Venezia

As I sit down to write this blog I am so excited and yet a little confused. Excited because the trip to Venice was AMAZING but confused because there is so much I want to say that I don't know where to begin and my head is about to explode. You know how when you forget what you want to say to someone so you say "Oh man, I just lost my train of thought." ? Well, this time I did not lose my train of thought, in fact I'm painfully aware of its location and existence. The problem is that I don't just have one...I have about 20 and they can only go one at a time and, of course they all want to go first. And now (because I've taught them well) they've all lost patience and have all collided!!

*a few minutes later*

Ok, now that I've had a few minutes to clean up the mess in my head... bring on the Venice blog!

Last week my friend Ana Inestrillas, who is also and au pair here and a member of the churhc, suggested we go to Venice sometime because we have both always wanted to go there. Little did I know that she meant this weekend!! After a few days of hesitating over stupid things like time, money, etc... I finally just decided to go! And OH MAN! am I glad I did!

It all started Friday night when I met Ana at the train station after we both got off work. From there we got our tickets and then set off to find our seats on the train. WE were rally hoping for our own compartment considering that we would be on this train from 8:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., 12 hours!!!! ...but unfortunately that was not the case. After a few hours on the train we attempted to sleep but it didn't come easy, partly because we were so excited to get to Venice and partly because we were propped up in stiff positions in a crowded compartment with strangers. so by the time we actually reached Venice the next morning, we had each only gotten about 3, maybe 4 hours of sleep.

Upon our arrival in Venice we were so giddy that our lack of sleep (temporarily) had no effect. As we stepped outside of the train station the whole, unique world of Venice was opened up to us. I felt like I was dreaming as I realized that I was only a few feet away from THE Grand Canal, which I have desperately wanted to see for so long! Although the city is crawling with people, it is still strangely peaceful. Most of the credit, I'm sure, going to the fact that there really are NO cars in the whole city. The only modes of transportation consisted of walking and water-ways. There were so many small ferries, boats and gondolas gliding over the Grand Canal and weaving peacefully through the smaller canals. It was soooo cute!

Most of the cities main sites are located along the Grand Canal so we figured that we would just walk along the side forming the 'S' that weaves through the city from the train station to the Adriatic Sea. However, much to our surprise, there are not always footpaths along the Grand Canal, forcing us to take side alleys (I call them alleys because they cannot be justified as streets_ and across cute little bridges over the smaller canals. Which ended up being great because we not only got to see the sights but got to experience the actual city. Inside the city there are teeny canals and really teeny alleys everywhere! There is no real structure or organization to them and you constantly surrounded by buildings and water, which can and did make it extremely difficult to navigate yourself to the places you go...even with our 'trusty' map.

As we strolled for hours through the city we were offered many gondola rides, but unfortunately didn't have enough money to take them up on their offers. We explored the many great sights that the city has to offer and crossed the world famous bridges know as Ponte di Rialto and Ponte Accademia. We kept busy all day just soaking it all in stopping only to enjoy some authenitc Italian lasagna, pizza, and gelatto...and of course by some cool Venetian souvenirs! :)

Although we enjoyed it thoroughly, by the end of the day our lack of sleep was catching up with us. We were so wiped out from walking miles and miles and miles that it felt like we would never make it back to the train station We were so tired and 'slap happy' that everything we said or did was not only funny but absolutely hilarious! But the two things we found most hilarious on the way back were: 1st- the man that tried to sell us purses of the black market. He was seriously the funniest man I think I've ever seen in my life. He had a really cool Indian accent and would get about in inch from your face ever time he suggested a new price. As if it were a secret. He was so determined to sell us a purse that he weaseled his prices all the way down to 15 euros for a purse that was easily worth 100, and my friend finally just bought it! Of course to anyone reading this, it probably doesn't sound remotely funny...but we laughed so hard that my abs and face still hurt! 2nd- the old man that came up to us and started singing to us in an attempt to give us some true Italian culture! He sang for a good 10 minutes before we were finally able to make a smooth escape!

Now, for one of my favorite parts of the trip... After finally making it back to the train station we were literally praying that we would have our own compartment so we could lay down and sleep...because this would be yet another all-night, 12-hour train ride back to Vienna! We were getting excited with only a few minutes before departure because no one had come to sit with us yet. With literally seconds before departure, just a we were spreading out and getting comfortable...two people came in and completely dashed our hopes of a peaceful ride back. After sitting back up and moving to make room for them we discovered by their 'accents' they they were American. Which usually always makes me smile but we were a little cranky that they had invaded our space. But we began to lighten up when the guy (very good looking by the way) just started talking to us. He asked my where I was from and when I said 'Montana' he just about jumped out of his seat and exclaimed "REALLY?!? WHAT PART?!?!" After explaining to him where Hamilton was he told me that he actually knew where that was! Which is always surprising to me! Being a little intrigued at this point I returned the favor and asked him where he and the girl, his sister, were from. When the words 'Powell, Wyoming' came out of his mouth it was my turn to just about jump out of my seat with an exclamation!! Upon telling him that my parents were form Cody, and I have family in both Cody and Powell we instatnly became great friends! We ended up talking with them, Aaron and Leah, for a very long time about anything and everything! So even though we got less sleep tit was so fun to truly see how small the world can be sometimes! Especially when we need to be small...because to be honest I've needed it lately. Meeting two people from Powell, Wyoming in the middle of Europe on a night train put a huge smile on my face and gave me a great memory of Italy to keep forever!



As bad as I wanted to just dive in...you know I had to at least put my foot in!! :)