25 March:
Slept in a bit. Woke up excited like Matt was going to a new country, oh wait. That's exactly what it was like. In just a few hours I would be in Italia. Had breakfast and packed last minute things. Had my giant backpack and took the bus to the train station to meet my travel partner Keri! We bought our tickets, and made a stop at the supermarket. Rice cakes. Check. 2 giant chocolate bars. Check. A bottle of wine. Check. Passports and train tickets in hand, what more could two American students traveling abroad need? Maybe a wine opener!
We got on our impressive clean Austrian train. Destination Venice. Zero transfers. Travel time four hours 43 minutes. Huge room with six seats, outlets, all to our self. Sound too good to be true? Well....it was true for about an hour. We were in Italy in about thirty minutes after leaving Innsbruck.
We arrived at Brenner, just past the Italy/Austrian border. We were to be at this specific stop ten minutes longer than a normal stop. No biggie. Ten minutes turned into twenty, twenty into thirty. Keri and I were the least bit concerned. Numerous announcements were made in German and Italian. Did we understand anything? Nein. No.
Keri then said- "I hope the train is okay" I died. As if the train was some little boy who just fell off the playground and hurt his left knee. Another announcement and I heard the word problema. Keri scoped out the situation and turns out the train apparently wasn't okay. Everyone had to leave the train and catch a much more crowded less impressive Italian train. Zero transfers turned into two, but that didn't damper our mood a bit. How could it? We had no place to be at any particular time, no rush, no problem. It's hard to get upset when there is nothing but mountains and vineyards the entire way thus far. Plus the fact that our destination is Venice and we have five days of Italy ahead of us. Pizza. Pasta. Gelato. Wine. Oh and I WILL find a Starbucks, even if it means I must steal a Gondola and find one myself!
Trains are great. More room than a plane, great scenery, and relaxing. No security check. Making a transfer is easy. Making our way closer and closer. Exchanging stories. Laughing. Talking about home. Talking about our future. Introducing each other to new things like geocaching and couchsurfing. Listening to German, Italian, and English languages all around us. And not knowing what to speak. Saying danke instead of grazi. Hilarious.
Made it to Verano to transfer to Venezia! Had three minutes to make our transfer. Success!! Much nicer train also. Took me a good twenty seconds to realize you have to put your foot on something on the floor to get the water to work at the faucet. :)
Found hostel. Venice Chic. Very nice. Fourth floor. Spacious room. Comfy bed. Free Wifi.
Walked around. Had pizza. Extremely delicious! Eggplant Zucchini! Bottle of wine.
We then decided to make another stop. More pizza for sure.
After walking around and exploring more, we made a great decision; Gelato. While here we met Nancy from Australia. She was traveling for 10 weeks on her own throughout Europe. Meeting friends she knew throughout. How awesome.
Can't believe we made it back to the hostel thanks to her help! We walked for over an hour just exploring. Expected to turn around and make our way back. She told us we were near the train station so we walked ten mins to our place!!
Researching places to stay tomorrow night!
26 March:
Waking
up in Italy. Still dreaming right? No way Jose! An entire day in
Venice. Didn't even have a map the entire time! Although probably highly
suggested if you want to get to a particular place. What can I say, we
just have a good sense of direction and nothing in particular on the
agenda. Walk around, site see and enjoy the beautiful weather with the
sun shining.
Had Lunch outside in the sun. Waiter was hilarious, as in very quick to the point and wanted little to do with us. Didn't bother us a single bit. Made us laugh actually. I had another delicious pizza and peach juice.
After a great lunch In Italy what would someone want to do next? Sleep, run a half marathon, ride in a Gondola, take more pictures, study the map of Venice? All the above? None of the above!!! Gelato!
Our second time having Gelato and who did we run into? Nancy from Australia again! She probably thinks we live off Gelato! Nancy- "Guess mint is your favorite flavor Keri!" Chatted with her a bit. She is off to Rome this evening and to Florence later in the week.
Continued to walk through the narrow maze-like streets and discover new places.
Sat down on a bench and listened to guys play acoustic while eating our strawberries by the water.
Managed to walk our way back toward the train station. Made another stop: Nutella crepe! Delicioso! Messy and difficult to eat while walking but well worth the trouble!
Made it to the train station, train going to Florence in ten mins so we rushed to pick up our bags in storage and just got on the speed train.
Sat down, let out a huge happy relaxed sigh. Two hours to Florence. Bliss. Or not. Sixty seconds later, we were in someone else's seat! We didn't realize we actually had assigned seats on this train. Fancy huh? Moved to our new seats and enjoyed out ride to Florence.
