Trains, Trains, and More Trains

On Saturday (5/25) we took three trains from Vienna to Innsbruck, then Innsbruck to Verona, and then Verona to Venice. We went along the same route back to Salzburg to get to Innsbruck so that was cool. Then we went through the Alps and saw all four seasons. On the way to Innsbruck it rained, on the way to Verona we went through the mountains and it was snowing! We felt like we were inside a snow globe. All of us oogled at the snow like children and we really thought it was fake. It was so magical. While I was in my Chacos warm in the train it snowed outside and then we crossed the Italian border and it was like night and day. It was sunny and there were vineyards growing. There were gorgeous rivers flowing alongside the train in aqua blue. I felt like we were traveling through a book. Traveling by all those trains from 10 am to 9 pm it felt like we were in limbo all day.

Finally we arrived in Venice at 9 pm and it was absolutely pouring rain. Venice gave us a proper wet welcome. Fortunately we figured out the water bus system and were able to get on one to get to our hotel on the island Lido. The water bus took an hour to make its stops until we got to Lido. Venice by night was gorgeous with buildings sitting on the water and silhouettes of gondolas. Then we had to walk to the hotel. By that time it was pouring down and Anne and I were a little hysterical about how wet we were. Mark stayed cool the whole time and navigated us somehow. We were absolutely drenched and it was so hilarious. I’ve never felt so soaked. When we got into the hotel I think the man who checked us in thought we were crazy hooligans. But we got into the room and threw our stuff everywhere to get it dry. The room is nice and Venice by day was even more magical…and dry!

Hello Italy!