I took a train up to Venice on Thursday at around 4:00 p.m. It was supposed to take about 4-5 hours. However, about halfway there we stopped, and sat out in the sun, without any air conditioning, for a couple of hours, watching the other trains pass us. We finally arrived in Venice after midnight. I had booked a hotel for Thursday, but I was a little concerned that there might not be anyone at the desk that late to let me in. Fortunately, I was able to locate my hotel, which was a couple of blocks down from the train station, and there was someone at the desk.

I checked to see if I could rent a fan, but they were all out. Of course, my room was closet-sized, so there was only so much heat that could congregate inside it. Plus, I had a lovely window to open and let in the cool night air, smells, and sounds. Needless to say, my room did not include a bathroom.

I got up bright, if not early, and took a shower. Fortunately, people in cheap hotels in Europe don't shower, so I had no problem using the bathroom. I walked back to the train station, which is the site of one of the three bridges over the Grand Canal. I was going to take a water bus up the Grand Canal to take in the sites. However, there was a water-bus strike. Yeah, in Venice. You go to Venice to boat around on the canals, and the buses weren't running. Fortunately, the strike was only scheduled to last until around noon. However, there was also a train strike, which was to last most of the weekend. So I got a reservation on the first train back to Rome on Sunday (a EuroStar train at 4:30 p.m.). Next, I walked around to St. Mark's.

I had obtained a map, which details every "road," canal, and alley. There are no cars or other motorized vehicles on the main Venetian island. The map can be very helpful, once you figure out how to read it. Fortunately, I got the hang of it pretty quickly and had no real problem finding my way around. It was a lot of fun wandering around, although every once in a while I came across the unmistakable smell of raw sewage. Mmmmm. Many of the alleys were quite narrow, and I was constantly crossing small canals on bridges. I stayed mostly to the south of the Grand Canal, crossing back to the north over Rialto Bridge, the nicest of the three, and closest to St. Mark's.

It remained hot, hot, hot and I wanted to watch the US v. Germany World Cup game, so I found a nice restaurant with a TV and was able to watch the game in air conditioned comfort, while eating a pizza margherita. It was most excellent, except for the fact that the US lost 1-0. As a general rule, most Europeans root strongly against the US in all World Cup matches. This is largely because of US dominance in many sports, and the scant attention that the US has given to soccer (football). However, most Europeans dislike the Germans enough to put aside their distaste for Americans in soccer if they are playing the Germans.

After noon, I caught a water bus back to the train station, and managed to view a couple getting their wedding pictures from a balcony overlooking the Grand Canal. I arrived back at the train station and waited for my classmates to arrive. There were to be six of us sharing a room for the rest of the weekend, including one of my roommates. When they arrived, I told them about the train strike and they went to the Information Desk to inquire about what trains were running. The woman at the Information Desk confirmed that the 4:30 train on Sunday was the first train going back to Rome, and the only one until Monday morning.

Armed with this knowledge, they headed over to make reservations, which involved standing in a very long line. When they got to the window, the ticket agent told them that the 4:30 train might not be running, and they wouldn't know until Saturday, and to come back then. Fortunately, one of my classmates was not to be put off so easily, and she went back to the Information Desk and explained to the woman there what the ticket agent had said. The woman went over to the ticket agent and the two got into a heated argument, which resulted in my classmates getting tickets in a smoking car, some of the few tickets remaining. Got to love those helpful ticket agents.

After getting train reservations, we checked into our hotel, which was not far from my first hotel. We had a fan in the room, but with all of the people it was still pretty warm unless we opened the window. Of course, the downside to that was that we were right next to the junction of one of the main canals and the Grand Canal. This meant that there was a lot of boat traffic as well as a lot of boats signaling their presence by blowing their horns outside our window.

We headed to St. Mark's along the main throughfare, north of the Grand Canal. It is fairly wide and easy to follow in most places. The Plaza in front of St. Mark's is littered with pigeons. On the east side is St. Mark's and the Bell Tower. I got tickets and climbed the Bell Tower, which affords nice views of the city.

We met up for dinner at a decent restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the hotel. I spotted a black scorpion on the bridge over the canal outside of our hotel. I was a little surprised to find a scorpion in Venice, as I always thought of scorpions as inhabiting dry, desert-like surroundings. Apparently scorpions sometimes climb aboard ships as stow-aways. Good to know I guess. The room was hot and uncomfortable, but I managed to get some sleep.

We decided to go to see one of the glass-blowing demonstrations. The real draw is actually that the showrooms are air conditioned. The glass blowing was not all that interesting. I had been to a glass-blowing demonstration at the Edinburgh Crystal Factory, in which they actually show you the people creating actual crystal. You go around to each station and watch them make real items. On Murano they have someone blow a lousy, imperfect piece of glass and then they toss it into a wheelbarrow to be reused for the next group of tourists.

After the demonstration we headed into the cool, cool air of the showroom. As I said, I was not at all interested in any of the glass, which was not only ugly, but overpriced. Well, at least as far as I was concerned. One of the sales people invited us into the "nice" showroom. This is where the really artistic, and extremely expensive, pieces are. It was interesting, but still not anything I would want in my place, much less have to pay for. We headed off in search of lunch, and ended up at a small open-air cafe, with so-so food.

Next we headed off to Burano, which is known for its colorful houses, although there is nothing else of interest there. We did not even get off the water-bus, but instead headed back toward Venice. I stopped off at Cimitaro, which is a small island completely composed of graves and a small church. Because cemetery space is so limited in Venice, they only inter people for about seven years. After that, they dig the bodies back up and reuse the plot. Another interesting thing is that they put pictures of the deceased on the crosses. I arrived about 15 minutes before closing, so I did not have much time to walk around. I took a few pictures and then caught a water-bus back to Venice.

My roommate wanted to go on a gondola. I suggested going during the day, when it only costs about € 30-40. Instead, we ended up going at night, when it costs € 100 or more. We split the cost among four of us, but it was still rather pricey. It was relatively cool to wander through the small canals. Probably not € 25 cool, but cool nonetheless.

The gondolas are built much as they were hundreds of years ago. The gondoliers guide their boats through the narrow canals with an odd oar that they press against an arm in the back of the boat. It is part oar, part rudder. The gondoliers typically wear blue-and-white striped shirts and black pants. Ours also had very authentic sandals on. We passed near and under a number of bridges, and it was interesting to see people walking around the paths and alleys, while we were on the "real" throughfare. The ride lasted about 20 minutes or so.

I took a water bus to one of the barrier islands and walked around. There were cars on the island, and it did not have any canals. In other words, it was not at all like Venice proper. I walked around and did some shopping, and then headed over to the beach. I did not stay too long, as I did not bring a bathing suit. I walked back to the main drag and had some lunch. Then I headed back to Venice.

I stopped by a shop that I had spotted earlier, which had writing implements. Of special note, they sold sealing wax and seals. I picked up an ornate "E" seal, some blood-red wax, and a gold ink pad. It looks really cool when you stamp the seal in the gold ink and then seal the red wax with the gold ink. I had been looking for a decent seal for some time and this really fit the bill.

I spent my remaining time writing out my postcards, which I mailed before catching my train back to Rome. Unlike my trip to Venice, I had no problems on the way back to Rome. I real enjoyed the trip to Venice. There was not really all that much to see there, but the atmosphere was like no other place I've ever been. Of course, given the choice I would find some place with air conditioning if I were to ever go back during the summer.

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