Venice...where to even begin. Well I left Paris on the evening of the 31st on my first leg of this great adventure on my first train with my eurail pass. Taking a night train to Venice, I arrived around 10 to meet Jay Wolfer, long time friend, at my stop. After an exchange of greetings we set off to find out where our hostel was. After a quick bus ride and a brief walk we were at our first hostel of my trip. Camping Jolly supplied us with a two bed, one bath small building unit. We dropped off our bags, packed our day packs and set off to go into town to explore Venice! Met up with an Aussie girl named Sophie that Jay met earlier in his trip on our way out of the camping site. The three of us then caught another bus and then BINGO, we were now in the magical city of Venice. The warm bright sun beat down on us and this breathtaking site of the emarald blue waters that snake about through this historic city. We spent much of the afternoon wandering and exploring the tight alleys and streets that seem to go in every direction but straight. We saw the many popular sites and bridges that seem to radiate history and beauty. This truly has been the most amazing city that I have seen on this trip so far, with the sun baked buildings that seem to grow out of these watery depths.

Growing tired of walking and hungry we decided it was time to break and refuel. No better method than to sample the first of many, PIZZA!!! We stopped at a small resturant and were seated in a classic Italian courtyard with sprawling olive trees over head with the smell of tomatos, dough, and spices spilling out of the kitchen. I pretty much felt like life was complete as we shared stories and tales about our various trips in the cool shade. The rest of the day slowly moved on as we continued to get lost in the maze of streets and bridges, continuing to enjoy all the city had to offer, such as the various pizza and galato stands each filled with treats that still make my mouth water thinking about them. We finally returned to the campsite around 7 to take a refreshing dip in the pool and then split MORE pizza, the third time that day! While drinking some wine and chatting well into the night.

We awoke lazily the next day to sunny skies and warm humid temperatures. We stopped by a market and got food for the day and then caught another bus into the city. Again we let ourselves get lost in the busy town while choosing to take our time today wandering the back streets and sitting in the shade on the bridges as boats putted up and down these quite canels. Later in the day we found some 51 cent beers and cheap snacks and returned home content and happy as we drank into the night playing cards in the warm evening climate.

On our final day we decided that we had experienced everything that Venice had to offer so we would now take one of the many boat buses down the Grand Cannel and out to the island of Lido, a small strip of land that sits between the lagoon of Venice and the Adriatic Sea. After an hour long boat ride we arrived and made our way out to the popular beach. We spent the remainder of the day laying in the sun, playing cards and just generally enjoying our time. Around 6 we decided that we should get back, so we packed up, got a few 64 cent beers (I know high roller!) and got back to our site around 8. We ended up getting pizza at the camp and while using some of the computers met 3 British girls that were also traveling Europe. We all talked and played games well into the night, until.....we decided that it would be a good idea to go swimming in the closed pool. This was a great idea until....the already angry security guard showed up and busted our party. We all scattered out and away, some of us chose easier methods than others while others jumped/fell over fences. Running about the camp that night trying to figure out where each other were while hiding from the security. Over all a great memory for finishing our time in Venice. The sinking city.