Venice in a day!

Maybe it's cocky to go someplace with the history Venice has and only go for a day trip. I only stayed in Milan for 7 hours, so I'm not too worried about it. : )

I checked out with the hotel and ended up talking to Gabriel, the guy who worked there for a little bit. We exhanged emails and I went to find a bank. It was two blocks away from the hotel, three from the metro stop so I quickly got cash and made it to the station with 20 minutes to spare! It was nice to just walk up without all the waiting but I don't think I'll make a habit of it...too stressful!

Nothing to report about the train ride except it looked like California farm land at first (just add buildings that are older than our country) then turned into the sort of landscape you see in the movies. Green and scattered with beautiful buildings. Chateus and convents/churches up in the hills. Amazing. 

We left Milan at 7:30 and arrived in Venice around 11am. I walked out, checked my bag, then headed to the water taxi to St. Mark's square and bascilica. The line was way too long so I headed off in search of something else. I wandered the streets all day, doing my best to get lost. I did a pretty good job. It was hard to get to a street that didn't have anyone on it with me. It only happened 4 times at the most. The time I was so shocked I recorded it with Lil' Flipper, my video camera.  The second time I changed, very quicky, from pants into shorts. According to the Homey, Rick Steves, you must cover your shoulders and not have on shorts to enter St. Marks so I can prepared. Too bad I didn't go in! : )
I was getting hungry, it was past noon and I hadn't eaten much other than almonds in the morning, so i stopped in and got some pasteries. Then I stopped in at a place on a side street and had a pannini and a glass of wine, as suggested by TP.  Yum! I wasn't hungry any more so I kept on strolling through. Never looking at a map, the Homey said not to worry because it's an island...you run into water at some point. It was cool to just walk with no destination in mind, except to eventually return to the train station. The buildings were old and beatiful in they're decaying state. Healdsburg, from last nights train, told me Venice was flooded when he got there so he didn't have a very good experience. I saw signs of the flooding. Wooden planks on the ground that serve as raised walkways, and a steel plate at the base of one door that serves as a sand bag when the water comes rolling in.  I found some shade and bench to lay down on, where I started to write these blogs on my iPod notepad before I forget. My phone died so I went shopping, buying a few trinkets before heading back to the train station.  I retrieved my bag and loaded up on the train.
 Now I am on my way to Rome. Venice was very cool. Definitely worth the trip even though I didn't go inside of any of the major sites. For me strolling around and experiencing a new place can be just as satisfying, especially if you aren't in the mood for crowds.
Another contradiction: as tourists we try to visit these places without the tourist experience, which by definition is impossible. We are tourists, therefore we can't escape tourist activities. I just cracks me up that people, myself included, will complain about all the tourists around. Hey, you're there too adding to the chaos. Stop complaining! ; ) Again, I'm including myself in this little soapbox performance. 
I didn't meet anyone today. Tourists at tourist attractions rarely want to sit down and have story-talk time. In a tourist infested area like this, locals don't want to talk to you as much because they see thousands of you every day and they really don't care where you're from. Since I didn't go inside any of the visits and didn't meet anyone this post will be much shorter. 
I'm excited to get some sleep tonight i still haven't had a full night of sleep without waking up in the middle of the night or getting in too late to count, but it just might happen to tonight. My eyes are getting blurry. I'm off to take a nap before we roll into Rome. Yay!!!
I just got into the B&B in Rome, which explains all the new emails! I follow the directions from the website. Got a little bit lost, the English translation was questionable, but found it within 10 minutes. I rang the buzzer and was let in by the manager. He seemed a little out of it and admitted he didn't remember my reservation coming through. Then I pointed my name out for him on the computer. Apparently he just got back from tennis, he had the stinky post-game funk like a football player, so I was lucky to catch him. Scary thought, but it all worked out. Now I am in Rome for the next three nights, at least.
So...I didn't get my passport back from the hotel last night. I was on the train by the time I realized, without a number to call or Internet connection to email Gabriel. Luckily he figured it out too and I had two emails waiting for me when I found a wifi signal. So here's the plan, he will mail them to my final hotel here in Rome so I will have it. On my end, my new plan is to stay in Rome until my passport gets here. If there is a patron saint of postal services, which I'm sure there is, I will be lighting a candle or doing whatever it is that you are supposed to do to get a favor from a saint!! Luckily, I have two photocopies of my passport and some time to spare so I'm not freaking out. Just another adventure! 
:) Time to plan what sights I want to see. Night!!