Venice, Italy

Though it led to what I think will turn out to be some very cool pictures, Venice was probably a wasted stop. Got in half an hour late due to "technical difficulties," but was able to stay an extra station beyond my ticket (Santa Lucia instead of Mestre) & get off only about a five minute walk from my hostel. It sounds like this group actually runs buildings around town, but luckily I ended up at the main location. It's on the third floor (bad) but overlooks the Grand Canal (cool, and handy for navigation). Wandered around a bit after getting settled in, but I was still feeling sweaty & gross so I kept it to a minimum. Gelatto for a late lunch (the strawberry is delicious), then swing by a grocery store for a dinner of water, bread & grapes. The rest of the evening was spent reading, then hit the sack early.

The main goal for today was St. Mark's & the Doge's palace, and it was semi-accomplished. Thanks to the maze-like nature of Venice I ended up taking one of many possible "scenic routes," but eventually made it to the Piazza San Marco about 10:30. The tide was just getting started so most of the square was still dry, but there were already places you couldn't really walk. I got in line to go up the Campanile; unfortunately the only option was paying €8 to take the elevator to the top (pansies). It's a ripoff, but it was a tall building & I was already there, so I went for it. Good views of the city, if nothing else.

When I got to the bottom I stood in line to get into St. Mark's for about 10 minutes, at which point I found out that they were closed until noon for "religious purposes." Since it was 11:30 at the time I decided to grab an early lunch. Ended up with a slice of pizza (not nearly as good as what I had in Rome) & a hot dog-pretzel thingy from some random shop in one of the random streets a few blocks away from the Piazza, then wandered back (and through a puddle, which is when I found out that my shoes are more water resistant than water proof) there to sit down & eat. After that it was back in line for 30 minutes, until I found out that they wouldn't let you in with a backpack. I didn't really feel like walking half way across town to my hostel to drop it off & then walking back, so I said fuck it and walked around the puddles to the Doge's Palace. It was big, but not as impressive as I'd expect on the outside, and they wanted to charge me to see the inside, so I snapped a few pictures & then decided to write off Venice. Went back to the room & worked on postcards, then read until it was late enough to justify an early dinner at about 17:30.

I think I must have incredibly bad luck at picking Italian restaurants. Nothing I've had has been bad, but I honestly prefer the Olive Garden. I know they're Italian-trained, but I really expected better at the source, as it were.