On To Venice

There were two things we learned at the train station in Cinque Terre.

1) There is virtually no dress code.

2) Even though Trenitalia lists a train leaving Vernazza to Venice it does not mean that you can buy the tickets at that station. We were happy that we inquired about this the day before we left. We had to buy train tickets to a larger train station, and then buy the train tickets to Venice from there. It all worked out, and I am still very happy with the train system in Italy.

We made it to Venice!

We immediately left our hotel (Ca'Isidoro...right on a small canal) and went exploring.

Well, specifically we went to find a place to have a drink. :)

We found the perfect spot!

Even though I knew there are no cars allowed in Venice, it is still interesting to see how different their daily life is compared to living in the States. The garbage man drives a boat, the mail lady gets a ride on a vaporetto (bus-like boat) to her next destination...

The limestone bridge in the middle of the giant advertisement is the Bridge of Sighs, the last view convicts saw before their imprisonment.

If prisoners were still escorted across this bridge they would spend the rest of their nights in prison waiting to get out, and buy a Toy watch. Sigh.

In front of St. Marks Basilica...

Fred attempted to turn me in at the 'Lion's Mouth' in the Doge's Palace.

These 'mouths' are at various locations around Venice and were used to collect anonymous complaints from citizens.

Fred and I did not pay (or wait) to climb up the St. Peter's Dome at the Vatican, or the leaning tower of Pisa, but we did pay to go up to the top of St. Mark's Camanile. It was totally worth it. It gave us a great perspective on this city made of 117 islands.