The Grand Canal in Venice
The Campanile of St. Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace
Gondolas going down one of Venice's "alleys"
The Rialto Bridge
The next morning, I went back to Frankfurt to catch a bus to the Frankfurt Hahn airport. I flew on Ryanair, a budget airline that usually flies out of small airports. Frankfurt Hahn is a misnomer--it's nowhere near Frankfurt. It's about an hour 45 minutes away in the middle of nowhere. It's as if an airport called the Des Moines airport were built in Traer. Anyway, it was a short flight to Venice, Italy. After another bus ride, I was in Venice about 1 pm. No cars are allowed in Venice and the main form of transportation are the vaporetto, or water buses, along the Grand Canal. I found my hostel, down an alley way near the fish market. The only sign of it was a small call button at the door. The woman who ran it spoke no English, but it worked out well and only had a couple of other guests.
I toured around Venice, leisurely going down the Grand Canal on the vaporetto taking pictures and later around random streets in Venice. I have heard the best way to really explore a place is to just get lost, either by accident or on purpose. Wind down deserted streets, away from the touristy areas and just explore. I walked around St. Mark's Square and went up into the campanile for a view of Venice. It felt like déjà vu because I had just been to the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas, modeled after the square. The rest of my time, I just went around and took pictures. Venice is a picturesque city, but there really isn't that much to see or do specifically. The gondola rides are "cheapest" during the day, and can cost 75€ ($112) for a 40 min. ride and are more expensive at night. This fee can be split with up to 6 people, but a cheaper way is to pay .50€ ($0.75) and take a traghetto. These retired gondolas ferry people across the canal. The ride is about 90 seconds, but gives the gondola experience at a much better cost. I left Venice on Tuesday morning and headed for Florence and Pisa on the Eurostar train.
I toured around Venice, leisurely going down the Grand Canal on the vaporetto taking pictures and later around random streets in Venice. I have heard the best way to really explore a place is to just get lost, either by accident or on purpose. Wind down deserted streets, away from the touristy areas and just explore. I walked around St. Mark's Square and went up into the campanile for a view of Venice. It felt like déjà vu because I had just been to the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas, modeled after the square. The rest of my time, I just went around and took pictures. Venice is a picturesque city, but there really isn't that much to see or do specifically. The gondola rides are "cheapest" during the day, and can cost 75€ ($112) for a 40 min. ride and are more expensive at night. This fee can be split with up to 6 people, but a cheaper way is to pay .50€ ($0.75) and take a traghetto. These retired gondolas ferry people across the canal. The ride is about 90 seconds, but gives the gondola experience at a much better cost. I left Venice on Tuesday morning and headed for Florence and Pisa on the Eurostar train.
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