Rome to Venice on Josh's Birthday

For a larger selection of photos goto: https://goo.gl/photos/7sLVqK4vFrr8otQy7

Josh says:

Today was my 12th birthday :)

Today we went on  a train to Venice and explored Venice. Before we left to go to the train to Venice I found out it was my birthday (I forgot) I had to do some Skyping family. Then a taxi picked us up and took us to the train station. When we got there we had MacDonald's unfortunately our train was delayed 10 mins some others were delayed 55 mins. Family passes got first class which was nice. When we got to Venice we got on a water taxi which was really nice and relaxing until we found out how much it cost EU60.

Venice is literally a maze of bridges everywhere which leads to shops. The gondoliers are very expensive EU80 or longer EU100, rip-off and the water looks murky green. Venice is also freezing cold they love there glass and masks about every second shop has them. We went out for lunch and went to the Pontie Di Rialto a historical bridge which was under reconstruction. For my birthday tea we had Ham and cheese pizza (Prosciutto) and Spaghetti Carbonara, we haven't had any gelati yet I personally don't think it looks as good as the Rome Gelati. After Tea we went and explored Venice more Venice still has People trying to sell stuff like toy Pigs, roses, hand bags, selfie sticks and some flying thing annoying as all ways. Looks nice at night, but so cold. At San Marco a big historical square because of the rising sea the water comes out of drains in the middle of the square. So far I don't really like Venice that much.

Alicia says:
Today we are going on the train to Venice. The train was delayed for 5 minutes then it was delayde for 10 minutes. We finally got on the train I thought the seats were very good. When we finally got to Venice we got on a water taxi it was nice but expensive. We got a bit lost trying to find the place we are staying at. Finally we got there and the place we are staying at is nice. At tea we had pizza, pasta and dad had shrimp. After tea we went to a supermarket to get milk, rolls for are lunch, honey, Nutella and cereal. The last thing that we did was we went to a church I think. mum and I took photos. after that we went back to where we were staying and went to bed.

Dad says:
The taxi ride to the train station was a lot more expensive on the return than on the way in (17 v 7 EU). I think it either had something to do with pre-booking it and/or getting ripped off as he charged an extra Euro per bag.

Luckily the train trip was uneventful, got on fairly easily and though it ended up 30 mins late, it was a very smooth and comfortable 4 hour ride. The only annoying thing was that we could not get wifi as you needed a phone number to register and we currently do not have one.

Venice is actually a lot bigger than I thought and is not just in the water, but it is also on the mainland. It is just that no-one really cares for the mainland part. Venice is however just as expensive as I thought. The water taxi cost EU60 for about a 15-20 minute ride. I found out later from the person we rented the house from, that he thought it was more like EU70 to 80. We have a water bus travel card for the last day and so it will be cheaper.

Venice is a sprawling city of tiny winding alleyways and canals. In the main part where we are staying it is filled with restaurants, tourist shops, fashion shops and many glass shops. There is a glass factory and a lace factory, so glass trinkets and glass art in particular is everywhere. We did get lost a bit trying to find the address of our accommodation, the streets are not all marked in the maps. I also forgot to download google maps and since I was not online it was quite inaccurate. We did eventually get there about 30 mins late, but lesson learnt.

St Marks Square is probably the biggest and most central part of Venice and it is also a lot bigger than I thought. Though handy that it is just around the corner from our accommodation, it is virtually impossible to see from a distance as all buildings in the tight alley ways block any distant viewing. We got a fair bit of exploring done today, but mainly centralised. Tomorrow we plan to expand out a bit.

Food is also a lot more expensive here than in Rome, but seeing as it was Joshs birthday we had a little celebration.

The annoying 'sales-men' still have the selfie-sticks, but now also have rip-off handbags, roses, light sticks and some weird helicopters. The kids are aware as to not to take anything, but they almost put it in your hand and if you are not concentrating and take it they will not easily take it back (we have seen it in action). I think if we got caught I would just drop it and walk off.