On to Venice

We headed to Milano Centrale, the main train station in Milan, with our tickets to Venice. Our tickets told us our train number and what time our train would leave so we only had to figure out the track. Easy!

We found seats near this huge board which listed all the trains leaving from the station, their number, destination, time of departure and track number. See the fifth one down with the 20 minute delay? That's our train!

When we got to Venice, the next step was to find a vaporetto going to St. Mark's Square, which was close to our B&B. These boats, which are actually like water buses, can be very crowded and tricky to maneuver onto with a suitcase and backpack, but we did it!

It took us a little while to find our B&B. We walked and walked and kept passing this little street off this little canal. After asking for help from a passerby, we were rescued by our hosts and escorted up 17 steps, into the elevator, and up even more stairs. It was a journey, but we loved it there!

Our hosts, Riccardo and Grace, were excellent! They were eager to share their favorite things to do and see in Venice, along with their favorite restaurants and places to buy delicious gelato. Grace was born and raised in California, so that was another bonus because she was easy to understand!

We decided to get back on a vaporetto and explore The Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is Venice's "Main Street" and is more than two miles long, nearly 150 feet wide, and nearly 15 feet deep.

We really enjoyed the canals and this beautiful city. The gondolas were much larger than we thought they would be, and all the little bridges over the canals were amazing.

The city is filled with beautiful palaces and homes with their main entrances at water level. Many of the grand buildings are now vacant on their ground floors because of the rotting caused by the rising water.

Of course we visited St. Mark's Square with its Clock Tower. These guys smack the bell every hour and have been doing so since 1499!

St. Mark's Square was a bustling place, and the Basilica is beautiful.

Next up on our things to do list was a gondola ride, and this is Max, our gondolier.

Max told us that he's been doing this for over 35 years and he only fell in the water five times!

We had a great time cruising the canals with Max.

Riccardo and Grace encouraged us to take the vaporetto to San Giorgio Maggiore, one of the islands of Venice for the beautiful view. We're so glad they gave us this advice.

Of course, while we were in Venice we checked out the Bridge of Sighs, visited a very fun and interesting bookstore, and crossed the Rialto Bridge. We ate a lot of pizza, drank our fair share of wine, ate too much gelato and I took pictures of everything. But now it's time to find the train station and move on. Next up: the Bullet train back to Milano Centrale.