Italy Trip 2004
(Sept 21st - Oct 3rd)
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2004
Slept in again today. Woke up at 8:45am instead of 8:00am as we originally wanted to. But it didn't make much of a difference as the train schedule didn't have an earlier departure time.
We left Riomaggiore for Le Spezia on the local train. It was only a single stop, which took a few minutes. Once arriving in La Spezia, we boarded the train for Pisa.
Once arriving in Pisa, we had 1.5 hours before our train to Venice would leave. We decided to hightail it over to the leaning tower, which is on the other side of town. The train station pretty much sits at the southern border of Pisa, while the tower is at the northern border. With our backpacks on, we headed north.
Pisa is a small town. The road we walked down seems to be the main shopping strip. Here you'll find all the big name stores (which are just as expensive as back home).
In just under 30 minutes, we found ourselves at the tower.
Compared to the other sights we've seen, it's surprisingly unimpressive. Since we didn't have time, nor wanted to pay the 15 Euro, we chose not to walk up the tower.
I took some pictures of the city on the way back to the station.
I'm not sure if I mentioned it yet, but bikes and scooters are a major form of transportation in Italy.
Since we arrived in Italy, I was shocked to be unable to find a single restaurant or bakery selling cannolis On the way back to the station, I found one! It was great! The cream inside was soft, not the dried out stuff you get when you order one at home.
Our train to Venice was a EuroStar train. It was the first we'd been on and will hopefully be the last. We were surprised to have very little room compared to the other trains. We'll definitely stick with the IC (InterCity) trains the rest of the trip.
As we approached Venice, nearly all the passengers left the train too soon. There are two stations in Venice. The first is for the mainland and the other is for the island. A few realized their mistake and got back on the train. Considering there was no water to be seen, you'd think people would realize they weren't in the right spot.
Approaching the island was pretty cool, as you get to a point where it seems the train is riding on water.
After getting off the train, we signed in at the hostel office and were brought to our room. It's a small room, with a private bathroom.
Breakfast is also included.
Oh .... the twin beds are the smaller type of twin.
The view from the room isn't very good.
But there's a better view from another window in the building.
Once settled in at the hostel, we took a walk around the city. Shopping and eating seem to be a major part of everyday life in Venice. Bakeries, glass shops and big label stores fill the streets.
You wouldn't think that a place filled with stores would be a place you'd want to go, but it's a gorgeous place. There are quite areas where you get scenery like this.
We ended our walk at San Marco Square which is a main area of the city.
Tomorrow we'll view the sites during the day and check out the shops at night.
