Italia...

I'm not sure exactly why, but coming to Italy somehow feels like coming home. My mom's side of the family has some of the olive skin and dark hair typical of Italy, but I believe they are from Southern France. I don't know why I have such a passion for this country, but I do. I have been here four times and even though I cannot speak the language, nor really find my way around without a map, it still feels like home. I love this place!

Our overnight train was really quite pleasant. Perhaps that is because I am comparing it to our last overnight experience which was, to say the least, an adventure, but this one was not that bad. We were on beds, bunk style, in a small cabin with two other beds. One of the other people in our cabin was a young woman who taught English and Spanish at a school in the Austrian countryside. I enjoyed talking and learning from her. She taught at a vocational school for 15-19 year olds. The school was specifically for tree-growing and wine making. (Dad, maybe you could go for a while! :)) She said that most of the students boarded because it was the only school like that in Austria and that the school was 90% boys. She was headed to meet up with part of her school group who was visiting their sister school just outside of Venice. I have really loved learning about education in these other countries we have visited.

Our other cabin mate was a man who was very nice and seemed probably as uncomfortable being in there with three girls as we were with being in there with him. It really worked out fine though. I was never in a deep sleep, but I slept most of the time and felt relatively rested when I woke up.

We arrived in Venice! As the train station was crowded, we decided to try to figure things out on our own without a map. The hotel we are staying at had sent me directions. They told us which water bus (yes, water) to take and then the only directions said "walk through S. Bortolomeo Square and S. Lio Square - 10 meters before the San Lio Square you'll see a green door on the right side of the street." So with the help of a few kind strangers and those directions, we miraculously found our hotel. We were able to leave our luggage there, but not get into the hotel yet, which explains why we have taken the time to sit in the internet cafes and update our travels in the air conditioning.

The heat that we were lacking in Paris and Berlin, we are making up for here. It is in the 90's and very hot. But, I decided it would be this way at home too, so no reason to complain. (Of course if I was at home, I would probably be inside! :)) We are hot and sweaty, but so is everyone else, so when in Rome...

We ate an early lunch since we didn't really have much dinner or breakfast. I am so thrilled to be here with Italian food and I think Emily is as well! We sat and enjoyed incredible pizzas.... the food in Italy cannot be beat! We walked around for a while, went to San Marco Square and looked in some glass stores.

Our hotel, even though we haven't seen our room yet, seems great! It is a cute little place, doesn't look like there are very many rooms and it is only a couple minutes walk away from the Rialto bridge and about five minutes walk to San Marco's square. I am thrilled with the location!

If you haven't been to Venice before, it is quite the experience. So different from anywhere else in the world. There are no cars. The "streets" are incredibly narrow because it is just for people to walk along, no cars. The rivers and canals are the way you travel from place to place. So the public transportation is actually a boat, yes a boat. We rode on the water bus, which is similar to a small ferry just for people.

It always amazes me how beautiful this city is and how it was built. It was built onto a swamp and the whole city is built up on posts, yes posts. This would seem sort of understandable if it was a small city and all of the buildings were made of light wood, but no, these are giant stone buildings and a rather large city. Fascinating! Of course, the city is sinking slightly a little each year, so one day it may not be here. But we'll enjoy it while we can!

Soon we will go to our rooms and settle in a bit before meeting Angie at the water bus. Then our real adventure of the city will begin!