Wake up in the morning feelin’ like Black Beard.

Captain’s Log: 05 June 2010

Today was another one of those crazy days. I woke up at 3:30 after getting a solid 5 hours of sleep. It was borderline glorious. Waking up at Rome when everyone in the city is asleep was actually pretty nice. I took my time getting up. I read a little bit. I watched CNN, the only English speaking channel. Well, I assume they are speaking English even though none of what they say makes sense. Five o’clock rolled around and I thought it was a good time to walk around the town. My train for Venice left at 7:45 so I had plenty of time to kill. Heather and I met up and strolled to grab some breakfast. I got a pannino and coke for 5 euro. Not a bad deal. The sandwich meat was sour. I will have to get used to that. I ravenously ate my sandwich and guzzled my coke. Turns out I was rather hungry. As we walked through the cool morning, Rome felt very homey. The street vendors were just about to set up their stations. Traffic was sparse. Heather and I walked and talked about our expectations for our study abroad and before we knew it, it was time to run to the Termini.

We hauled our bags all the way to the train station and by the grace of God found our train. The train was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. Though, the area to store bags was rather small. Through careful maneuvering I managed to jam my odd shaped suitcase into the storage area. It left little room for others. I felt like a tool.

The train ride to Venice was beautiful. Well, what I saw of it was. I crashed 45 minutes into the train ride. I didn’t literally crash, but I went straight to sleep. I am somewhat of a lightweight come to find out. (my 9 hours of sleep a night was no indicator that I would need more than 4 hours of sleep in 2 days). As the train came to a stop in Venice I woke up and felt refreshed. I made it to my destination. No more deadlines for 3 days. I could relax and work with my own schedule. It was a feeling of accomplishment. Having spent a week or so planning my trip, then having spent 5 hours replanning my trip I was pleased with the results. Now to find my hostel.

I wasn’t too nervous about finding my hostel at first. I mean they sent me turn by turn directions in an email. I glanced over them a few weeks ago and they seemed good. Come to find out they were written in broken English. More worried and less relaxed Heather and I lugged our 50lbs bags over a couple bridges and rolled them down Corte Canal. It was a quaint street, like most in Venice. It looks much like the rest of the city but it has a very distinct scent. I believe it come from a garden nearby, but whatever it is, it is delightful. It smells like a mix of wildflowers and honey-suckle. It was actually rather enchanting. We kept walking and stumbled in, rather tired, and found the desk clerk, Antonio. Antonio checked us in to our rooms. He was very delightful and a local Venezian. He gave us some tips and some places we might want to check out. After settling in for a bit, Heather and I went exploring. Well, I went exploring and Heather reluctantly followed. I had a map in my back pocket which I refused to open and just started walking. We saw tons of shops. Most were selling masquerade masks and jewelry. Every now and then we would pass a store with paintings of Venice. Most are well done but they all seem to be the same type. We found old churches at every turn and couldn’t go 15 minutes without a bell chiming. Venice has a good feel. We weren’t in the touristy areas from what I could tell. We saw a lot of locals bringing groceries home or walking their dogs. (I totally saw a Bernice mountain dog Chandler! He was way better than Noah and super well behaved) It was a lovely experience. Well, after 2 hours of getting completely lost I decided to finally turn homeward. Two hours later I finally reached the hostel. I crossed the same bridge about 5 times to get there and had to use my iPhone twice but by golly I got there. At 4 o’clock I crashed on my bed. I just woke up and it is 12:30 AM. People are still outside my window laughing and chatting. I doubt I’ll be able to go back to bed. But hey, today was fun. What better place to get lost in than Venice?

End transmission.