First Day in Venice, Italy

our breakfast on the train served in our cabin

the train station in Venice

the first view as you exit the train station

walking away from the train station as we try to find our hotel

the view down the canal toward our hotel. We are standing on top of the bridge across the canal

Danny and Brian watching the canal traffic

the brown building in the middle was our first coffee stop in Venice

a very tasteless hot chocolate. hot chocolate here is very thick but this tasted like warm instant pudding that was made with skim milk.

cappuccino

we walked by this church several times as we went back and forth to the train station but never went in.

we found out later in our trip that this is NOT real gelato. It's made with a mix.

Murano, Italy

tall skinny coke cans

Carbonara...my first and it was delicious

pasta with bolognese (meat sauce)

Sara Beth's tortellini...also delicious

Danny's gnocchi in cheese sauce.

Murano, Italy

a vegetable vendor

Murano, Italy

Murano, Italy

Murano, Italy

the super narrow streets of Venice. Danny was surprised that there were so many streets. He thought it would be mostly canals.

wash on the line

yummy gelato stop

this probably isn't the "real" stuff, but it sure was good

Santa Maria Formosa Church

Asking for a coffee will get you an espresso. Asking for an "american coffee" will get you an espresso with hot water added to it to thin it. This stuff is strong!

one of many cisterns throughout the city that once collected rainwater for the city's water supply

Rialto Bridge...the oldest bridge across the canal

a bit of graffiti demonstrating their distaste for the cruise ships that dump people into the city.

wonderful chocolate shop and the smell when you enter is heavenly

our dinner spot

Brian's sesame seed coated Tuna

Danny's Sea Bass

Sara Beth's scallops and gnocchi

Steak with a red wine sauce..looks nasty, but it was really good. That's a lot of sauce!

nighttime reflections

delicious gelato. Don't know if this was real or not, but it was really good.

Well the night train from Vienna to Venice definitely was an adventure. Thanks to the Meclizine (anti-motion medicine), I was able to survive the rockin and rollin of our sleeper car. We had booked a sleeper compartment for two people, but the compartment could actually hold three people and I can't imagine where the third person could possibly have fit! We were able to get some sleep in even with the stopping, starting, slowing down and speeding up of the train. We had breakfast this morning served by our conductor/attendant person and it was really pretty good and filling. We arrived at St. Lucia station in Venice about 8:30 a.m. We walked with our bags about 15-20 minutes to our hotel and only had to go up and down one bridge. This may not seem like much, but it's pretty warm here in Venice and we were hot and sweating by the time we got to the hotel. Our rooms were not ready, but we weren't expecting them to be, so the hotel stored our luggage for us so we could go out and explore the town. The coffee on the train was pretty nasty so we found a little coffee shop across the canal from our hotel and sat down for a cappuccino and hot chocolate. We went back to the train station and bought Vaporetto (the public water bus) passes, Danny found an ATM and the Howards exchanged some money. We took the Vaporetto to the island of Murano to see the Murano glass. There was store after store after store of everything you can think of made of colorful glass and the sun was beating down on us which only made us hotter. We ate a fabulous lunch at a restaurant on Murano that we could never find the name of. It was our first Italian food and it was so yummy! We were tasting each other's dishes and each of us thought we had the best one! We wandered from shop to shop for awhile until we got tired of looking and then we took the Vaporetto back to Venice. Even though we had destinations in mind and were actually following our map, we found ourselves wandering in and out of the most unusual alleyways and streets. Every time we turned a corner or walked over a bridge there was a new view and every view was beautiful. Every street is cobblestones and throughout the day, our feet began to really hurt. Danny and I eventually headed back to the hotel for a shower and to get ready for dinner. The Howards stopped for some refreshments before doing the same. The Italians eat dinner about 9:00 p.m. We managed to make it to 8 p.m. before we went in search of our dinner spot. We ate dinner near our hotel at Osteria Bea Vita. Our dinner was different than lunch so there was really no comparison there, but it was still good. One piece of advice if you eat there, skip the scallops. We went back to our hotel a different way and found some yummy gelato for dessert. We are back in the hotel and contemplating what we will do tomorrow after picking up Frank and Sheron from the train station.