Venice

Hello blog readers.

Last night was interesting. After my blog post I decided to have a beer at the hostel "bar", thought it might help me sleep better. The room I had was fine, all the furnishings from Ikea. All good except for the bunkbed. It was a bit treacherous to climb up, and shook and squeaked all night long. A deep breath made it squeak.

The guy that I ordered my beer from was quite friendly. I was tired and didn't really have the patience for him, but all-in-all he was very nice. He turned out to be part-owner of the hostel. He tried to convince me I should change my itinerary, head back to Cinque Terre with him (where he lives) and he would take me sailing. I would actually have taken him up on it if I was headed that way. Then he tried to convince me to meet him in Naples and we could sail to Sicily, where he is from, and his mama could make us dinner. Oh boy. All this conversation though got me free beers which led to a much better night sleep. Thank you Francesco!

I saw him again this morning when I checked out, quite a character. Gave me his email address in case I changed my mind and he would come pick me up wherever I was. Breaking hearts all over Italy. ;)

Made it to Venice just fine. My hostel was just a 5-minute walk from the train station. It is a university dorm that they use as a hostel during the summer. I headed out with the intention of simply walking around and seeing where I ended up. Ended up at the Piazza San Marco, one of the biggest tourist destinations I believe. It's also where a lot of the gondola rides start from. I sat for a bit watching all of the gondolas go into the entrance towards the little canals. With the rate of how many were going by, it almost looked like a ride at Disney World. One after the other.

Going to eat dinner soon and then try and figure out how to get back to my hostel. First time I have a curfew. Have to be in by 12:30am and can't leave the hostel before 7am.

Haven't planned all of my days here yet, but I'm going to try to go to Murano tomorrow, the island especially known for its glass. Want to try and get there early enough to watch some glass blowing.