A Test Trip to Venice

With Laura, Neve, and Meg arriving tomorrow, the girls and I decided to do a practice visit to Venice - our goal being to figure out the train situation (time, price, ticketing, etc.) and get the lay of the land but try not to see too much so we can experience it all together with the Brennans.  Well, it is pretty impossible not to see too much in Venice - there is something at every turn! 

We left home around 11:30 to figure out how to find the train station on foot.  We got half-way there and our fabulous landlord was driving by - he picked us up and dropped us off (so we still weren't sure how to find it on foot).  The train to Venice cost 7 euro for the three of us combined and took about 40 minutes.  We played gin the whole way there and went for some pasta at a restaurant recommended by Guerrino as not being a tourist trap.  We then took the vaporatto (water ferry) down to St. Mark's Square and followed a Rick Steves walking tour back to the Rialto Bridge.   It was very cool to follow his path and find our way through less populated areas of the city.  Before we left LA, Rachel got a "vertical boarding bag", which Julia has nicknamed "Bert".  As we know, Rachel likes to be prepared with all travel essentials, and has always been one for basic first aid.  Today, her preparedness came in very handy as we came across two different people sitting and nursing bloody feet - presumably blisters that had popped.  Rachel reached into her bag and offered them each a band-aid - an international gesture of good will. 

At the Rialto, after we got some fresh pineapple (so sweet and juicy) and kiwi juice (not great), we were on our own to find our way by foot back to the train station. It is easy to get lost in Venice, but we didn't - because we know how to say "Come andare a ferrovia?"   

We stopped for some macaroons and then in a candy store whose window display was too tempting to pass up.  The self-imposed no sugar diet the girls have been on since January is no where to be seen.  It is an Italian free-for-all!

After three full hours of wandering Venice, we found the train station and headed home.  It is exciting to know that we can explore Venice in small bits - going in for just one site in a day instead of trying to see it all at once.  We even managed to figure out the walking route from the train station back to our home in Treviso - a beautiful 18- minute walk.  We are now ready to show anyone how to get from our apartment to Venice!  Wanna come see?