It's a cool place and they say it gets colder. You're bundled up now wait 'til you get to Venice.

 Italiaidea, our Italian language school, plans activities and excursions that we can participate in to experience Italian culture in a fuller way.  Our trip to Venezia was one such activity, 85 Euro for the fast train there, and a night train return.

Saturday
February 11
6:00AM

Our train left Rome at 7:20, so we were to meet at Termini by 6:45.  I arrived early and explored the station looking for breakfast.  I settled on a cappuccino and muffin at a bar, but then became aware of the presence of a McDonald's.  

I was so excited to get my McMuffin on, only to find that this McDonald's did not serve breakfast.
I was not happy.

#FirstWorldProblems

I got over it and got on the train.  Francesca, an Italiaidea teacher and our "guide" for Venezia, told us to get on train cars 4 and 5 with no further direction.  After we get settled on the train we find out we actually have seat numbers and have to do musical chairs with the Italians and settle in a new area.  This would be a precursor to the organization of travel on this trip.

The inside was beautiful, spacious, and comfortable and it seemed as if the train was brand new

The train was more than nice.  It was a Trenitalia high speed train, straight out of Mission:Impossible.  (Except that was in France.  I think....)

  

The inside was beautiful, spacious, and comfortable and it seemed as if the train was brand new.

 

I sat with my new friends from Loyola Victoria and Samantha (who have pet names for each other, Licky and Lamby, respectively) and Grace.  The train ride was comfortable and even enjoyable; I was glad we had a 4 hour trip.  We passed through some regions that were hammered with snow (see photos on the website) but luckily Venice appeared to have been spared.

12:30 PM
We stepped off the trained and were greeted by a blast of cold air, another precursor for the day.  My dad was soooooo right when he told me that Italy was in the 50's everyday and convinced me that I would not need my heavy wool coat...  but I do.   First stop was to the tourist stand so Francesca could buy a map; she had never been to Venice before.  (uh oh).  She leads us through small, winding streets until we come out of what honestly seemed like a maze to the famous Piazza S. Marco.  Masks and costumes are everywhere, even all the tourists, from old Austrian couples to American Bros and Biddies screaming "DUDE", are wearing masks.  Venetian Masks

We get lunch and wander around, see a couple different parades, take photos out by the water, quickly head back into the city because its so cold, and pop into every little shop as we try to keep warm.  At 5pm we met up with Francesca who is leading us to "Theater and Chocolate."  This sounds cool, but it soon becomes apparent that she has no idea where we are going and after an hour of winding through the frigid streets we arrive at the piazza and there is nothing.  Oops.  The girls and I quickly slip away when it becomes evident there is nothing to do but go to dinner.  We finally decide to buy our masks, but we can't just buy at any stall (they all sell them), we need to compare prices and find the best deal.  After noting a few masks, I spot this store tucked in a corner with large "50%" signs on the windows.  We step in and it is a mask shop selling them for half price.  The half masks were 7 Euro, and the big "joyful mask" I had my eye on was 18.  So of course we all bought our masks there.

7:00 PM

After mask shopping we decided it was time for dinner.  It was still early, but it's too cold to stay out on the street any longer.  We beat the Italian dinner rush by and hour, sit and enjoy our pasta or pizza, two bottles of wine, dessert and cappuccini. For two hours, but it was warm and in good company.

10:30
We left plenty of time to get back to the train station, so much were were 30 minutes early.  Our train home is a night train, complete with cabins and beds.  We are all excited for this new experience which we call our "Harry Potter moment," except for Victoria.  She has taken a night train once before and had a disastrous experience; she makes sure we don't get too complacent.  Sure enough, an hour into the trip as we lay our heads to the pillow, the heat goes out.  It was well below freezing outside and the train wasn't very well insulated.  We all struggled through the night, though I did less than most because of my genetic talent to fall asleep anywhere.  When we arrived at Termini the heat had still not come on and we were still in the clothes were wore the day before, thus not happy.

Saturday
February 12
7:00AM
And we had 2 hours to get to school for a bus to Siena...