Venice, upon first leaving the train station, is surprisingly touristy as compared to Rome. For a while we explored the streets near the station - filled with mask shops and other souvenir stands. We also went into a lot of the (many) churches, which were gorgeous.
After a few hours though, all the shops and churches started to close -- apparently it was time for siesta. Hungry at this point, we stopped at a restaurant bordering one of the many rivers. As we were not extremely hungry at that point and the prices were rather outrageous, we ordered a plate of pasta and clams to split, as we'd seen a couple do at another table. At this request the waiter informed us that it could not be done; we must order two separate dishes. As the other table in the same restaurant was doing this, we were pretty sure that the waiter's response was not a result of the request, but of our attire. That is to say, he knew we were not going to spend as much money as other, richer tourists would given the newly freed table. Irritated at this attitude, we left.
We continued to wander, waiting for the city to come off of break so we could visit more of the many lovely churches. In the meantime, we found a nice cafe to sit at, drink hot chocolate, and read for a bit before proceeding to San Marco Basilica, where Jay and I fed pigeons with a bag of corn kernels purchased for 1 euro. They ate right out of our hands, landing on our arms, and one or two confused newbies landing on our heads (presumably our hats look like food). Afterwards we walked to a nearby port and I read my book while Jay people-watched and tried to read over my shoulder. (He's now reading that book, "The Blind Assassin", now that I've finished it -- no way to get a boy to read a book than to sit and read it in front of him while telling him not to read ahead).
After a restful hour or so spent in this manner, we walked along the coast, through another touristy area, and purchased gelato. We were apprehensive since the prices were higher here than in the outskirts of the city, so I was the only one willing to buy some... at first. The woman working there was so sweet and amazingly adorable, I told Jay that he had to go buy one too. He did, and then agreed. We pretty much wanted to adopt that sweetie, but oh well. We turned inwards towards the less-crowded streets and were met with the labyrinth of tiny, winding side streets and rivers. Clothes lines crisscrossed all the miniature streets - too small for cars, as they didn't exist in Venice... just boats (and gondolas) and the occasional bike.
We saw a couple of friendly cats along our way, as well as a dog that was just chilling out in a tied-up boat. As the sun started to set, we ran back to the dock, chasing the setting sun for a gorgeous view over the water. For dinner we found a lovely Chinese food restaurant (still irritated by the snooty, expensive Italian restaurant from that afternoon), and then made our way slowly back to the train station. Just outside, we got some more gelato and sat outside in an enclave of the station building, me reading, Jay watching the tourists and passing boats.
Venice was, all-in-all, lovely. Jay and I have difficulty deciding on the best single descriptive word, but "sexy", "alluring", "enchanting", and "seductive" are all candidates. Given that our pass to get into the churches is valid for a year, we may try to return for a weekend during the summer semester.
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