Europe: Venice, Italy

Venice is not without internet, but it seems I have been since we arrived. We finally found a McDonalds where we could sign on and make sure the rest of the world hadn't exploded or anything like that. All seems well, so I'm sitting down for a brief blog entry.

I'll leave out the obvious things like, "oh wow the city is so beautiful!". I'm sure even if you live under a rock you are quite aware that Venice is a simply gorgeous city. There are so many ancient buildings and such amazing architecture here that the one week we're staying that I at first thought might have been too long, is now seeming just right in order for us to really see everything. We constantly just wander and find ourselves in anywhere from magnificent open city squares with great stone monuments to these old alley ways where the residents live, all constructed of ancient stone, resting on top of water. The island is so amazing. The books weren't kidding, there really are no roads, only canals. We've yet to go on any boats anywhere but we've walked for what must be tens of kilometers and seen so many amazing sights. Pictures will come in a future post when I'm back in a place where I can sort through them.

The other thing that is great is I've never been in such an eclectic melting pot of different languages and people. This place is SO busy with tourists it's amazing, all from different parts of the world. At 7am I can look out our hotel room window onto the busy street below and see it bustling with so many people you'd think it's mid-day Carnevale. I can't imagine what actual Carnevale is like hah!

It's also strikingly similar to Cape Cod in a way. It's a fishing city so it all smells like fish and the ocean, as the Cape does on a summer day near the harbor. Fresh fish markets are everywhere and the ever present Seagulls keep watch over their city from above.

That's all I've got for you right now. More to come when I return with pictures as well.

Ciao!