A Saturday in Venice

Around 8:30am we left our hostel, bought train tickets to Milano, picked up our baggage and boarded the train. In Milan we ate some pizza then caught our next train to Venice. There was some confusion with tickets on the train, so I let the gentleman sit with his two children and Kaitlin and I sat with three, very amusing, Nigerian boys. They told me I spoke very good English, not like the Italians... since it is the only language I speak it is nice to hear that I speak it well. They told me a little about themselves and how someday they will come to America. They got off a few stops in front of us, but made me promise I would facebook friend them.

When the train reached Venice we stepped out of the station and into a postcard.

The water was there with gonodlas, boats and water buses, it was stunning and the instant gratification of the view and the breeze set our hearts at ease... that is until we realized we had no idea where we were going. All we had was a hostel name, no address, no directions, no guidance. The water bus attendent said she did not know, but told us we could get off at Zitelle dock. It was a long bus ride and we were getting nervous. When we arrived at our stop we decided to go straight, down the narrow road and into the heart of the area. There were few people around, but we were hungry and knowing we work better with a full stomach we stopped into the first little restaurant we saw. I order foccachia with olives and Kaitlin got a shrimp sandwhich. We asked the lady behind the counter if she knew where Ostello Venezia was and she directed us back to the water and then down the street. Amazed at what we saw, Kaitlin attributed the miracle to her Hail Marys repeated over and over on the water bus, there right in front of us was the hostal. Considering the size of Venice and the distance we had travelled (about 25 minutes on the water bus) it was a stunning discovery and left me in shock for quite awhile.

While we were checking in we asked the boy at the front desk for a cheap, delicious place to eat and he gave us a map, marked it up and then on the back drew a second map to his favorite place. I chatted with Eddie briefly before work and then threw our stuff in the room and followed our treasure map, back across the wide river and up three bridges. It was obvious we were in the correct place because people were crowded around everywhere. We squeezed our way up to the counter, ordered two glasses of red wine (1 euro each) and several of the tapas.

Kait will finish (decided Kaitlin)...

We sat on a small bridge beside a church and drank local vini... Laughing and enjoying each others company. We went back to the hostel to charge Alli's camera then went back across the river to our new favorite hang out. they were closing, but we convinced them to suggest a bottle of wine, and opened it for us. Alli had an idea about a scarf wrap around the wine bottle as a holder. Understanding what she said, I took a minute and rigged up the bottle. Now more wine-mobile we wandered through the streets of Venice. The alleys are tiny, over and over bridge after bridge, Maria street, into open square. At one point I saw a group of people huddled outside of a concert hall, beautiful music was cascading out into the street, so we just had to stop and sit on the steps with everyone else... Just to listen. After a while of wandering we were hungry, and stopped into the closest restaurant for food. Happy banter with our new waiter friend (who made us finish our wine before entering) convinced us to eat there. We scarfed down whatever was set before us, and honestly i don't remember what it was. Quickly we bid him 'ciao!' and we were off a wandering. Eventually we made it back to the hostel, internetting and what not. I went up to bed first, since Alli wished to be outside for longer. It really was absolutely idyllic... The weather perfect with air off the water, on our little island in Venice... Another wonderful end of a day!

<3
Kait and Alli