I awoke by accident and pure luck at ten till five, the alarm clock was beeping frantically. Our train was leaving in fifty-five minutes. I hit Amber and told her that we had to move fast. We threw our stuff together and ran downstairs. No receptionist. Oh crap. We had just finished writing a letter with my credit card information and billing address when someone stumbled sleepily out of the staff office. We checked out and proceeded to run through the streets of Milan in the dark, trying to read our map and praying that it wouldn't take long to get to the station. We made it 15 minutes before the train was to leave. I was extremely sweaty from the whole ordeal since I was wearing a sweater and jeans. I collapsed into my seat and tore my sweater off to cool down. As it turned out, we were sharing our compartment with two other American women from Illinois. When we got to the car they were putting on nail polish and makeup and using eyelash curlers and primping to the max. They were really sweet and fun characters. I dozed off on the train. When we arrived in Venice, it was 9 am and even more humid than Milan. We said goodbye to the Illinois women and went to a tourist office to ask for directions to our hotel (which I could not find on my rotten map). It was literally right around the corner. I love Venice.
First thing we went to our hotel to check in (and met a really flirtatious, cheeky, and cheerful receptionist) and dropped my bag before setting forth. The day was generally unplanned, which was nice. We took the waterbus to San Marco Square, where Amber did some really good shopping in the surrounding streets (at this point, she still only had the clothes on her back). We ended up at the Rialto Bridge, which was crowded with tourists, but I'll bet they didn't even know why it is so significant. There are lots of bridges in Venice, but the importance of the Rialto Bridge is that it was the first ever built to connect the northern and southern sides of Venice and the first bridge to cross the Grande Canal. It was 1:00 pm and the heat was too much for me to bear, so we went back to our hotel for showers and naps. After, we did some exploring. We wandered aimlessly through the streets for about 5 miles and we were able to trace our exact steps back. It was really funny because on our way back we were asked by two young USAF pilots for directions to the train station. I told them to follow us because we were headed that way. Later they abandoned us to go buy a map, but about an hour after we had gotten back and eaten dinner, we said hello as they walked past us. After dinner Amber and I sat on the edge of the Grande Canal while the effects of Amber's Guinness wore off and then we went back to the hotel for yet more showers. After a brief thunder storm, we slept.
First thing we went to our hotel to check in (and met a really flirtatious, cheeky, and cheerful receptionist) and dropped my bag before setting forth. The day was generally unplanned, which was nice. We took the waterbus to San Marco Square, where Amber did some really good shopping in the surrounding streets (at this point, she still only had the clothes on her back). We ended up at the Rialto Bridge, which was crowded with tourists, but I'll bet they didn't even know why it is so significant. There are lots of bridges in Venice, but the importance of the Rialto Bridge is that it was the first ever built to connect the northern and southern sides of Venice and the first bridge to cross the Grande Canal. It was 1:00 pm and the heat was too much for me to bear, so we went back to our hotel for showers and naps. After, we did some exploring. We wandered aimlessly through the streets for about 5 miles and we were able to trace our exact steps back. It was really funny because on our way back we were asked by two young USAF pilots for directions to the train station. I told them to follow us because we were headed that way. Later they abandoned us to go buy a map, but about an hour after we had gotten back and eaten dinner, we said hello as they walked past us. After dinner Amber and I sat on the edge of the Grande Canal while the effects of Amber's Guinness wore off and then we went back to the hotel for yet more showers. After a brief thunder storm, we slept.
St. Mark's Square
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