Italy here we come

Wednesday 6/17/09
Today was wonderful and exhausting. We woke up at 4 am to leave our hotel in Scotland. It was a dreary morning; even though the sun had already come up (rising at 3am this far north) the sky was full of stormy rain clouds. The drive to Prestwick airport was mostly uneventful. About an hour into the trip it seemed that the main road was closed and we would have to detour, but fortunately the road “opened” just in time. To be more accurate we had seen signs that this particular stretch of road was closed from 10pm to 6am, and it was 6:15am by the time we had to drive on it so we just drove around the sign and continued on, because there was no one awake at that hour to ask for different directions. Once we got to the airport things ran pretty smoothly. Morgan and I both got new novels at the book shop because we had finished the ones we brought. We got ready for our ryanair flight, which seems a lot like a European version of southwest. There was a general scramble as the flight started boarding because the seating was first come first serve. We also learned why ryanair is so cheap. The whole plane is advertisement space. Every over head bin had an advertisement. The flight team sold snacks, cigarettes, liqueurs, raffle tickets and other duty free items the whole time we were air born. Once in Bergamo we managed to find the right bus line outside the terminal to take us to the train station. When the bus came we hopped on assuming that we purchase tickets on board. Unfortunately there was no one selling tickets, and every one else seemed to already have them… so our first act in Italy was to steal a bus ride…. perfect, brilliant start… at least we didn’t get caught. After our initial issues with the bus, the train system was easy. We were able to find our train, and get off at the appropriate stops, and made it to Venice right on time. What a beautiful train ride, and what a glorious city. After we got here we hopped a tragatto which is a water bus which travels down the main canal. We found and checked into our hotel with no problem. We even made it up the 4 story walk up to our room with our packs on in humid weather without dying. After we got settled in our rooms we went out and explored the city on foot. We took in the beautiful view from the Accademia bridge, and wondered through the San Marco district. We stopped for dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant called “Da Mario’s.” We walked in and were almost the only people there. We got seats, and then I expected to be handed a menu. Instead a tiny old lady proceeded to rattle off in Italian what was on the menu. Morgan and I both sputtered a little trying to understand what she was saying, and in the end we did manage to get food. We had gnocchi with marinara sauce for Morgan and with meat sauce for me. We also had a lovely salad and a carafe of red wine to split. I have to say it was possibly some of the best gnocchi that I have ever tasted… as though it was made fresh only hours before we ate it. After dinner we continued to wonder and only went in circles twice. We ended the evening in San Marco square listening to live entertainment for the outdoor café’s. It was wonderful, we even danced together for a little while, like something out of a fairy tale. Finally we walked home along the Grand Canal, and then headed up the 70+ stairs to bed. Tomorrow should be even more fun!