Ahhh... Venice!

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We managed to get out the door by about 9:30am and went to find somewhere to buy bus tickets… tabacchiera – closed… train it is! Over to the train station and it is chaos. There is very little information even for locals to work out what trains to get on or where to get your tickets. We were in line at the ticket machines when a man in uniform told us this was for the regional trains and that the local train tickets were available from the newspaper shop. We found it and managed to get tickets… now, which train? We just got on one that was headed for Venice central and it must have been the right one because half of Italy was trying to get on too! As we squeezed into the train, there were lots of people left on the platform that just couldn’t get in the doors. And it’s not like Japan where the trains come every few minutes – the next one was a while away.

Anyway, we managed to get to Venice then found our way out to the Grand Canal with the mob. It was a real struggle to get through the crowd and over the first bridge and once on the other side we decided to just go for a wander instead of following the masses directly to St Mark’s Basilica. We got thoroughly lost in the maze of canals and tiny laneways and it was great! We found a pizza shop selling enormous slices for just €1.50 and indulged! Then we got out the google GPS and made our way to Piazza San Marco and the basilica.

As the canals and bridges restrict where the pedestrian accessways can go, you end up back on the main tourist path through the city. There are only 3 bridges across the Grand Canal, so you have to fight your way over any of them. The Rialto Bridge is a bit like Ponte Vecchio in Florence – shops on the bridge and hordes of tourists trying to get their postcard shots. At least this one is not so ugly! The rest of the path to the basilica is lined with tourist stores selling the usual Chinese made stuff then you pop out into the piazza. It is a huge rectangle bounded on three sides by imposing municipal buildings and on the fourth side by the Basilica San Marco – ¾ covered in scaffold!

We had lunch on the steps of the piazza and then Em chased the pigeons around and tried to feed them some breadcrumbs. They were far more interested in some people that had birdseed but we couldn’t see anywhere to buy it so they must have brought it with them. We wandered over to the waterfront area where you can see across to La Giudecca, the group of small islands on the southern side of central Venice. We then wandered back through some of the tiny laneways to the third bridge over the Grand Canal, Ponte dell’Accademia. Back to the waterfront, we found icecream and sat with our feet hanging over the edge of the boardwalk to eat it before heading back to the train station.

Finding your way out of Venice is WAY harder than finding your way in! OK time for some tips… buy your train tickets at tabacchiera’s or newspaper shops, €1.25 to go anywhere on the metro service for up to 60 minutes. The metro services are the GREEN trains that all look a bit dodgy. Look on the display boards for anything starting with RGV (Regionale Venezia) and find the platform number of the next train to leave. It’s pretty easy if you’re staying in Mestre as they all stop there. Simple, right? You’d think there would be an easy way of letting the tourist hordes know this info straight up but apparently not! Even the non-local Italians had real trouble figuring it all out because most of the long distance trains also stop at Mestre and they are all listed on the boards together. If travelling to another major city, it is pretty straight forward. Buy your ticket from the big red (clearly marked) ticket offices and look at the boards for the right destination city.

This train was a bit less crowded and we found our way back to the apartment eventually. Phew!! Tomorrow we board our cruise for 12 days to Greece and Turkey so no internet for a while…

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