Overall impression of Venice? I was impressed. Very relaxing, much cleaner than I expected. Very unique city to say the least. Not much night life, but definitely a great place to visit at least once.
Arrived in Florence, eventually found our hostel after asking a few locals. Once there, we got all settled in and ready to explore and go out for the evening!
Next post: Florence!
Slept in a bit. Woke up excited like Matt was going to a new country, oh wait. That's exactly what it was like. In just a few hours I would be in Italia. Had breakfast and packed last minute things. Had my giant backpack and took the bus to the train station to meet my travel partner Keri! We bought our tickets, and made a stop at the supermarket. Rice cakes. Check. 2 giant chocolate bars. Check. A bottle of wine. Check. Passports and train tickets in hand, what more could two American students traveling abroad need? Maybe a wine opener!
We got on our impressive clean Austrian train. Destination Venice. Zero transfers. Travel time four hours 43 minutes. Huge room with six seats, outlets, all to our self. Sound too good to be true? Well....it was true for about an hour. We were in Italy in about thirty minutes after leaving Innsbruck.
We arrived at Brenner, just past the Italy/Austrian border. We were to be at this specific stop ten minutes longer than a normal stop. No biggie. Ten minutes turned into twenty, twenty into thirty. Keri and I were the least bit concerned. Numerous announcements were made in German and Italian. Did we understand anything? Nein. No.
Keri then said- "I hope the train is okay" I died. As if the train was some little boy who just fell off the playground and hurt his left knee. Another announcement and I heard the word problema. Keri scoped out the situation and turns out the train apparently wasn't okay. Everyone had to leave the train and catch a much more crowded less impressive Italian train. Zero transfers turned into two, but that didn't damper our mood a bit. How could it? We had no place to be at any particular time, no rush, no problem. It's hard to get upset when there is nothing but mountains and vineyards the entire way thus far. Plus the fact that our destination is Venice and we have five days of Italy ahead of us. Pizza. Pasta. Gelato. Wine. Oh and I WILL find a Starbucks, even if it means I must steal a Gondola and find one myself!
 |
| Making our transfer to our new train |
 |
| Being silly. Why wasn't this wine twist off? It was 3 euro! |
Made it to Verano to transfer to Venezia! Had three minutes to make our transfer. Success!! Much nicer train also. Took me a good twenty seconds to realize you have to put your foot on something on the floor to get the water to work at the faucet. :)
Found hostel. Venice Chic. Very nice. Fourth floor. Spacious room. Comfy bed. Free Wifi.
Walked around. Had pizza. Extremely delicious! Eggplant Zucchini! Bottle of wine.
 |
| Nearly the best pizza I've ever had |
 |
| Playing futbol with a dog! |
 |
| Drinking some water |
 |
| Admiring Venice @ Night |
 |
| Heaven |
After walking around and exploring more, we made a great decision; Gelato. While here we met Nancy from Australia. She was traveling for 10 weeks on her own throughout Europe. Meeting friends she knew throughout. How awesome.
Can't believe we made it back to the hostel thanks to her help! We walked for over an hour just exploring. Expected to turn around and make our way back. She told us we were near the train station so we walked ten mins to our place!!
Researching places to stay tomorrow night!
26 March:
 |
| Good morning Venice |
 |
| Gondola |
Had Lunch outside in the sun. Waiter was hilarious, as in very quick to the point and wanted little to do with us. Didn't bother us a single bit. Made us laugh actually. I had another delicious pizza and peach juice.
 |
| Where we had lunch. You can see our waiter here as well. |
After a great lunch In Italy what would someone want to do next? Sleep, run a half marathon, ride in a Gondola, take more pictures, study the map of Venice? All the above? None of the above!!! Gelato!
Our second time having Gelato and who did we run into? Nancy from Australia again! She probably thinks we live off Gelato! Nancy- "Guess mint is your favorite flavor Keri!" Chatted with her a bit. She is off to Rome this evening and to Florence later in the week.
 |
| Our friend Nancy |
 |
| Rialto Bridge |
Made it to the train station, train going to Florence in ten mins so we rushed to pick up our bags in storage and just got on the speed train.
Sat down, let out a huge happy relaxed sigh. Two hours to Florence. Bliss. Or not. Sixty seconds later, we were in someone else's seat! We didn't realize we actually had assigned seats on this train. Fancy huh? Moved to our new seats and enjoyed out ride to Florence.
 |
| Our train to Florence |
Arrived in Florence, eventually found our hostel after asking a few locals. Once there, we got all settled in and ready to explore and go out for the evening!
Next post: Florence!
So I am thinking that you would have been an excellent Gondola Driver.. lol as long as I was in the front to steer! ps. Miss you..
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