I want to preface this blog with the fact that I did not plan on visiting Italy, I was going to save it for another trip. I'm so lucky I didn't follow through on that plan, because I don't think any trip intending to see all of Europe should miss Venice. However, we only have two weeks left on our Eurail pass, so we are going to be burning through cities very quickly now to ensure that we see as much of Italy as possible in only a weeks time, hopefully saving a week for Spain. Anyway, Venice is truly a unique city and despite the expensive prices it's actually very affordable for backpackers. This city can be cheap for people like us, because the best site to see in Venice is the city itself, not an expensive museum or bus tour. We just set the map aside and walked around the city for about 10 hours, I mean we saw the entire city. There are no street signs in Venice, so the only way to navigate the city is to follow the signs to one of five sights marked by the city. So its hard to find a specific address or take an exact path, but its fairly easy to get from one part of town to the other. But thats part of the beauty of the city, getting lost in the countless crooked streets veering in random directions is the best part. I don't think we ever took the same route from our hostel to the other islands. The main square in Venice, Piazza San Marco, is one of the best squares we've seen in Europe, maybe second only to the square in Brussels. But it most definitely has the most pigeons of any part of Europe, I can't even begin to explain how packed that square is with those wretched birds, pictures can't even do it justice. The Basillica di San Marco at the end of the square is a different church than most we've seen in Europe. First, it's very colorful on the outside, with a lot of blue on the front facade. Also, the inside is entirely decorated in golden mosaics. Imagine a huge cathedral with every inch of the interior, dome roofs and all, covered in detailed mosaics, it must have taken forever to complete. Other than the main square and that cathedral, there really aren't any must see sites in Venice. Just walking around the city is more than enough.