Where in the World is Chelsea Gibbs?: Hello Venice

We're in Venice! It's absolutely gorgeous and it looks just like it does in pictures. I couldn't write a post last night because the internet was going in and out. Getting here wasn't as stressful as getting from Rome to Florence. The Florence station was much easier to find and much smaller. We ate breakfast at our hostel and checked out. Rode the bus and made it with no problems to the train station in Florence. We had to make reservations on the train to Venice, so I stood with the bags again while mom got in line. There weren't nearly as many interesting people in the Florence train station but a few that stood out were:

- A guy leisurely riding his bike through the station
- An old guy with white hair moving at a pace of about half a foot per step, looking pretty confused. He was getting there though.
- A girl that had on a dress... with boots and a beanie... in July...
- Old guy with Hawaiian print shorts, knee high socks, sneakers and a man bag.
- Lots of fanny packs
- Lots of backpackers, all playing the part, looking dirty.
- A family of Asians, rolling 12 deep.

We rode in first class on the train this time, which was nice. We weren't aware we had seat assignments though, which provided some confusion at first. The train ride to Venice only took a little over 2 hours since we were on a fast train this time. When we got to Venice, we were confused about the boat system. We knew we had to get on some kind of water bus, but we didn't know where to purchase the tickets and then where to get on the boat. We finally figured out the ticket thing and where the right water bus was, so we sat down on what we though was the water bus with a bunch of Asians, and figured it would just start going. About five minutes later a boat pulls up and lets people off. I was already frustrated at this point, and I felt like a complete idiot, because I realized that we were sitting on a docking platform, not the actual boat. It had no motor, no captain, nothing. Being from a coastal town, I shouldn't have been so naive. I guess traveling does that to you. So, I explained to mom that we weren't on a boat, that the boat would come pick us up from the thing we were sitting on. It did eventually and the boat ride was pretty. It's actually chilly in Venice. Nothing like it was 3 days ago in Rome. Very windy and probably about 20 degrees cooler. It's a nice break from the heat though.

When we arrived to our "bus" stop, we got off and our B&B was fairly easy to find. The courtyard is really beautiful and the room is nice, and has AC, even though we don't need it anymore! We decided to explore and get something to eat, so that's what we did. We didn't get lost! We walked across lots of little bridges, saw the gondolas (which cost at least 100 Euros per ride) and took over 100 pictures. Dinner was okay, we just ate some pizza. When we were done, we walked back towards where the water bus dropped us off and wanted to find a spot where we could watch the sunset. We found a really pretty spot where we could see part of it, but we couldn't see it go all the way down. Mom had to pee really bad (hope she doesn't mind me putting that on here) and there aren't many public bathrooms around. If there are, you have to pay. It was an ordeal trying to find somewhere to go, so we finally just hightailed it back to the room. It was really getting chilly by then.

Best things about yesterday: Making it here! It's gorgeous! Watching the sunset over the canal.
Worst things about yesterday: Traveling.

Today we're going to explore and see San Marco's square, and ride around in the water bus more, since we have a 48 hour pass. Venice is very beautiful and definitely worth seeing!