"Marco"..........."Polo"

After a fitful night and a pre-dawn awakening we endeavored to make it to the station for my first train ride.  A quick transfer of trains in Udine found us on our way to Venice.

I was a little worried when there was no water to be seen at the first Venice stop but two stops later the station doors opened upon the Grande Canal.  

Our first stop was breakfast.  We then proceeded to walk the road less travelled as we took an obscur route where we encountered many University students and few tourists.  At this point I wasn't taking pictures thus there will be more pictures to come when John downloads his camera.  

After walking a couple of hours we decided an ice cream and beer were in order.  

We then endeavored to find San Marco's square while enjoying the sites along the way.  Lunchtime arrived and we had covered 1/4 of the city but had not made it to San Marco's yet.  

While dining we met a two couples that came from Vancouver and Montreal.  It was good to have some English conversation.  They took pictures for us.  After our energy was replenished we continued on our way to find San Marco's.

We were glad it was off season because the square and its side streets were packed with tourists.  Although John had seen it in many a movie it impressed him none the less.  We had the pleasure of being serenaded by musicians on the square.

After visiting some shops we took pictures of the "Bridge of Sighs" and then made our way to the wharf to hire a gondola for an hour.  The gondolier pointed out many churches, statues, and homes of famous people including Marco Polo.  All this while maneuvering traffic jams (who would have thought).

The trip neared its end passing under the "Bridge of Sighs"  (Kathie, did you ever see the bridge from this angle?). where John's ego swelled as so many people wanted to take his picture.

After this we toured the city another hour headed back to the train station.

In summation:

Venice:  1/2 hour by car, 5.5 hours on the train, 6.5 hours walking, 21,372 steps (Dave), gondola ride, and no pickpockets Venice was a success.  

Sorry Tony, Venice did not smell bad.  And John continued to keep his promise of a photo of a new beer every time he sits down to dine.