Personal Post: Day 2: Venice

We didn't arrive in the city of Venice until some time around 5:45pm, when the city had already turned dark. We checked into our hotel, which happened to be right by the bus station at Piazzale Roma. Good thing it was such a short walk because we were pretty tired after all that traveling. Due to the flight delay, our plans for Venice had to be revised.

That evening, we walked around area by hotel for a little while to get ourselves oriented. We found the valporetto stop of Piazzale Roma, which was a short five-minute walk from our hotel. We found a supermarket and saw how expensive goods are in Venice. There were also many different types of foods not seen in the US. For example, there were many different animal organs sold as food. One, after long inspection, turned out to be half of a brain. I was able to point out the cerebellum and the cerebrum. After lulling around, we finally decided to get on a valporetto and do some sightseeing on our first night. We took the long route to St. Mark's Square on Line 82.

The streets behind St. Mark's Square were empty, which was somewhat unexpected. It was winter, so there were fewer tourists. In the cobblestoned streets, we only found a few snack bars that remained opened at this time of the evening. And by this time, we were beginning to get hungry for some dinner. There weren't many Italian restaurants opened, and we wound up settling at a Chinese restaurant.

Yes, we were in Venice, and we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. In our defense, it was one of the few restaurants that were opened. We were cold from walking around and we were hungry. Settling for Chinese food was a logical choice at the time. We had a bunch more days for Italian food on our trip. Of course, this Chinese food wasn't great, but it was familiar.

After dinner, we walked over to St. Mark's Square. The moon was out, but hazy behind the evening fog. There were only a few souls in the entire Square, which was illuminated by lights from every window and balcony. There were some constructions in front of Basilica di San Marco, which made the view less than ideal. Still, it was beautiful. There was also an eerie feeling in the air that came with the cold dampness.

Tomorrow is a full day of activities. We hope that the weather will be nice. Even though it was a little damp, as long as it doesn't actually rain, we'll be happy.