Day 90 - The night of the living Ah Siao, Villach and Venezia

Well the night at the passenger lounge wasn't an uneventful one. The plan was for Shiyang and I to take turns to sleep. At around 1am, during my shift, an old man came into the room, sat opposite me and started talking to me. I was sleeping, and pretended to sleep even when he was talking. When it was Shiyang's turn to sleep, he kept on talking to us even though I ignored him and was plugged to my nano.

After 2 hours, he went on and on and somehow sounded a bit more agitated. Luckily, the police patrolling the platform came in and checked if all of us had our tickets. The old man, unfortunately, didn't had one. When the police asked for his ticket, he gave a piece of paper claiming that it is his ticket, when it's obviously not. One of the policemen asked a few times until he got very pek chek. In the end, they escorted him out of the passenger lounge and "interrogated" him. I guess his mental state is pretty obvious, and probably explains why he went on and on. I commented that I've never met any Ah Siaos (that's what Shiyang call such people) so far, and he said he keep bumping into one all the time. Guess he's a magnet for Ah Siaos.

Anyway, at around 5.45am, our train pulled in. We happily boarded the train and took our well deserved rest.

Our cabin. Seems like the trains in Austria are arranged in this manner, unlike UK.

We stopped at Villach to wait for our train to Venezia. Villach is a really small town - you can walk from one end to another in 20 minutes. But with the river and the Alps as a backdrop, it's quite beautiful.

Our train came at around 10.50am. Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, we did not need to go through customs and passport checks. The only reason why there was a pause at the Italian border was to change the train head.

At around 1400h, we've finally hit Venezia. We couldn't contain our excitement as the train left Mestre and was crossing the bridge.

The sight that greeted us when we stepped out of the train station.

Taken on the bridge over the Grand Canal. There are only 3 bridges across the Grand Canal, unfortunately.

Checked into our hostel. It was more like a 1 star hostel actually. But the price is pretty hostel rate, with private rooms. Best of all, we're on the main island, unlike most other hostels which are either on Mestre or smaller Venetian islands like Lido. If so, we have to pay €6 for a one way boat ride.

Dropped our bags and went around exploring.

Erm, so which way are we suppose to go to get to S. Marco Rialto?

Venetian masks. Am I the only one who thinks that it's a little freaky?

We gave up looking on the map after a while. Despite the incredible detail on the Lonely Planet guide, the streets of Venice simply has too many unmarked streets. We decided to just walk and orientate ourselves according to the Grand Canal.

We stumbled upon Campo Santa Margherita and took a break. And soon we notice......

A geletaria!

My €1 scoop. It was amazing Gelato.

The chocolate-phile was obviously on cloud nine.

Running drinking water everywhere in Venezia. Thought it was pretty wasteful for the water to keep running, but on 2nd thoughts, stagnant water means things can grow in it. So in terms of hygiene, letting the water run might be a better idea.

One of the many smaller canals in Venice. Tides' rising.

Floating market. Seems like the produce here is quite typical.

Tourist trap alert!

Nature's spotlight in a cathedral.

Lido Island.

I had to take this photo to show Shiyang how I want my photo to be like. His corny pose was his own idea.

Campo della Salute - located at the Southern tip of the main island.

View of the entrance/exit to the Grand Canal at Campo della Salute.

The southern-most bridge across the Grand Canal. Despite its length, there are only 3 bridges across the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal is pretty glorified, but for most part of Venezia, it is these small canals that runs everywhere. Narrow, polluted and they stink. Lonely Planet guidebook says sewage are discharged directly into the canals. Not so romantic anymore huh?

A more realistic sight of Venezia - Graffiti is almost everywhere.

Grudgier, dirtier, narrower - That's what most of Venezia is like

Venezia aren't just for tourist like what many said - there is a functioning university here.

We went back to Campo Santa Margherita to take a break, and to grab a slice of pizza for dinner. There's a pizza shop that's recommended on Wikitravel as well as lonely planet.

€2 for such a huge slice, with Parma ham, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Satisfying.

Campo Santa Margherita - it's so full of life and not tourist

Sunset at Venezia

As we head to Piazza San Marco for night view......

Campanile, or bell tower. One of the landmarks of Venezia

Boats waiting. It's high tide and the water was practically at the edge of the Piazza. Then again, Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in the whole of Venezia. No wonder it's frequently flooded.

A wider view of the coastline.

Doge's Palace and Basilica San Marco

Stitched photograph of Piazetta di San Marco

Piazza San Marco

Basilica San Marco

Wonders of tourism. Sigh.

Rialto Bridge - the most beautiful bridge across the Grand Canal. I mistakenly thought it was the Bridge of Sighs. But if I were to cross it in day time, it's a Bridge of Sighs to me. So many touristy shops on the Bridge....sigh...

From the Rialto Bridge. Notice how high the water level is? No wonder Venezia faces the danger of disappearing from the face of the Earth if sea level were to rise, and it continue to sink.

It's still smaller bridges like this across smaller canal that reflects a more realistic Venezia.

Quote of the day:
Shiyang: Let's not venture into ulu and narrow streets anymore

And after he said that, we had no choice but to cut through quite a few streets that are narrow and ulu. It's Venezia, almost every street is narrow and ulu.