Venice - First full day

I sure picked some fine weather to hit Venice. Cold and rainy. Good thing I have my very very very cheap umbrella that I bought in Paris.

This morning I got up early and took full advantage of the American breakfast included in my hotel costs. Besides the milk having a slight smell to it and the apples in the fruit basket embarrassingly rotten, it was ok. I did manage to get three eggs scrambled for me and that was the hilite that I hope to reproduce the next two mornings while I am here in Venice.

Basically Venice appears to be a city where it shouldnt be. Its centered on about 117 islands connected by some 400 bridges. Nice because there are no cars in this area. Just boats and people walking (often with their dogs). Lots of dogs in this town.

After breakfast I got cleaned up and took a decently long walk (not once seeing a car cause there are none here). I would post the photos, but I am currently logged into a very expensive internet cafe and can not hook up my laptop. I will post them on my flickr account Tuesday.

Mostly though, today, i rested. Luckily for me there are some English speaking channels, CNN Europe and some sports channel. Also I watched a movie or two in Italian. Not that I can speak any Italian, but it was fun guessing what they were talking about.

Tonight i went out for wine and pizza and found a decent little place and had an OK little dinner. Actually, for Romes standards, it was pretty disappointing. Also, all said and done it cost me about $30US. Not sure it was worth it. I miss my tasty spots in Rome.

Another thing that I just must admit... Either the Italians have no concept of waiting in line or they just feel like they have a right to cut in front of people (or possibly just tourists). Sometimes their cutting is so bold I want to say something to them like "what do you think you are doing you stupid b*****d!!!". Honestly, it makes me laugh (better then actually saying what i want to say to them) at how ridiculous it can be. Especially when it happened at the Vatican... but today was even more blatant. Possibly I should just ignore them but beat them at their own game and simply cut back in front of them. Hmmm, i will try that next time... Hope I don't get a black eye!

Other then that my stay so far in Venice has been good. Its a bit touristy and most the stuff for sale are shiny glass objects (that would look better in my mind broken), bright colored masks and capes (for who-knows-what type of events), womens handbags (sold about every 20 yards by the only black people I see in the area) and expensive shoes. Doubt I will spend too much here except for wine and food.

As mentioned, I am pleased with my hotel, but I must admit that both of my hotels now in Italy, though nice, have had a strong mildew smell to them. Very strong. So strong that at times I blame it for my continued cough.

I did run into some American girls last night who had all their valuables stolen out of their room. They went to the police station and when one of them took photos of the police, was threatened with jail. Or so they said... they were pretty loud and annoying so who knows. This made me paranoid, but so far, things in my room are well.

Other then that, I have just 9 more days of my trip. In ways I worry about the end of this adventure, but in other ways I can not wait. Don't get me wrong, its been a good trip, but its been go-go-go... and the idea of getting back into a routine of some sort, somewhere, sounds pretty good right now. I guess that is what traveling is for. Give you a better perspective on how to live your regular daily routine. Or not...

OK well I am paying bunches for this so I better wrap it up. Really looking forward to seeing my family in 10 days in Denver. Really looking forward to my last week in Spain (which for several reasons was what I was most excited about for this whole trip, I hope it lives up to my expectations)...

DJ CJ OUT!!! lol