When we got off the train in Venice, it was only a short walk to our hostel (something rare for us). We walked over the private bridge that led up to the big green door to ring the bell, and a man popped out of the second story window with a "Ciao!" It felt like we were at the gates of the Emerald city in the Wizard of Oz. Turns out, it was just an old school security system. He buzzed us up and we headed into one of the most unique hostels we've been to yet. The music was bumpin', and all the rooms were right off the main dining area. It was more of a family atmosphere than a hostel atmosphere, which we liked. However, having 2 showers for 45 people was a pain. Also, our room happened to be a bright, buggy sauna with cranky roommates...but hey, at least we had colorful, nice duvet covers! After experiencing our first impression, we headed out for our daily dose of gelato (the best we've had so far!...and we've had a lot). We discovered that Venice basically shuts down after 10 except for some gelato places and the last remaining hopeful vendors. But it was absolutely magical. It was so peaceful and relaxing, especially coming from a city like Rome. The lack of cars makes a huge difference, and the water sparkling from the light of the moon is amazing.

For our first full day, we decided to do some island hopping (for those of you who don't know, Venice is basically a cluster of 118 islands). We took a water bus to the island of Lido, which mysteriously had cars! We were surprised. It was still very quaint though, and we had a relaxing afternoon on the (vendorless!) beach. We even took a dip in the Mediterranean Sea...but then ran out when we came across jellyfish. Not something you find in Illinois. After we got our burn on (apparently Venice is significantly closer to the sun), we headed to the island of Burano which is known for the colorful houses and authentic hand-made Italian lace. We felt like we were in Candyland/the Willy Wonka factory. We've never seen anything like it before...the houses ranged from bright pink, canary yellow, royal blue, teal, and even fire orange. We walked in and out of tiny lace boutiques (that were inside the owners' homes) and wandered around the tiny island for a while. After misplacing the dock and overcoming the fear of never finding our way out of the maze of tiny alleyways, we finally stumbled upon the dock again. Then we headed over to the other island, Murano, which is known for its colorful, blown glass. We got to see a few shops with items ranging from plates, to chandeliers, to animals the size of your pinkies, to quill pens, etc.. It was crazy. But like everything else in Venice, they all closed at six. We took this as a sign to get off their island, so we headed back to the main island.

After we got back to our hostel, we lined up for the showers and got ready for our free (yay!) family sit down meal. We had sangria and ate pasta while listening to music with around 25 other people. We played some cards with some Americans from Cali we befriended before heading out with the group to the only piazza in Venice that contains nightlife (which happened to be on the other side of the island..of course). Everyone apparently goes into bars, gets drinks, and then comes back out to sit on the concrete in groups in the middle of the square. Interesting. We called it an early night and headed back around 12...not before stopping for some calzones as our fourth meal.

The next morning we woke up to music blaring (intended to wake up lazy people and get them out), and checked out. We set out to explore the main island of Venice. We stopped to get some authentic cafe frappes to get our caffeine kick, but it turns out that's what they call milkshakes. Who knew? We ended up weaving in and out of alleyways for the rest of the afternoon. Some might call this getting lost, but we eventually found our way back so we were just taking the scenic route. The shops lined the walkways, gondolas floated under every bridge, and pigeons infiltrated every piazza (probably because of the crazy people who welcomed them on every surface of their body). Ew.

We ended up climbing the bell tower of San Marco to get a 360 view of Venice, which was amazing. After the view, we were on a mission to find a seafood dinner. We were so happy when we found one along the canal with a great view. Dana even tried lobster! Then our happiness turned to shock when we saw the bill. Turns out, when you order seafood, it only shows the price per 100g, which they most certainly did not give us. They were so generous, they gave us 400g...which ended up being 34 euros for Melissa and 49 euros for Dana. Dang this metric system! We were so mad, but there was nothing we could do about it but laugh and then drown our sorrows in yet another bowl of our favorite gelato. Live and learn.

After our expensive adventure, we packed up and headed for our night train. We decided to spring for the couchettes this time after our last experience with the non-reclining reclining chairs. We felt like we were on the Hogwarts express. Same size cabins, but it fit six people with beds stacked. Needless to say, it was tight spaces, but it was infinitely better than those chairs. This morning we arrived in Austria, so we'll fill you in next time on our upcoming adventures!

Italy..."we willa never forget youuuu!" (Said like the Italian man in Titanic, of course)