Train Ride to Venice

Every day we put our trust in our handy-dandy tour guide, Steven. This day was no exception. When he told us we were going on a train ride, we happily went along for the ride.

It was a very luxurious and comfortable train and we were happy to rest our weary feet for our 2 1/2 hour journey. We enjoyed seeing the country as we rode. We also chatted and slept a bit.

On the last part of our train ride, this cute couple got on and sat in the seats next to Steven and Patricia. We learned they are both in their 40s, they live in Chicago, they met on a dating website, they had recently gotten married and they were on their honeymoon.

It really warmed my heart when she told us she works as a nurse in a cardiac cath lab. That caught my attention as not too many days earlier, when I was in the hospital to get my pacemaker installed, they wheeled me down the halls of the hospital following all the signs taking me to the cardiac cath lab.

She told me that is what she does all day every day. I showed her my wound and asked if she would have gone on the trip if she had been in my shoes. She assured me she would. She also listed off all the precautions I needed to be taking like keeping my wound clean, having Glen haul the luggage, not lifting my left arm above my head, etc. It was fun to have that little connection with her. They were both delightful conversationalists.

Steven had been keeping our train destination a secret. Imagine our delight when we got off the train in Venice. So awesome since that city had not been on our original travel itinerary. Morgans decided it would be a fun place for us to visit and we were thrilled with their surprise for us. It turned out to be one of my most favorite days of the trip.

Most everyone has heard of the Orient Express. Although it was created in the late 1800s as a normal international railway service, the name has become synonymous with mystery, intrigue and luxury travel.

The Orient Express was a showcase of luxury and comfort at a time when travelling was still rough and dangerous. It ceased to operate in 2009 and since then a private company has taken over the train cars from the original 1920s and 1930s and they continue to run from London to Venice and other places in Europe. It caters to leisure travellers with tickets costing $3,120 per person.

It was fun watching the passengers boarding the train. They were definitely very well dressed and greeted professionally by this conductor. He was so cute to stop writing and pose for every person who walked by him and lifted a camera to take his picture.

The whole staff lined up to serve the people riding in style on the Orient Express. Ahhhh, another idea for another vacation...if we inherit loads of money that we don't know what to do with that is.

We stepped out of the train station and caught our first glimpse of the Grand Canal.

We got some gelato and walked through a busy shopping/tourist area.

We came upon a group of artists with their sketch pads.

The city of Venice is very unique and picturesque.

The Bridge of Sighs is an enclosed bridge that has windows with stone bars. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace, built in 1600. Supposedly the view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment.

A local legend says that lovers will be granted eternal love and bliss if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the Bridge of Sighs as the bells of St. Mark's Campanile toll. The legend served as a plot line for the movie A Little Romance.

St. Mark's Campanile is the bell tower of St. Mark's Bascilica in the Piazza San Marco. It was originally constructed in 1514. It was reconstructed in 1912 after its collapse in 1902. At the top is a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel.

Steven and Glen spotted a group of missionaries standing in front of St. Mark's Bascilica.

These tourists insisted on trying to get the pigeons in St. Marks' Square to perch on their arms. When one landed on Glen, he squealed like a little girl claiming it was because he is so ticklish.

And why are all the birds so attracted to Steven one might ask? It's because Steven had food and those pigeons were no dummies.

We fed the birds and then we went to feed ourselves.

We walked the roads less traveled by tourists and found such delightful streets and waterways.

Palazzo Contarini Del Bovolo is a small palace best known for its outside spiral staircase with many arches. It was off the beaten path and we gave Steven lots of credit for leading us to this place.

Venice is made up of islands. In the early 1900s the island of San Michele was designated as Venice's cemetery. There are only churches and tombs on the island.

We couldn't go to Venice and not take a gondola ride. We rode separately from Morgans so we could take pictures of each other. Here are Steven and Patricia enjoying their ride with two other passengers.

There was absolutely nobody in line for the gondola when our turn came.

We got in and then all of a sudden all these other people jumped in the boat with us.

The camera-happy guy never put down his camera. I never got a good picture of Glen enjoying his gondola ride--unless you call this the expression of pure enjoyment.

Yes, I can definitely say I enjoyed immensely our train ride and Venice. These friends of ours really showed us a good time and helped us have some great memories of that unique city.

Another 2 1/2 hour train ride took us back to Rome where we went scavenging for food.

And no surprise at all when these three insisted they top off the evening with yet another gelato dessert. The Frigidarium was always a happening place.

Despite the 5 hours of sitting on a train, we still managed to rack up the steps. Final count for the day was 24,872 steps which was 12.56 miles of walking.