2004
Saturday, July 17
Lodging: Palazzo Zenobio (phone = +39 41 5228770; email = mooratr@tin.it); plan to stay until July 20th

As we were almost ready to leave the laundromat, this big guy showed up totally drunk and half beat up. Erica and I were there by ourself and this guy looked very unpredicatble and was ready to fall at any moment. I told Erica not to worry, but it did make me nervous. He put some money down on a bench between Erica and I. In my rush to pack everything up and get out of there, I accidentally (honest) moved a 5 euro bill of his. Erica quickly caught the error and I was able to give it back without a problem. Shortly thereafter, he said Ciao! and stumbled out the door.

On the way back from the laundromat, we used a coupon at McDonalds for buy 1, get 1 free on Big Macs (not bad for 2.9 Euros). We stayed up long enough to get our stuff together and planned to get up early (6am) to check out the Duomo. Erica took a shower and I planned to take one in the morning.

6am came pretty quick (about 5 hours after we went to bed). After hitting the snooze a couple times, I got up at 6:20am to get a shower. I briefly explained to Erica how to work the phone as an alarm clock and she mumbled. I got back into the room almost ready to go at 6:46am (still dark in the room). Erica was moving slow... She made a valiant effort and we got out early enough to make it to the 7:30 service at the Duomo (brisk 15 minute walk).

The 7:30 service inside the Duomo was your typical Catholic mass, only in Italian and in an incredible cathedral. Neither one of us are morning people (ask our fellow co-workers about this), but both agreed it was worth the effort. I also took several pictures of the outside of the Duomo.

We then headed back to the B&B for our last B (i.e. included breakfast). It was good, especially after I was able to obtain silverware (cutlery, etc.) and another half cup of coffee. We then rested and packed for our 10:30am exit.

To the train station for Venezia! We made it to the train station with plenty of time and found an Internet place. Like most we have found in Firenze, they would not allow a laptop connection. This explains why these entries are not updated daily. We decided to use their computers for an hour to send out some needed emails and obtain some extra information.

Afterward, I made a phone call to Georgio to confirm our meeting tomorrow and also left a message at home. We then headed for the train and noticed they had not yet decided on a bin (or track number). We then used another buy 1, get 1 free McDonalds coupon. We had macedonia (fruit bowl), big mac, maxi coke, maxi fry and an athletico (double cheeseburger with funky bacon) for lunch (all at McDonalds). Their biggest Cokes are not so big. Who would have known that beverages are such a hot commodity in Italia?

Once finished, we had about 7 minutes before the 12:39pm departure time. Still no track number... Eventually it showed up on bin #8 and we made our way there. We boarded the train and were on our way via train for almost 3 hours (very pleasant, if not a bit too warm).

When the train attendant came by to check our tickets, he almost walked right by without even checking. They do not seem to pay close attention on who has paid for what. This reminds me of the bus in Firenze we rode without paying.

We made it to Venezia at about 3:40pm. We decided to immediately track down the hostel we are staying at, Palazzo Zenobio. The sun was very hot and the luggage was getting heavy. Erica was an expert navigator and got us to within a few steps of the hostel. It did not say Palazzo Zenobio anywhere, so I looked up the specific address number. Once we found the number, it still did not say Palazzo Zenobio. I did, however, notice a bell for last name Moorat which happened to match the email address for Palazzo Zenobio. That was it and we rang the buzzer to gain access (amazing how difficult they make this stuff).

The Palazzo Zenobio is an old building with great architecture. The hostel itself, however, is definitely dorm-room style and not the best accomodations. We are managing, but have to use bug spray at night to keep the mosquitos away. We got used to the surroundings, took a nap and then ventured out to find some dinner. Places are a bit pricier here for dinner - not that Firenze was cheap... We ended up at a pizza place called Ginos Pizzeria. It was good pizza, but the penne pasta for Erica was just so-so.

Afterwards, we found an Internet spot and stayed there for about 1.5 hours (10 euros). We were able to catch up these journal entries at http://blog.gregula.com, check email and also upload more pictures of the trip to the secure area at http://gregula.com. For some reason, the software we are using (and/or maybe blogger.com) is having difficulties with quotes, which means we must find and eliminate any quotes we may have accidentally used (which may explain why you are not seeing too many double-quotes or contractions).

Speaking of the emails, send us emails at the personal address for Gregg (will not post the actual address here since it invites automatic SPAM) and let us know how you like the journal entries thus far.

We then headed back to the hostel for much needed sleep. The last two days were quite long with only about 5 hours of sleep per night. Around 11:30pm, a massive fireworks display started and went on for 1.5 hours! It was quite incredible and we have been unable to determine why it was so large (except that it was a Saturday night in Venice). It does help explain why so many people were hanging out on the steps of the train station...

ZZZzzzzz...