benvenuti in italia

day 4

venice

(or, the day we almost got arrested)

a lovely breakfast together on our balcony in Verona before we head out

After eating breakfast together, we piled into Martin's van for the hour-long trip to Mestre, the industrial part of Venice. From there we would take a train into Venice as it is not really accesible by car. Unfortunately for us, after purchasing our train tickets we neglected to stamp them in the "Train Ticket Validation Machine" cleverly hidden away from sight. Therefore, as the conductor came to punch our tickets he bagan to tell us in Italian about the great fine we would now pay (30 euros each) because we didn't validate our tickets. I didn't know what to do, but thought that Z would handle everything as he speaks Italian fluently. Well, to my surprise, Z pretended to not speak a word of Italian and instead spoke to the conductor in Czech. Z demanded to know how tourists are supposed to know to validate the tickets when on the ticket the instructions are written in Italian. He offered to host the conductor in our fair czechlands to see how he would do in a country that speaks a language different from his. They began yelling at each other in their foreign tongues and then the conductor invited us (not nicely) to see the police. He began to escort us off the train. Z looked like he was ready to go and fight this out, but I have to admit I was a bit nervous. We got off the train and on to the platform and then the conductor yelled at us some more and Z talked back at him in a mixture of English and Czech telling him what a bad image he was giving of Italy and Italians to these Americans (us) who are visiting for the first time. The conductor looked like he wanted to go on his lunch break and wrote us a ticket for 12 euros...all together...Z saved us 108 euros!!! Then, as we were paying, I was rifling through my wallet looking for the correct change. The conductor was getting impatient with me and reached in my wallet to grab the money. He crossed the line with me there. I was like, "Whoa, buddy!" It was interesting how this situation was handled. See, I would have just paid the guy the 120 euros in the first place and felt angry inside. But, Z knows the culture and what to do in situations like this because he lived here...interesting.

our smiling thankful faces after we almost got arrested
good job Zdeněk!

 We had to then lug our luggage to our hotel which was situated on the banks of the Grand Canal. We happened upon this elderly Venetian woman who was only too happy to help out the foreigners and spoke with Z in rapid italiano giving him directions and recommendations regarding food etc. She said that only 60,000 native Venetians reside here but on any given day there could be upwards of 200,000 tourists.


benvenuti in Venezia



Martin "the machine" never stops. It is up to us to keep up or find him later

 We settled into our hotel and rested on the balcony admiring the view.

the Rialto bridge spanning the Grand Canal as seen from our balcony in lovely Venezia



o solo mio, these guys spent a fortune on this gondola ride!

 Interesting factoid: One must prove Venetian heritage to become a Gondolier. 

jus' chillin' wit my homey

 After freshening up we set out to explore this magical city built on a lick and a prayer. The storm clouds were rolling in and we were excited to see the sights. Dan has a favourite video game set in Venice (Assasin's Creed 2 anyone?) and he became our guide as he knew all the buildings and their placement within the city. See, mom, videogames are educational!

Zdeněk helping me to buy souvenirs of Murano glass made on the island on which we were currently standing in fair Venezia

on the Rialto bridge overlooking the Grand Canal



Martin, Danny and Zdeněk looking slightly irritated that the Countess demanded they pose for a picture



For some strange reason, Dan loves photographing pigeons. I kept calling them penguins by accident as I was speaking too many languages at once and all of them badly. This made everyone laugh to no end.

Dan had at least 50 pics of pigeons. Here are just a sampling for your enjoyment.

Every tenth window had an Italian flag displayed, here in Venezia, Verona and Trento...Oh, yes, also in Limone, Riva and Rovereto...

 The square was teeming with tourists, like sardines. YUCK! Imagine during tourist season...not a chance!

Piazza San Marco

Basilico di San Marco

potential album cover #3

#4
(an homage to Peter, Paul and Mary)

 After seeing the duomo, basilico and piazza, and loading up on espresso for energy, we decided to make our getaway from the tourists and headed off to the residential part of Venezia.

Z and I are always talking seriously

"The Thinker"

Wisteria perfumes the air in Italy, Venezia does have its own special scent thanks to the Grand Canal.



We left the beaten path to see where the Venetians live...



...here are some typical neighbourhoods...

...when we happened upon Venetians they looked at us as if to say, "What are you doing here?"

Venetian cars



Countess refuses to walk any further





 

 We found a cosy little restaurant and ate seafood and polenta. It was fantastic. While we were in the restarant it started to rain Venetian cats and dogs. Seriously! We walked back the incredibly long journey to our hotel, it was like 11 at night and I am in the stupidest shoes imaginable. There was garbage everywhere blown around by winds. I was so tired when we got back to our hotel that I didn't even join Z for our ritual hunt for gelato.

Venice brought to you by Toyota

This ad totally covers scaffolding on a building near the square.