Hello rainy Venice

I get up early this morning, check out of my hotel, and head to the Venice islands. It’s still drizzling outside, but it’s not nearly as bad as last night.

I get on the tram, which leaves a block away from my hotel and takes me across the bridge. The picture I attached above was taken less than a minute after stepping off the tram.

I pick up a mediocre Italian croissant for breakfast, and start to wander around the city, crossing east along the northern edge.

My original itinerary didn’t include Venice, but I added it at the last minute, and I’m glad I did. Venice is definitely one of the most unique cities I have visited anywhere.

The city is maze-like, with passages weaving through buildings in every direction. It’s surprisingly well-covered on Google Maps, but one of the best things you can do is turn off your GPS and just get lost.

Venice itself is actually a collection of many islands. I only explored the major islands accessible by foot, but it looked as if there was so much more to see across the water.

One thing I was surprised to find is that there are no cars on Venice island. There’s a parking garage near the bridge that connects to mainland, but otherwise you’ve got to be on foot.

I enjoyed this in contrast to the noisy, smelly cities I had visited before - it felt like a breath of fresh air.

Of course, this means that Venice has to come up with unconventional solutions to problems that other cities have already tackled, like deliveries and garbage collection.

To solve that, they use small cargo boats, then transfer to these carrying carts that you’ll see people with everywhere.

Venice has a lot of bridges, and most of them have only stairs, so I can’t see how fun that would be.

I only had the morning to walk around Venice, though had I known what the city was like, I think I would’ve spent more time.

They have an extensive water bus system that can take you around the main islands of Venice, or off to other nearby ones. I didn’t end up taking one, but if I ever come back to Venice, I would buy a day pass and see where they would take me.

Around 1:30 PM, I catch my train up to Innsbruck, where I’ll be spending the rest of the week. I’m writing this on the train, and the views around me of the Italian countryside are stunning - think large snow-capped mountains against a peaceful farming village.

I tried to take a picture, but my photos don’t do it justice.

My train journy to Innsbruck is 5 hours, so I finish my work for today. Looking forwards to what Innsbruck has to offer!