Windows on the Train

Whoa, we FINALLY made it on the train out of Venice! I was starting to feel like we were never going to get to our next destination. Let me start from the beginning...

The last time I wrote I was on my way to Venice. We stepped off the train and walked out the doors of Stazione Santa Lucia to a breathtaking view of the Grand Canal, looking as perfect as Google image had depicted it to be. The water surrounding this one-of-a-kind city is an amazing color; turquoise blue like you might find in the Caribbean, but not clear to the bottom. Since the city of Venice is actually an island, transportation here is conducted mainly by boat also referred to as a 'water bus.' Once in Venice, the first thing we had to do was purchase a bus ticket to take us to the different ports throughout the city. Sure we could have saved ourselves some money by walking everywhere, but with the windy and narrow streets surrounded by 4-5 story high, umpteenth-century old buildings, Venice can be somewhat complicated to navigate.

Anyway, Niki and I actually stayed on the island of Lido, which is a short water bus ride away from Venice. We stayed at Hotel Panorama for 2 nights. The hotel sat directly across from our bus stop and gave us an nice view of St. Mark's Basin. Beautiful and convenient! I would recommend this hotel to anyone interested in visiting Venice. The desk clerks were are extremely knowledgable and friendly. A continental breakfast was also included in the price of our room. The hotel was clean, our bathroom was spacious and came with a full sized towel warmer... hands down the best feature of the room!

After dropping off our luggage we headed back to Venice to start exploring. Silly us for taking the wrong bus back to Venice - we ended up on the North side of the island, far away from all of the sites of the city. Not to worry though, this ended up being a good thing. We were able to see the less touristy parts of Venice and took some pretty amazing pictures (if I do say so myself). We also stopped at a delicious little bakery and snacked on some homemade treats! We oh'd and ah'd at the marvelous Christmas lights strung up along all of the picturesque avenues, visited Piazza San Marco and took our picture on the Ponte di Rialto. We continued to wander around for a few hours until we got hungry. We then consulted our favorite travel guide, Rick Steves, for a place to stop for dinner. He had several good recommendations. We chose a place called Trattatoria di Bepi after Rick raved about their fresh seafood. So far, Rick has proved to be worth the €30 that Niki shelled out so we could have a "personal" tour guide along on our journey. The restaurant was adorable and the food was sooo fresh and really tasty.

After dinner we headed back slowly towards Piazza San Marco to catch a bus back to Lido. As we strolled along the edges of Bacino di San Marco we noticed an open door in Palazzo delle Prigioni. There was a man standing in the doorway dressed in a tuxedo taking money in exchange for tickets. We wandered closer to inquire about the event. A large sign, sitting on an easel, read Orchestra Collegium Ducale 9.00p.m. Of course we immediately purchased tickets and headed inside. The show was an hour long and exactly what I had envisioned a trip to Venice would include. Here is a brief description of the Orchestra Collegium Ducale:

This orchestra brings together in one group musicians from the best orchestras of the Veneto: The ensemble is prepared to execute a repertoire ranging from the Baroque to Twentieth century music. Well-known soloists contribute both to the whole of the performance and as featured virtuosos. It is actively involved in the research and study of technique, with the aim of offering to the public a performance of pieces based on the interpretative spirit of the period they date from. The orchestra has been performing in Venice since 1993.

What a great day. It felt so good to get back to our hotel room and hit the hay. The next day was exciting as well. We spent the entire day exploring the city, including Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica) and taking loads of photos. We stopped for lunch at a little pizzeria and then ended the day at a darling pub in the University district. (Check out my pictures on fb).

Since we consider ourselves to be well trained in the planning department, Niki and I decided to save ourselves a few Euros and take an overnight train to our next destination, Vienna, Austria. We would leave Lido at midnight, travel about 30 minutes by boat to the train station, buy our reservations, and then hop on the 1:30 am train. What a great idea... WRONG. Italy is known for having random, yet somehow planned, strikes that typically last for about 24 hours and affect the transportation systems (i.e. boat/bus/train). Excellent. The strike was over at midnight and we were able to catch our water bus. Unfortunately, it took longer than we expected to reach the train station, but we made it just in the nick of time! What's that? You didn't know that Venice had more than one train station? Funny, neither did we. I'm sure you've guessed it by now, but yes, we missed our 1:30 a.m. train out of Venice. Conveniently enough there wasn't another train until 7 a.m. With our spirits low, we walked down the street a bit and found, what seemed to be, an appropriate looking establishment to spend the night. 3 1/2 hous and €80 later we were back on our quest to Vienna. We actually made our 7 a.m. train and I was left feeling relieved that I could relax for a while. Everything was going great... until we reached our first connection in Verona. We were ready to exit the train as it came to a stop. Excitement turned to panic when the door wouldn't open. A few seconds later, Niki and I watched in disbelief as Verona slipped away through the windows in the train. Niki, being the optimist that she is, momentarily tried to convince herself that the train was just moving forward a bit to adjust its position. About 30 minutes later we were in Brescia, Italy. Originally there was only 1 hour in between connections, so we knew that there was zero chance of getting back to Verona in time. Tack on 2 1/2 additional hours to our trip. Finally we made it back to Verona and caught the next available train to Vienna. It was an incredibly long ride, but filled with breathtaking views of the Italian countryside and mountains. It even snowed for a few hours! The snow covered hills of Italy/Austria we absolutely magnificent. I was thankful that we were able to see these sights in the daylight and that made me feel less bitter about missing our first connection. Around 8:30 p.m. the train rolled into Vienna. As I walked towards the lobby of the station, I noticed that my suitcase wasn't moving as well as it should be. After a quick examination, I realized that one of the wheels was broken and basically hanging on for dear life. Could this day get any better?

Anyway, my high school German was getting us absolutely nowhere and after an unsuccessful attempt at finding the cities metro, we settled on a taxi ride to our hotel. We checked in and headed up to our room on the second floor. Upon entry, we were horrified at the dirty bathroom and the microscopic window showing only a portion of the view of the city below. At this moment, I'm pretty sure Niki hit her breaking point. She threw on her coat and declared that we were heading down to the front desk. Five minutes later we were collecting our things and on our way to our new room along with 2 vouchers for a free cocktail at the bar (a 'gift' from the hotel)! This room was definitely an upgrade. After almost 24 exhausting hours of travel we were finally situated in our newest temporary residence. I slept better that night than I have since I left the U.S. almost 2 months ago! Yay team!

Well, I certainly hope that this lengthy post redeems me for my lack of postings recently. Don't forget to look at my pictures on fb when you get the chance! I should have my next blog update in a few days about Vienna.

To be continued.........