Stazione Venezia Marittima

Woke up early (what's new?!) in Rome, had breakfast, and got on the coach heading up to our last city in Italy - Venice! We slept well, but Paul is still not feeling great. He had a lot of tea with honey and lemon and Tylenol. Good thing today is mostly driving; he was able to sleep a lot on the bus. We arrived in Venice right around 3pm and then took a water taxi into town. The ride on the Grand Canal is stunning. When we got into the city, our tour director, Ben, let us know that since Venice has become so filled with tourists, (the Venetians hate it), they frown upon big tour groups coming through the city. For that reason, you will not get a history lesson about Venice. All we know about the city is that there are about 60 floods per year (luckily, we did not get caught in one!) and that the city is sinking by 1 to 2 millimeters per year.
Once we got on land, we went to a glass blowing demonstration, which was very cool to watch, but we didn't buy anything in the shop since we don't live in a palace. After that, we got into a gondola for a ride in between the neighborhood canals, under bridges, and through the Grand Canal. Then we had several hours of free time to roam the island, shop, and get dinner. We walked around with several members of our group whom we are friends with. Paul and I bought a suitcase in town to fit all of our souvenirs and laundry. Then, the 8 of us had dinner together at a small restaurant right on the water. I ordered an aperol (an alcoholic beverage that everyone on the island seemed to be drinking); it was bubbly and sweet. We finished dinner around sunset and the city looked gorgeous, so we took a bunch of pictures. We met up with the whole group at 8pm and made our way back towards the coach and our hotel. The water taxi back gave us a beautiful view of Venice at night. It was a great day. Tomorrow, Ben is letting us sleep in (breakfast at 7:30!) and we are heading to Austria. We are at the tail end of our trip and enjoying every moment!Read more