After 12 hours of travel, we were finally reunited - 11 strong in Venice, Italy.  Landing at 7 a.m. local time, we had the whole day ahead of us to sightsee.  Our tour guides, Juron and Goron, met us at the airport and we then proceeded to pile into two European -style vans and then onto our hotel.  After dropping off our luggage and quickly refreshing ourselves, we were off to the heart of Venice - St. Mark's Square, which was only a quick 15-minute train ride to the historic spot. Once we exited the train station we faced a breath-taking and truly picturesque scene: small canals of rich blue water with gondolas floating within and astonishing architecture of churches and houses stacked tightly next to one another. It looked unreal. We proceeded to weave our way through the narrow streets of Venice, crossing bridges and passing markets. After a 45-minute walk, we proceeded to indulge in an authentic Italian meal: pizza. Feeling fully satisfied, we walked around the historic square taking in all of its beauty. We then got to take a boat ride through the city, which, as Sindee said "Was just awesome!" It was definitely going to be one of the top highlights of the trip.

We then took the train back to our hotel and got to nap before freshening up for dinner.  Being in Venice, we went to an Italian seafood restaurant where our first course was pasta and our second was fish...both very delicious! After dinner we took the train back towards St. Mark's Square to take in the nightlife and get a quick dessert - gelato!  Since the trains stop running at 10 p.m. we had to take a bus back to our hotel.  It was a wonderful day! We are off to Slovenia tomorrow!

Caio from the Tars!