Venice
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
20
27
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
Venice,
Veneto,
Italy
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
August 6, 2008:
Today I headed into Venice. The camp ground is just outside of the city and there is a shuttle that takes you to the main bus station. The bus again had air conditioning :) We drove on a long highway that if you have seen pictures or a map of Venice, it is just a road in the middle of the ocean and it is pretty long. A little crazy! I arrived at the main station and wandered over by the Grande Canal. My first sight of Venice was exactly what I had imaged it to be bridges and buildings right on the water. It just got better once I got on the public transport which yes was a boat! I did not have the luxury of taking a private Gondola as each ride is about 45 minutes and the equivalent to about $150 CDN. The $4 water bus was just fine!
The main destination for today was St. Marco's Square which has a bunch of museums and shops and of course St. Marc's Basilica. I waited in line for only about an hour... getting used to lines. I have;however, noticed that to some tourist a line does not mean anything and aparently that is hightened in Italy! Anyway the Basilica was very beautiful. I climbed up to the top and went through the museum and got a wonderful view of St. Marco's Square and the bay towards Murano Island. I headed back to the bus terminal and desided to try my luck walking. It was very hot and very easy to get lost in Venice. The good news is that you can't get too lost as it is a bunch of islands and there are of course very helpful handwritten signs pointing in random directions!! Still an adventure but I just ended up back at St. Marco's because you walk down a street and find either a bridge or water and have to try a different route.
I got back to the campsite and was not feeling great and ended up going to be with a migraine. Thank goodness I ended up with my own room and there was air conditioning.
August 7, 2008:
Still can't believe that it is already August. I woke up with great intentions of catching the bus into Venice and visiting a couple of the other islands but I really was not well so I had a very lazy day by the pool reading my book. Had spaghetti for dinner and got ready for a very long bus ride in the morning!
