Boats, Trains, and Automobiles

A weekend of traveling, and by several different means. On Monday Barbara, Andrea and I decided to go to Venice. By Thursday we still hadn't booked lodging or train tickets and Andrea decided not to go. So that night I found the two of us a place to stay near the train station and Barbara bought our train tickets Friday morning. We were proud of ourselves that we did everything without any help and at the last minute. Because it is November, going somewhere on the water isn't as popular as going skiing, so we didn't really have to worry about booking things early.

On Saturday, Barbara and I left Torino at 9. Our train was 5 hours so we had time to catch up on the sleep we don't normally get during the week. We arrived in Venice (not really it was far from the center but still considered Venice on the map) and then tried to find our Hostel. It didn't take as long as I thought and when we arrived we couldn't help but laugh. It was very meek and the room was very plain...plus kinda falling apart. The door didn't open all the way unless you hit it like a football tackler and the door to the bathroom was an accordian door and only shut on one side at a time. The wallpaper was also falling off the walls but my favorite part of the room was the fact that the shower contained both the toliet, sink and bidet in a 4' x4' box. But on a more serious note the beds were the best I have slept in in Italy and the pillow was awesome, I definatley slept like a Chevy. After we put our things away, we got a map from the front desk and figured out how to get to the center of Venice. Come to find out our hotel was about a 20 minute bus ride from the center and required an additional 10 minute boat ride to St. Mark's square. We arrived in the center at dusk and watched a beautiful sunset from our boat. The weather had been turning cold all week and by Saturday, Venice was more than a little chilly-we're talking gloves, hat, scarf, the whole nine yards. We got off the boat and opted to walk around rather than having a specific destination in mind. We found a piazza totally abandoned and claimed it as our own personal piazza. We continued to walk around and then decided to see some of the more famous sites. We went to the Rialto bridge and looked at all the shops in the open air market. We took a boat from place to place so we could try to stay warm inside the boat. We decided to eat at this little restaruant tucked away from tourists. The food was good and the owners were very friendly. Even though we were in a very touristy city we still had to use our Italian-unlike Florence where knowing the native language is not necessary. Because the ride home took over 30 minutes we decided to leave the island after dinner and get some sleep so we could start fresh on Sunday-oh yeah we also had to defrost.

On Sunday morning we slept until 8:30-oh so nice-and then went down to checkout. We left our baggage there and went back to the main island. When we arrived we decided to take a boat to the island of Murano-famous for its amazing and expensive glass. I met a nice couple from Kentucky on the boat ride and Barbara was excited because she met a family from Czech so she could also speak in her mother tounge. When we arrived we went to an authentic glass workshop. Although the man was not blowing glass that moment the fires were turned on and we saw some of his latest pieces. Utterly amazing...if ever I decide to change careers I think I will become a "glass artist". The weather was colder than the night before so we had cappucini (cappucinos in Italian) to warm up and then continued to shop around the island, going from one glass store to the next. In one store I found the most beautiful manger set of eight, complete with a horse and cow to keep baby Jesus company. Joseph's robe was a rich red and orange color with flower-looking things on it-Hippy Joseph in his early years I guess. I would have loved to buy it and take it back home but then I remembered that I am only a poor babysitter so I left the store with just a mental picture of the set. We took the boat back to the center of Venice and bought tickets to the Plazzo Ducale-Doge's or mayor Palace. The palace was also used at the senate house and location for all things government back in the day. We saw all the senate rooms and courtrooms complete with art from Titian and Tintoretto. The senate room housed the largest oil painting in the world by Tintoretto-WOW. After seeing the courts we went down to the dungeon where the prison cells were. In order to get to the prison you have to pass over the bridge of sighs-where the prisioners would udder their final public sighs. Casanova made this imfamous walk when we was sentenced. When we escaped from jail we went straight to church....St. Mark's Basilica which is right next to the palace. Everytime I go into an Italian church I try to rank it and see which one is my favorite. This church wins the prize as my favorite church in Italy. The outside has a few glass mosaics at the entrance but the inside is covered!! The ceilings are covered in tiny gold glass and Biblical pictures adorn the walls. There is a cast iron chandiler in the shape of a cross hanging towards the front when you enter. Unfortunately pictures weren't allowed, but I bought postcards to put in my scrapbook. By the time we left the church we had enough time to visit the Rialto bridge again-with daylight-and get a few photos. We went back to the bus stop but had just missed the bus and didn't think we could wait 20 minutes for the next one. So we took a taxi back to our hostel. When we got to the hostel we picked up our bags and talked to the man at the front desk for a few minutes. "Uncle George" told us about living in Greece and showed us a nice place to get a cheap lunch before our train. Unfortunately the cafe didn't have any sandwiches left so we went to the train station and ate a quick lunch there. At 10 after 4 we headed back to Torino. At Padua a man joined our cabin and we talked to him until we got to Torino. We forgot to validate our ticket before we boarded and when the ticket man came by he nicely told us we have to do this EVERYTIME. Oh we felt really bad, but fortunately he was nice and didn't give us the usual 50 euro fine. The man in our cabin turned out to be a policman from Venice but told us not to worry about the ticket-we got off easy. He was really nice and we talked about everything from Venice, politics and sports. When we got to Torino we found a nice CHEAP thai restaraunt close to the station and relaxed for the final time before the grind of the work week started. The trip was a huge success and Venice proves to be my favorite city to visit in Italy-Torino being the number one to live in of course.
PS-The pictures are up on the website.