Venice

Saturday August 16th

More of the Venice maze.

Surprise surprise everyone, we had another relaxed morning. I finally had time to get a workout in...after about 3 days I definitely crave that so after that I felt great this morning!

We had breakfast provided by Gian Paolo; breads, meats & cheeses, cereal, fruit etc. The best though was eating with the other couple that is staying in the house. They were hilarious. It's this couple that is kind if from everywhere; she was born in Russia, he was born in Italy but they have lived most of their lives in Israel, where they met. Now they are living in France working & finishing PHD's, Masters degrees & other smart things. Anyway, they had such funny stories about living in France! We must have talked with them for almost 45 minutes, all of us laughing most the time.

Experiences like that make me glad that we've staying in places like we have. It's been so fun getting to know all sorts of people. These 2 were definitely our favorite though! 

Eventually we jumped onto a bus headed back into Venice. It was already raining when we left, kind of a bummer since Russ lost his jacket in our bag last night! Luckily Gian Paolo was nice enough to let us use his umbrella. 

We were supposed to meet the others (Chelsie, Liz, Logan & Tom) on a certain bridge at 1:30. So we had a couple of hours to explore Venice some more. We didn't have any set plans, just go to areas we hadn't been to yet. We were trying to not go to San Marcos square since we figured that was something the others would want to do. 

So we wandered. It's amazing how much we've done that and how fun it still is. Just talking, holding hands and noticing things around us, who knew it would be so fun?!

We were surprised to see this thick pizza, usually it's all a very thin crust here. 

I've noticed more pizza in this city than anywhere else, no question! 

It was fun to see the famous Rialta bridge. If you go up the middle it's all shops & vendors with tons of people.

Then you can also just walk on the outside edges, which also gives a great view! 

We liked this shirt because it is so true. Hard to see buts it's just a maze, "Enjoy Venice" is right, it is such a maze!

But it sure is a pretty maze.

Plus those gondolas need get old, they are everywhere! 

It's amazing how narrow some of these streets are. Mr Athlete here just climbed right up!

It was fun to just mosey our way around and see things.

Haha have you ever seen an Asian man with an Afro like this?! Impressive.

There areas masquerade masks everywhere here! So I am always singing "masquerade!" from Phantom, it comes out in English, German, or just incorrect German haha "Maskeman!!"

We hadn't been trying to get near San Marcos, but after a while we thought maybe we were close by. Who knows around here. Then out of nowhere we were walking down a tiny street and realized "we ate here!" It was the restaurant from last night! So we went in and asked about our bag we forgot. Sure enough the same waiter was there and grabbed it for us! So Russ got his jacket back :) so lucky! We stumbled on it totally by accident! 

Around 12:45 we started to make our way back towards the bus station bridge where we were going to meet the others. Unfortunately we only have access to calling, they only have access to texting. So that makes communicating a little tough! 

1:20 we were there. 1:30 came around, 1:45, no sign of them. Hmm. Finally Russ had me go find a restaurant area with free wifi so I could send/receive iMessages with Liz. After ten minutes I found wifi and heard that they were running late etc.

Tht whole time & while I went to find a bathroom, faithful Russ just waited at the meeting place the whole time. 

That bridge is the only modern looking one in all of Venice, apparently the natives don't like it because it doesn't match.

Eventually we all finally met up, hurray!!

Really we spent the rest of the time we had there just walking & seeing some if Venice.

We grabbed some lunch at a cheap place. Russ had one with eggs & bacon that was way yum, & I had grilled veggies on mine. Haha Logan got the same thing as Russ, but he doesn't like tomato so he asked for it without tomato. He thought that would mean like tomato slices, Liz was like "it's going to come with no sauce!" Sure enough the tomato on the menu meant the sauce haha so his was crust, cheese, eggs & bacon. He said it was like an egg mcmuffin haha not quite Italian pizza! Funny.

It was fun to see everyone and hear more about how their trip has been so far. Were lucky to have such great friends! 

We visited San Marcos square again. It's different in the day and was so crowded! 

Here we are finally not just taking selfies! We asked Liz to take this picture and she made a special effort to get in the right spot to see all of the tower behind us. Haha as you can see it ended up being harder than we all thought, but it was fun watching her try!  Thanks Liz!

By 6:00 we were on our way out of Venice. Tom stayed in Venice for a few more hours to take a night train to

Vienna so he can go to church in a ward he served in. 

The rest of us drove to Klaggenfurt, Austria which is a city that Logan served in. (Those guys have had a car since they it to Spain) Liz & Logan are staying the night with members. Russ, Chelsie & I have an Air B&B place. It's kind of a funny one, just a room in a couples apartment. Chelsie is on a cot, and we have a thin mattress with throwback box springs haha...literally cardboard boxes. All part of the adventure!

Tomorrow we will go to church, check out this city and especially spend time at the gorgeous lake that is here!