Oh my god, we are in Venice!

We're back...Various reasons, mainly traveling and cost of the Internet, have kept us from blogging and emailing. Here's an update:

We left Levanto on a gorgeous day that would have been perfect for laying on the beach. Although it nearly broke my heart to leave, I know I'll return and stay longer next time. We made our way from the Cinque Terre to the Lake Como region of northern Italy. We had not considered this part of Italy, but many fellow backpackers raved about it. So, off we were early Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, in Milan we boarded the wrong train and had to double back after being yelled at and kicked off the train by a conductor. He didn't speak English, but we did understand "No ticket. Go Milan. Go." Gulp. Following 10 hours of train travel that should have been 5, we landed in Varenna a small town on Lake Como. We had no accommodations and really no sense of what to expect.

The lake, which is one of three large lakes in northern Italy, is flanked by the Swiss Alps on the northern side. Absolutely stunning to look up the lake on a warm sunny day and see gigantic mountains with snow on top. The towns on the lake are very small, some more touristy than others. Varenna's population is 800, so our presence before the July-August onslaught of Italians on holiday was fairly obvious. We walked through town (which took 5 minutes) and found a reasonable hotel. We decided to stay two night are rearrange our Swiss train plans. The only thing to do on Lake Como is ride the ferry between towns on the lake and relax. My blood pressure dropped and I caught up on sleep. It was lovely.

We left Varenna for Venice on Thursday and found a cheap hostel outside the city. It was a bit of a hike in to town (two buses and about 40 minutes) but accommodations in Venice were either booked or 150 euro. Our hostel, or I should say, campground had a pool, bar, crappy restaurant and about 100 or more backpackers. We actually stayed in a tent this time, not a prison cell like on Mykonos. I would have preferred the cell. The "house tent" was a canvas green tent with a hard floor and two cots. Our section of the campground looked like a very neatly organized tent city. Row after row of these tents, and lots of bugs to keep us company.

But Venice more than makes up for any roughing it back at camp. What a lovely, grungy, maze-like city. We have enjoyed getting lost from the train station to San Marco, took a water taxi down the Grand Canal and gawked at the gondilers. Seems being an Italian hunk is a requirement for the job.

Our first night we ate dinner near a tourist area. Mistake food-wise. It wasn't that great, but we made friends with the waitstaff and got free glasses of Limoncello as well as good conversation from waiter Moritzo. Last night we enjoyed a pub crawl through the smaller streets, seeking out bars popular with the locals. It was easy, we just looked for bars with televisions tuned to the Euro Cup. Since we have been in Italy, we have often watched games at bars with the locals. A great way to watch soccer. I'm totally in to it now, and with Tracy's (former fabulous soccer player) help, actually understand the game. Who cares about Beckem. That Totti..oooh yeah!

Tonight we board an overnight train through Switzerland and will train hop tomorrow to see the Alps. Tomorrow night we will stay one more night in Italy then head to the Cote d'Azur. Tracy has easily talked me into a quick trip up to Paris (only 3 hours by train from the south of France) before we head to Bilboa in Spain. Hope all is well in the States. Again, sorry for not returning your emails. As soon as we can find cheap Internet, you will hear from us personally. xoxo Nina