Venice is sinking!

We left our hotel at 11, and got a cab to take us to the train station. We could have walked 30 minutes to get there, but it was already 30c by 9 am, so cab it was!

Our train ride to Venice was uneventful and only took about 90 minutes. We were on another high speed train, but luckily it didn't go through tunnels and were able to see the countryside. Evan watched episodes of the Simpsons as we traveled.

Arriving in Venice was quite a shock! You stepped out of the train station and there was the Grand Canal! It was RIGHT there! Brad had to get us vaperetto passes, so Evan and I sat with our luggage and watched the water busses and water taxis go by. Once we had our tickets, we hopped on our first water bus (vaperetto). It moved much more slowly than I had anticipated, but it is a busy waterway and there are other water vehicles on it. Eventually we made it to our stop and we called our host. She met us in a square just beyond our stop and took us through winding streets and over bridges to get to our apartment.

We got acquainted with the place and then had to hurry to get to Saint Mark's Square as we had timed entry into the Basilica. Another win for us because without the timed entry, we would have been waiting in a very long line. I don't have any pictures from the Basilica because you are not allowed to take any, but I can tell you that the ceilings were all mosaics, which is a pretty stunning sight! The mosaics were of many different Biblical stories and I could not believe how far they stretched on for. Even the underside of the arches were done in mosaic!

After we were routed out of the Basilica (they want you there for 10 minutes only!) we walked around the Square for a bit. People seemed to be enamoured with feeding the pigeons, which is actually against the law here (and rightfully so).

We finally meandered our way back to our area. The streets here are more like alleys and they go every which way! It is incredible how the waterways are ever present and take the place of streets here. You often read about it or see it on tv, but you can't really believe it until you see it - it almost doesn't seem possible.

We bought a few groceries to serve as our last few breakfasts and then headed home. Evan was a sweaty mess and had to have a shower once we got there. The humidity is so high that it didn't take more than a few steps for him to become soaked.

Before long we had to get going for dinner. This required a walk, a vaperetto, and another walk - taking about 35 minutes altogether. We chose to dine at CoVino, as we had read good reviews about their three course dinner.Read more