Day 16: Venice

There's No Cars in Venice
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Breakfast is at 8...it's French toast and some sort of potato and ham mixture. Gossip quickly spreads and people try to spot Wellsy and Darren's girls amongst the nearby campers. Ben is really not in good shape - he had a rough night and has decided to take his misery out on everyone else. He is stomping around, yelling at people not to ask him for anything, and threatening to hulk someone. Kenny pushes his luck by tauntingly whispering his name in his ear, and ends up getting chased clear across the campground.

St. Mark's Basillica , Venice
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We catch the shuttle bus to Venice at 9...it's about a 20 minute trip to the city. Tori tells us that there are buses every hour, but there will be an extra one at 3:30 for us. The other ones might be quite full with people trying to get to the campground. The bus drops us off at the Piazza Roma, which is the main drop-off point for Venice as there are no motor vehicles allowed within the city. Tori leads us down a confusing series of streets to the Rialto bridge, then on to St. Mark's Square. We have been warned that our maps of Venice will be useless, and I am convinced! It's a bit overcast today, which is a relief given the heat we have suffered through lately.

We have been warned that our maps of Venice will be useless, and I am convinced!

St. Mark's Basillica
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We head to the lace shop, where we are given a brief talk on how traditional lace making is done, then are set free to spend our money. I buy a bookmark for my Aunt, but emerge mostly unscathed :) Next, we head over to the glass shop where we have been told we will see "a man blow a horse". And sure enough, the glass blower makes a vase, and then a small horse - we are all suitably impressed. The owner of the glass shop is very charismatic, and shows us several pieces, demonstrating how durable the items are by throwing a box of glasses on the floor and smacking them on the table. We wander through the shop, but have been warned that we can find much cheaper glass stuff from street vendors. And there a lot of ridiculously expensive items, including a $34000 Euro statue of a woman.

Pigeons in St. Mark's Square
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We wander around the square until 12:15 when we have our gondola ride. Jeff, Ting and I get in one with Suzie, Michelle and Stacie (a good boat!). The trip is about half an hour and we get a great look at the city and the canals running through it.  We chat a bit with the gondolier...he doesn't sing, you have to pay more for that! Gondolier-ing is a very traditional trade that is passed down in a family, and only men do it. No one outside a gondolier family can become one, resulting in a steady decline in their numbers. The trip is very relaxing and we are glad we paid to do it - after all you can't come to Venice and not ride in a gondola!

St. Mark's Square
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We had had some of Angie's McDonald's fries while we were waiting at the dock, and they had given us a fast food craving. Almost everyone hits the McDonald's for lunch, which being right near the tourist area of St. Mark's Square, is not cheap - 7 Euros for a combo! We eat our disgusting grease burgers in the square and then Jeff, Ting and I go through St. Mark's Basillica. It's different looking from some of the other churches we've seen, with a lot of gold colours, but it's of course beautiful. Next, we take the lift up the bell tower for a great view of the city (everywhere we go, we have to get up on some high thing).

Clock in St. Mark's Square
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We go shopping around a bit...Ting wants to buy a mask (a Venetian trademark), and eventually finds one he likes, while I pick up some glass stuff and of course postcards. We enjoy the pedestrian only roads, but they are very confusing - especially when shop keepers deliberately change signs so that people walk by their shops. We're not in a rush to get back so we miss the extra 3:30 bus...we eventually catch the "water taxi" back to the Piazza de Roma but it ends up taking nearly 40 minutes so we miss the 4:30 bus as well. We wait around for the 5:30, but by then there is a huge crowd of people trying to get on. There is a mad rush, and the Kim sisters and I get left off. The driver tells us there will be another one in 10 minutes - liar! We end up waiting around for another hour...by the time the next bus rolls around I am mad and we make sure to shove our way onto it.

Dude Making a Glass Horse
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Dinner is at 8 and I had wanted to take a nap beforehand, but it's already 7 by the time I get back, so instead I just shower and have a beer. Ting is happy to see me get back - only because I had the trailer key and he couldn't get in. Dinner is chicken, potatoes and veggies in an awesome white sauce - hits the spot. Tori hands out our T-Shirts which she just got and everyone puts them on. They turned out really well and people seem quite pleased with them. We are told there is a toga party tonight at the bar...our crew hands out "toga sheets" (a lot like regular sheets) and gives a demo on how to tie one.

This Thing Costs 34000 Euros
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Ting says he is going to "take a nap"...I pick up a couple drinks from happy hour and hang out at "Mom and Dad's" trailer (inside due to Kylie's paranoia about the mosquitos). Around 10 pm, people are getting ready to head down to the toga fest so I go wake Ting up and try to get him to help me put one on. We fail miserably so instead I go find Jeff to help out. With his help, I manage to get something decent on...I carry his wallet as I actually wore shorts - Jeff is going more authentic with just underwear on. Ting opts to go back to bed rather than come out, much to group's disdain as almost everyone else is there.

Gondolas Standing By
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The party is pretty lively - again, people get up on the bar along the wall to dance...only it looks slightly more ridiculous now with the togas. Jeff finds a couple girls and begins chatting them up. I play wingman for a while, although it becomes fairly obvious that they're not really into us (we don't have the physique to pull off togas!) Jimmy eventually swoops in and takes one of the chicks outside...I leave Jeff with the other one, wish him luck and head back to the trailer. The luck didn't pan out for him, although Wellsy was apparently spotted with the girl from the night before. A bunch of the Aussie gang stalked them around the campsite and then spooked them when they were getting comfortable. Ah, what are friends for? :)