6/18 - Milan to Venice

Three and a half movies, two fabulous meals and about 8 hours later, we arrived in Milan. Milan! I'm in Milan!! I take some photos by the :Welcome to Milan" sign as any decent tourist would do and I got to embarrass my travel partner in the process. Bonus!  I even got an eyeroll, heh!

We head towards the customs area and lo and behold, no lines! This is a first. We glide through the passport stamping, exit the airport and the next goal is to find the train to Venice. Everet (Girard's brother) had provided specific instructions on where we can find the train ticket so we head over to the ticket booth. There were no direct trains to Milan from the airport so we purchased two tickets to Milan Central train station to catch a transfer.

The ride takes about 30 min and I was impressed by the size of the station. It reminded me of Penn Station in New York except mostly above ground. It took us a bit to get the 411 on how to activate our Eurail passes. I thought there was a specific Eurail train but it was actually that it allows you to board any train for a certain number of days.

We missed the 10:25 train so decided to find some food while waiting for the 11:25 train. Closest to us were either a Burger King or a cafe. I'm sure there were more choices but I was starving. By now I'd been up for almost 24 hrs having dragged myself out of bed at 6am with three hours of sleep the day before to catch a 10am flight and traveling for close to 12 hrs so am a bit tired and grumpy. I get a Rustica panini, yummm. Oh yea, the food tasted just as I remember from February absolutely scrumptious. I pass on a cafe latte so as to not risk staying awake on the train. A bathroom run cost 1 Euro. A quick time check showed it was...holy cow 11:20! We run to the monitor to see that the train was supposed to be at platform 5 so we head there only to find..what, no train? We scan the platform signs to see that the train to Venezia was actually parked at platform 7. We make it onto the train wit literally a minute to spare as it left the station almost immediately. Yikes, that was close.

Our Eurail ticket was for first class so we start making our way north through about 5 train cars since we boarded on the back of the train. Amongst lots of glares and grumbles from other passengers who had to move out of our way, we determinedly marched forth towards our destination. The air conditioning was out for several of the cabins we passed including first class. We collapse in our seats and immediately start nodding off from the heat and fatigue. I find a discarded newspaper and fan myself in between naps. As we neared Venice, first class cleared out and Girard got up to walk around to find that the back of that cabin was air conditioned. Hallelujah!!!

We arrive in Venice.  Next stop, water taxi to the hotel. We head to the little ticket kiosk to get tickets for 7 Euro each and had the choice of taking a slower boat so we can take in the view or a faster. We decided to take the scenic route initially, but as we waited for the boat, heat and fatigue set in and we quickly changed our minds and shuffle over to the dock for the express boat.

The water taxi ran up the grand canal, offering me my first view of Venice's beautiful coastline. Even as tired as I was, I couldn't help feeling a sense of joy and wonder thinking “oh my god, I'm in Venice I'm REALLY in Venice!”

The water taxi drops us off at San Zaccharia which was about 50 feet from the door to Hotel Danieli. I walk in and...wow...it's gorgeous! I would try to describe décor but I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

We had to wait about an hour before my room was ready so I hung out in Girard's room going over the guidebook and going over some site seeing ideas for the next day. I got the keys to my room around 5pm, shower and promptly pass out.