Italy Tour Journal - Evan Meekins

8/27-28/06 -- Sunday, we woke up at 8:00. After having a good breakfast, we took off for a 4-hour trip to Venice- Mestre, Italy which is next door to Venice. We made a pit-stop at the Italian version of the U.S.’s rest stops. Speaking no Italian, it made for an interesting stop. They had a grocery with books and magazines (all Italian), cheese and pasta (sold everywhere). And one lonesome gas station. Everything is in the metric system here so the maximum speed in miles per hour allowed is only 62. So, the trip was long. I slept the whole time.

We arrived, dropped bags off and changed and got on a very small train to Venice- a 10 minute ride. We were on our own to explore the city until 8:00 in the evening. Venice is an amazing city, comprised 100 islands. Esa (Maki-Tulokas) made our way through the small streets of Venice, along the bridges and over the canals. We got lost so broke down and bought a map for 1 Euro.

Together we must have taken over 200 photos easily. And video footage! We got to see St. Marks Square and Church which is where Mark in the bible is buried. I think the most loved thing so far on the trip is the Gelato. I have had at least one each day. It comes in every flavor. Many you’ve never heard of.

Today (Monday) we left the hotel for a boat trip to Piazza San Marco. We were on two different boats and Paska- being the most gentle person he is- almost knocked Eugene and myself out of the boat. I noticed as they say about the water in Venice- how green it really is. It took about 35 or so minutes to take the Grand Canal to the Piazza.

Once at the Piazza, we met our tour guide Raffale. He took us on a tour of St. Mark’s Church, describing its rich history and significant of the great structure to the world. The astrologer Galileo wasn’t born yet so the main clock in the square has an error. If you look at it, it shows the sun rotating around the earth which we, of course, know it not right. The bell tower chimes every hour.

Another thing, Raffale noted- They have a lot of lions with wings around the whole city because signifies Mark, the patron saint of Venice. In St. Mark’s square, the guide also showed us where the prisoners of that time were decapitated. He mentioned how the word decapitated is a Greek word, cap being head so therefore capital city is the head city. De before means without. He pointed out the judical building, the prison, etc. It was like a huge history lesson from the seventh grade.

The pigeons are EVERYWHERE in the piazza. Not like NY, pigeons. They take food straight from your hands. Some of us had them all over us. And others were scared (I won’t mention names ? ). The tour guide took us on some streets – back alleys- around Venice and looped around back to the plaza.

We departed around 1:00. Some of the guys ate at McDonalds. Yes, they are at every corner. We saw some huge cruise ships on the boats on the way back out of Venice. Now, it’s game time tonight. The second contest versus Giants Marghera at 9:30. Late!

Early wake-up call to leave for Florence.