager to visit their next stop: ROMA!