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We boarded the night train in Zagreb, and immediately regretted not paying for beds. The carriages were packed, smelly and hot. We found our seats occupied by a very moody Croatian woman and a seemingly pleasant American, both of which we asked to move, the woman being much more reluctant than the guy. A night of hardly any sleep, (largely due to Australians that wouldn't shut up) and we arrived in Venice, tired and unenthusiastic.
Our hotel, (yes, hotel!) was situated just outside of the centre of Venice, one train station away. As we couldn't check in till 12, we put our bags in the train station lockers and started to wearily wander the streets of Venice. Stopping for a quick drink in a café we immediately noticed the price difference compared with Croatia. In split, a beer would cost between £1.50 and £2, whereas you were lucky to find one for less than €6 in Venice. Needless to say, we didn't have many. At midday we checked in and had a well needed shower, before heading back to the centre, aiming for the famous piazza San marco.
Ambling amongst the vast number of shops and stalls as we went, we followed the "s. Marco" signs until we arrived at a huge square with a large tower opposite the basilica di San marco. We decided to climb the tower (campanile) to enjoy the spectacular panorama of Venice from above. We then got lost on our return, as everywhere seemed to look the same, and we were without google maps. We were nearly tempted into going for a gondola tour, but even after some epic bartering, the price of 50 euros was still too much for us to accept. (In hindsight we regret not taking this.)
After an average meal of pizza (you know you are in a classy establishment when you have a coca cola napkin dispenser on your table), we decided to return to the hotel, exhausted, but pleased that we managed to squeeze the majority of venice into a day.
The next morning we caught the train at around midday to our next stop: Nice!
Bean x
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