Yesterday we were at a castle in the Alps, today we're walking along a canal in Venice!!! Incredible!! We arrived this morning...very early... and i was so happy to get off the train! I did NOT sleep very well, as the "beds" resemble something more like a plank of vey hard wood... Walking out of the train station was such a great feeling! The old Italian buildings (as seen in this picture) right on the waterways... so amazing! So much more of what i thought europe would look like (after having been in the newly reconstructed city of Berlin). We spent the day walking around the city, and went into every store! And yes, i splurged on a murano glass necklace, but come on, i'm in venice! We spent time in the Plaza San Marco, and i had a great time playing with all the birds, and i even spent a euro to buy food to feed them, and they would NOT leave me alone! sarah got some really funny pictures of me covered in them (dad, goldie would have had a ball!)! We sat down at a cafe in the plaza and i paid something like 10$ for an iced coffee with, count it, ONE ice cube... but it was totally worth it to sit right in the center of things and listen to the musicians (they were playing songs from The Sound of Music! my favorite!) and people watch... the italian men love us! We even got some authentic italian gelato! so yummy! tonight we're eating a CHEAP dinner, most likely pizza, to try and make up for the money we spent on souvenirs today... Unfortunately, we didn't go to see the Murano Glass Factory (i really wanted to) because we just didn't have the time or the money to spend on it. We're only here for today, as tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Padua, a small town outside the city. Ciao! Stef