Gondola rides...80 euros

An immigration meeting is putting the damper on a 9 day long trip to Prague and others, but me and my travel buddy Erik have made some alternative plans. Yesterday, we made it to Venice, which was not the dirty, smelly city that I had heard of. Away from the busy paths of mask and tourist shops were some amazingly tranquil and unique nooks. It was amazing to think that anybody even lived in Venice. More than 20 million day trippers go to Venice every year and most of the population there are only to sustain the tourist crowd. It is a tourist city, but if you can overlook the fact that traveling there makes you one of millions, it is worth it. Many of the streets were only wide enough for two people to walk hand in hand, but turn a corner and you might be in la Piazza di San Marco, the largest piazza in Europe. It would be large enough for a football field I am sure, and it is lined with more columns than you can count. It is impossible to amble there without losing your breath and feeling tied in your chest.
A similar tied in the chest feeling..."Documenti"
I decided to act out of character and take a bus. Boarding with my euro in hand wasn't enough, I found out, after I found the "biglietto" machine, for the ticket I hadn't bought at the tabaccherie. My bad. Two big, official looking man confronted me about this and soon after I was fumbling around for my passport. That was bad. So was the 40 euro fine. Life sucks, then you go to Venice and try a Fritelle di Venezia and realize that deliciously spongy, sweet cake things with raisins make you feel pretty darn good.
When bad things happen, and you just want to go back to bed and forget it, doing something is a way better method of getting over it. This has been a great lesson for me. Today I will suck it up, pay for a train pass and an entrance fee to the parade at Cento, a small town that celebrates carnevale. By the end of the day, I will be glad that I did. For the rest of the week, we might see Vienna, or a castle, but those plans are still in the works. There is a possibility that we will just board a train and hope for the best.

Once my pictures load, I will attach them all, as well as the videos I took. Until then...