Another day another train ride. I actually enjoy riding the rails. It’s pretty easy, you just show up and buy a ticket from the machine, get on and look at the scenery until you get there. Much easier than flying, of course a lot slower, but I’m in no hurry anyway. The seating arrangement is a little different too. Instead of all the seats facing the same direction they have several rows that face each other with a small partition between that has small fold down table tops. So you sit there facing someone and trying not to step on each other’s feet the whole time. It’s not as bad as it sounds though, as most people read or listen to music and some even sleep. This time I sat facing a cute girl while Tom and Jenna were on either side of her, Jenna across the isle. I usually don’t talk to people here right away if they don’t look Italian because you never know where they are from and what language they speak since there are always people from different countries everyplace you go, part of what I like about being here. I was pretty sure the girl across from me wasn’t Italian, but I didn’t know where she was from, so I didn’t say anything to her for maybe the first hour of the three hour trip. Eventually somebody said something and I realized she spoke English, so I asked where she was from and she said she was from Chile. She was a school teacher and had taught herself to speak English from watching T.V. and listening to music. Amazing because she spoke very well and actually sounded like an American. Also amazing is that I’ve been watching T.V. and listening to music here for a couple months and I can’t understand half of it! Anyway, Daniela and I had a nice conversation for the last half of the trip before arriving in Venice and it made the ride even more enjoyable. She was traveling alone and was going to meet some friends in Venice before going to Rome by herself, so we exchanged email addresses perhaps to meet up in Rome later. Maybe another friend from yet another country?
When we arrived in Venice it was pretty gray outside. Venice is an island in the sea so it’s bound to be a bit foggy, especially in winter. I have to say it is a different kind of place, since you step off the train to get on a boat. The boat was called a vaporetto, or a water taxi, big enough for maybe up to 30 people and we took it down the Grand Canal to find our hotel. Once again Jenna had arranged a room for us. It was nice, but the bathroom was down the hall. No big deal though since there weren’t too many people there, and it only cost us 25 euro per person per night again which was good. We decided to relax a bit then go out for dinner. By the time we wanted to go out it was raining pretty hard, and I was feeling lousy again, so we stopped at the first place we saw. I got a bowl of zuppa di mare, fish soup. I love fish, but di mare, of the sea, always means some chunks of fish and tiny shrimp, then clams, mussels and assorted crayfish all in their shells, so it’s a lot of work to eat. This time there was a cuttlefish, some sort of prehistoric looking crustatian that I couldn’t figure out how to eat, but the rest was good and it‘s always fun to look down at your dish and see all these different animals in there. After dinner it was still pouring rain so I went back to the hotel to sleep while Tom and Jenna decided to go for a walk. They went to Piazza San Marco and before they could get out it flooded, so when they got back to the hotel they looked like a couple of drowned rats, but they had a memorable time running through the water so it was good.
The next day we woke up to find all the clouds went away and left behind a beautiful blue sky, much better. We set out to take a gondola ride and I was going to film it so I could send a DVD to Nana so she could see what it was like to go on one. She really wanted to go on one when she was there but Papa didn’t want to pay $70 for it so they didn’t go. So I had to fly 13 hours, take a train and then a boat to get there, all the while spending my life’s savings to go on one for her. Hee hee, no problem. Needless to say this was one of my goals when I decided to come to Italy and it was nice to be able to finally do it. We headed out to find there were gondoliers waiting all over the place. They just hang out by their boats wearing their black and white stripped shirts and round brimmed hats waiting to give a ride. We asked one guy how much and he said 80 euros. The prices aren’t set in stone so you have to haggle with these guys. He came down to 70 and we told him we’d think about it and left. We came back a little later and Jenna told him 60 euros and he immediately said yes, what else did he have to do? So off we went on a little black boat with some Italian guy named Christian. It’s a really slow ride but you get to look at some places you wouldn’t see on foot and and see how people get around here. These people really know how to drive their boats here, it was impressive to watch some of them in action maneuvering between buildings down narrow alleys on some decent sized boats. The ride lasted about 40 minutes and I think I got some good video so it was a good time.
After the gondola we walked to Piazza San Marco which had dried up and was now full of people and pigeons instead of water. It was Carnavale that week so there were lots of people walking around covered from head to toe in very extravagant costumes and wearing the trademark handmade masks. They were interesting to see and added a nice splash of color to the place, not that it needed much help with Basilica di San Marco standing there practically covered in gold and colorful mosaics. We took a walk inside and found even more gold on the walls and ceilings, the Venitians definitely had some money back in the day. The floor inside is completely crooked, sloping up and down all over due to the unstable ground below, it was pretty surprising. After the church we took the elevator up the adjacent tower to get a good view of the city. It was a clear day so we could see the city and the sea all around, and we got down before they rang the huge bells that are just over your head when you are at the top. I’m not sure what people do when they are up there and the bells are ringing because they are really loud and you’d probably still be hearing them after you left Venice.
Our last day there I was feeling really bad and decided to go back to Rome early by myself and give Jenna and Tom some time alone together. I’m not sure what it was but before Florence I started to feel like I was getting better, but when I was in Florence I started to feel worse than before. Anyway, Venice was interesting, what I saw of it anyway, but it’s definitely a place for couples, and another huge tourist trap. I look forward to going back there again someday, but next time with my health and a beautiful girl from Italy, Brazil, Germany, Chile, wherever.
So now part two of my Italian journey is complete. I had a nice tour of the northern part of Italy with my friends and met some nice people along the way, despite being sick the whole time. I couldn‘t have picked a better travel partner than my English mate Tom. He has a good attitude and outlook on life and we get along really well. I’m glad we had the opportunity to travel together because it was definitely a lot more fun having him around.
Also my Ausie friend Jenna, without whom I may not have discovered the best arangini in Rome or learned how to say “no” in Australian, noooiu! She’s a sweet girl and a good friend, and if she’s lucky maybe some day when I’m rich I’ll hire her to be my personal assistant and organize my life for me ;) 
Now it was time to go back home to Rome. I call it home because it really does feel like home now after staying there for more than a month, it’s just familiar and very comfortable to me now that I know my way around and how most things work. It’s always a nice feeling to walk out of Stazione Termini and see the free buses out front waiting to take me wherever I want to go, and being in Rome that could be anyplace.
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