A-MAZE-IN Venice!

23 June:  The three Amigos (don't forget Adam is with us) got up for an adventure in Venice.  Adam led the charge…which was a nice change for Karen since she is always navigating.  Leanne continued to lag behind, but this time because she wasn't feeling well.  We walked and walked and walked…by canals, street venders, gelaterias, ristorantes, souvenir stores and BEAUTIFUL buildings.  If you've ever been to Venice you know how easy it is to get lost in the maze of canals and streets…even with multiple maps.  Finally we arrived at Piazza San Marco.  Once again we were in the midst of HUGE, architecturally ornate buildings.  Leanne and Adam took tons of pictures!  Karen just looked on in amazement.  We found a little pizzeria for lunch on a side street…The Crazy Bar.  It was delicioso!  While we were eating it started to rain, so we went inside to wait it out.  Then more walking.  Leanne and Karen really enjoyed looking at all the Murano glass jewelry…don't worry, we're bringing some home. We went to the train station to buy our tickets for Pisa, Florence and Rome.  All three of us really wanted to take a gondola ride, so we went on a search for the ultimate Venice experience.  Earlier in the day we couldn't turn around without seeing gondolas, but when we needed one they were nowhere to be found.  Fortunately, we came across this one driver sitting beside a small bridge.  Karen walked over to ask if he was still doing gondola rides and he was.  He helped us into his boat and we were off!  He was very friendly and as a native of Venice he was quite knowledgeable of the history.  Victor is his name and gondolas are his family business.  His dad was a gondolier and now his son is too.  As we turned corners in the narrow canals, he would say something like "o-we" in a loud, deep voice.  Karen asked what that meant and he said, "like beep beep."  The gondola ride was super fun and a nice, relaxing way to end the day!  When we were done, we walked back to the bus station to hitch a ride back to our campground.  Thankfully the buses were running today.  We forgot to mention that we had 4 gelatos today.  YUM!  Love this place!  At the campground we had pizza and updated the blog and found our next hostel.