Catch-up Post: Venice

Even though we were fully prepared for it, Venice thoroughly blew my mind. It was great to step off the train and walk right into the heart of Venice, rather than having to catch a bus or a subway to get to the center of town. This time we had to ride the mass transit ferry to our hostel on the island of Lido. Now whenever I think of our hostel I think of that song...”Lido, whoa ohh wahooah ohhhh”. You know what song I'm thinking of. The island of Lido is actually really nice. It's much quieter then the central island, it's slower paced, food and drinks are cheaper, but it still has the canals and the nice scenery. Once we checked in, we walked to the beach nearby that supposedly has a shipwreck, but we didn't find anything.

Our first full day we headed back on the ferry to the main island. Our first stop was San Marco square. I think the San Marco cathedral and square is one of my favorite spots on this trip so far. The church itself is very interesting inside. It was built in a Byzantine style, which was different than the Romanesque churches of the rest of Italy, and so it feels very different than the other churches we have been in. Apparently the church holds relics from the 4th crusade, as well. So, after admiring the church some more, we headed out to explore the island. We didn't have any particular place in mind to go, so we just walked random streets until we were blocked by water. Eventually we decided to check out the island of Murano, where all the Venetian glassmakers have their shops. After walking for some time, we fortunately came across a shop where we were able to see some glassblowers in action. Pretty rad. We were getting hungry so we took the ferry back to the main island, ate an overpriced pizza, and headed back to Lido.

I did notice that Venice has a lot more tourists and school groups around. It's nice in some respect because you don't feel so exposed as a foreigner, but it can feel like you're not getting the full experience being around so many tourists. I guess it kind of feels like a Historical theme park, with real people actually living there. Anyhow, it's very beautiful and I would love to go back again.

I promise I will post pictures of Milan and Venice within the next couple of days.