John:  Well thinks worked out... almost... camping last night.  A convenient tenting spot that makes Venice reachable directly by boat.  But it rained and rained.  (Click for a page on last night's wet camping).  Right now though, we're on a semi-dry boat streaming up the canal here about to pull into the dock in Venice. I don't know which canal this is.  Kind of a noisy boat. Any comments, Dick?  Dick?  ANY COMMENTS?

Dick:  No. Not on top of that noise.

John:  Dick, That noise is Venice atmosphere.

There are millions of boats here. There are even little taxi boats. That one there goes to the airport...  Ah, we're coming in now and are about to dock.  We can see the pastel colored Venice buildings. The crowd is gathering in a crow, ready to disembark. Mostly tourists, they all have maps and... look that guy already has a Venice tee shirt.  American guy.  He must have been here yesterday.  I always feel embarrassed to wear a souvenir tee shirt in the place I bought it.  It's just tacky. 

Dick:  Yeah, it's sort of like wearing mouse ears at Disney World.

John:  Hey, by the way, did you notice that the Italians love Mickey Mouse tee shirts.

Dick:  Yeah, they've got them in all the stores. Minnie Mouse and Pluto are also favorites.

John:  And... we've just landed.  We're here.  We're in Venice!  And... it looks pretty neat!  How's it look?

Dick:  Pretty neat!

John:  Yeah, neat!

Dick:  I can't get over it.  Seconds ago we were cruising up the canal, and here we are... Look out for that pigeon!!

John:  Wooh... almost took my head off. Like a dive bomber.  But, it's amazing to see all these boats.

Dick:  There's even this guy carrying garbage on a plank barge.  It's interesting to see the gondola drivers power the boats by pushing them with poles.

John:  Just like in the storybooks. Yeah, it said in the book that those steamer boats are called "Vaporettos".  What an Italian sounding name for a boat.

Everything looks old, real old. Even the Italians themselves look old. They're just sitting around. Old Italian guys are pretty mellow.  All the colors of the buildings seem to be differing pastel colors... pink, purple, beige.  Quite an atmosphere.

As we walk, we're coming to our first bridge.  Cute little footbridge.  Boy, this place looks like Venice.

And... Listen... that's right.  Hear it?  Ha... That's actually opera.  Incredible, just moments after landing in Venice, we're already hearing opera.  Wow, what atmosphere. It looks like we'll become absorbed with this place.

Check out those gondola guys there, Dick. They've got the striped shirts and the hat with the tassel down the back.

Dick:  But, you know those guys wear their tasseled hats only until they get someone in the boat. Then they take them off.  What a letdown to the tourist who paid for a ride just because he liked the hat.

John:  Over there... a little old fashioned arm wrestling... here in the atmosphere of Venice.  There are a couple of gondoliers and a crowd of three around them, lining up. There seems to be some loud discussion.

Dick:  Probably discussing the rules, I would suppose.

John:  And, they're about ready to go, still lining up. Trying to get an even start now. These gondola guys and...

Dick:  They're yelling "non non". Something is evidently not kosher.

John:  And there they go... no, no, still trying to get an even start. And there they go. Wait... nope, that didn't count. Oh, two others guys have decided to go instead. And...

Dick:  They're still arguing about the rules.

John:  Forget it. Let's move along. We could waste away our whole day waiting for these guys. They have more fun arguing than wrestling.

Dick:  I can't believe it. They're still trying to line up.

Location:  ATOP THE BRIDGE RIALTO... LATER THAT DAY

John:  Well, this is still Venice all right. Night time Venice.

Dick:  It sure is.

John:  Yeah, again that's opera music.  Down below us there's quite a scene here on the Grand Canal.  About ten gondola boats are linked and slowly cruising back and forth beneath the Rialto Bridge.  The gondoliers are singing "O Sole Mio".  There must be about 60 or so tourists on those boats. On board there's an accordionist and a lead opera singer. They keep cruising from one side of the bridge under to the other. The crowd on the bridge keeps running from one side of the bridge to the other to watch the festivities.

Dick:  Then they applaud.

John:  Yeah. Singing all the classic opera tunes. The tourists eat this up.  The smell of seafood is in the air. Boats are cruising up and down the canal. How touristy. It's great. Quite a festive scene, wouldn't you say, Dick?

Dick:  Yes. Quite festive. And, this is Venice.

John:  All the atmosphere, the smells, the excitement.

Dick:  The high prices.

John:  ...that opera guy has some voice.  What did you say?  The ice cream is free?

Dick:  Three, 300.

John:  Oh, 300 lira. It's called "gelato" here, of course. What's your favorite flavor?

Dick:  It's difficult to say because I think it varies from place to place, region to region.

John:  Yes, speaking as connoisseurs. I prefer straccitella.  It took me quite a while to figure out it was chocolate chip.

You know, it's funny... now as we walk away from... from I guess the central tourist area by the famous Rialto Bridge...  It's now only about one canal, well... two canals away and it's kind of spooky already. It's night time, dark and gloomy and we're crossing a deserted square. Every one of the mini-islands, whatever they are, has a central square. They're all called "Campo" something. Can you catch the sign there, Dick?

Dick:  "Campo Silvestro".

John:  Now, there's not another person in sight. Pretty creepy. It's around ten o'clock. I'm sure a lot of areas of Venice are completely deserted now.

Dick:  WHISTLES... Hear that whistle bounce?

John:  That echoes in these alleys. I'm sure this must be a muggers delight. Rich tourists. Winding alleyway paths. Someone could jump out of the dark, club you, mug you, rape you and then zoom down a canal or alley and you'd never see them again.

Dick:  I'm sure they do.

John:  On that note, let's keep moving and dream of our fantastic sights of the day. Even though it's kind of an eerie place, at the same time it's romantic and glamorous and creepy and spooky. And of course, this is Venice.

Next we head west through the Apennine mountains to Florence and to Pisa, to see the Leaning Tower.  That'll be some rugged riding, although it seems relatively minor compared to the Alps.