Blogging
From Abroad

A three week vacation from classes of course gave me tremendous potential for traveling. Fortunately for me, the WVU spring break coincided with the second week of my vacation here in Vienna. So, consequently, I was fortunate to receive my girlfriend, Madison, for a stay in Vienna as well as some touring around Europe. She was only able to stay for one week, not near long enough! However, I managed to jam-pack her stay with lots of exciting activities. Part of her trip was a brief stay in Venice, Italy.

I really think Venice was the highlight of her trip to Europe, it certainly was for me! We took an overnight couchette (sleeper coach) train to Venice. It was such a fabulous city. No book description or even photo can explain the breath-takingly picturesque aura that surrounds Venice. See for yourself:

This view is from the base of the Rialto bridge looking down the Grand Canal. We packed little lunches from Vienna and enjoyed them in a most quaint setting at the end of a dock situated along the Grand Canal. We watched boats, Gondoles (gondolas ferrying around tourists) and passegner vessels float around. A lovely view of Madison, enjoying a most scrumptious lunch in an equal setting:

Venice is truly a city for the walker, we walked an unbelievable amount while we were there. The only solution is to rest your tired legs for a moment and enjoy a gelato. On our train into Venice, we met some Mexican travelers who recommended we try this “gelato”. We stopped for it in a sector of town where it seemed mostly locals hung out, the gelato joint was quite crowded there! Seeing this, I knew soon why the gelato was mentioned so highly- it was better than any ice cream I’ve ever had (and I KNOW ice cream, not to boast or anything (-: ). I will not elaborate on taste descriptors, you just have to go try it for yourself!

Unfortunately, on the second day, it was cold and rainy, lousy weather to enjoy Venice. We walked full circle around the island several times stopping occasionally to get warm again. For those who don’t know it, the San Marco Basilica in San Marco square:

Quick funny story. We had planned to ride the boat bus, called a vaporetti, the whole time we were in Venice. Well, we waited until the last minute, in San Marco square for the vaporetti to take us to the train station, 30 minutes before our train was to depart. It turns out that the ride on the vaporetti would take 40 minutes! Now, San Marco Square and the train station are on complete opposite sides of the island! So, we ended up running through all of Venice to catch a train we ended up missing! Fortunately, there was another leaving we could catch. Ah, adventures of trains in Europe, I am sure everyone has a story!

I hope you have been inspired to see Venice!

Bye!