Water everywhere.

I caught an early train to Venezia this morning, then dropped my bag off at what I think used to be a convent and promptly got lost. Astoundingly, dead-endingly, completely lost. Four hours with quite probably no repeats in path lost. It was great. Along the way, I saw pastas in an entire rainbow of colors, with flavors to match: curry, mushroom, cocoa, pizza, cuttlefish, smoked salmon, pesto, beet, artichoke, blueberry, pepper, and chili/garlic. I wonder what kind of sauce you would put on some of those. My pizza-and-espresso lunch was super, and I of course hit another gelato stand right afterward. The specialty here is Crema de Dogi flavor, which is a vanilla-lemon base with chocolate-hazelnut paste swirls. It's better than it sounds. There are masks everywhere, due to Venezia's reputedly excellent Mardi Gras, plus glass in every shape and size, due to the island of Murano's famous glassmakers, and even a few stores with lace, the other regional specialty. One store displayed a windowfull of lace baby bibs. Really? What disturbed parent would put a scratchy bit of expensive, handmade art on an infant about to smear itself and its immediate surroundings with anything it can get its hands on? The glass was neat, though. I saw some great beetles, but that sort of thing is impractical to carry around Europe in a backpack.

The tourists in Veneza were even more endless than those in Firenze, but I managed to ditch them for a while and explore some side streets. You can't escape the gondoliers, though: they lurk in every cranny, ready to take you past the labyrinthine network of streets in the most romantic fashion. A few of us at the convent-cum-hostel tried to get a group together, but our travel schedules conflicted and we never managed a full, cheaper boat of six passengers.

Back in the touristy portions, I marveled at the gouging. Two scoops of gelato goes for anywhere between 1.70 and 3.5 Euros. A single espresso is from 0.90 to 2.50 Euros, depending on the location and clientele. I stuck to the cafes frequented by locals, obviously. There's also more interesting information there. Instead of umbrella salesmen, you can find out about the upcoming regatta between Amalfi, Genova, Pisa, and Venezia. Sadly, I will miss it by a day.

I spent the afternoon in the Correr Museum, staring at Venetian art and learning about its history. They had a lot of Bellini paintings, plus a great armory, tons of old coins, and all sorts of nautical gear. The museum is on Piazza San Marco, the main square, so it also had good views of all the action down below. I hung out along the waterfront (I know, everywhere is the waterfront, but I mean where the Grand Canal comes out) and in Piazza San Marco till the sun set, then swapped travel tips and itineraries with brothers from Nashville and a few Canadians.