I took a train over to the island early in the morning. The regional trains in Italy can't be booked within 5 minutes of departure, but I refuse to book a 10 minute/€1.45 train ride in advance, so I'd just get on the first train I saw and then buy a ticket for a later one to pretend I got confused if anyone came checking. They didn't. My time slot at the Doge's palace was at 10, so I ran over there since time was a little short and it's on the opposite side of the island.

Venice made an extremely strong first impression. The canals are amazing, and I was surprised to find that it actually seems to be a real city. I had always assumed that the island was basically an amusement park, but there were people there going about their daily lives. I saw a gondola full of Amazon packages delivering straight from the canal, I saw garbagemen with wheelbarrows collecting trash, and a surprising number of grocery stores, all of which reminded me that people actually live here. Some of the paths I found myself running down were actually pretty empty, especially since at this point it was still relatively early. Google maps has a bizarrely good map of all the many labyrinthine alleyways that make up Venice's pedestrian walkways, so I pretty easily followed its instructions. I was surprised by just how dense the city managed to be, though - getting a very short distance takes much longer than it feels as though it should, simply because there are no roads and such a large percentage of the city's footprint is actually a building. There's no direct way to get anywhere. I suppose I'm intended to be taking ferries and gondolas, but those were all quite expensive so I opted to go everywhere by foot. The plaza the palace is in was extremely crowded, and I got my first sense of the fact that this city is one of the biggest tourist destinations on earth. After fighting my way through the crowds, I pretended to be a 25 year old student to save €15 on the admission fee and got into the palace.

It's an impressive building, but I couldn't help but wish it were more informative. So many of the museums I've been to on this trip are very much "check out the building and learn things about random royal family members", but that's not what I'm interested in. I want to learn about the history of Venice's empire, their conquests, their fall, their unique culture and achievements, but this place mostly just wanted me to look at the nice art that some doge had painted on the ceiling. There was a little information, but not very much, and the only doge I've actually heard of (Enrico dandalo) wasn't mentioned once, so I don't feel like I've got a very comprehensive outline of Venetian history.

I met up with the Brazilians again outside the Venetian Arsenal. We explored the town for a while as a group, just looking to see what's there. They were much more interested in the gift shops and whatnot than I was, but I didn't have anything else planned so I wasn't too bothered. Venice continues Rome's tradition of having clean water coming out of fountains everywhere; something that I really think should catch in in the US. If a city completely surrounded by saltwater can do it, so can Boston. I ate the only relatively cheap thing I could find in the afternoon, some terrible wrap that I think was supposed to resemble a pizza roll, and then we tried to find cannollis since the Brazilians really wanted dessert. Cannollis are everywhere and no matter the shop all have the same 4 flavors - chocolate, strawberry, tiramisu, and pistachio. The pistachio ones are always a sickly shade of green, sometimes with mysterious crunchy bits sprinkled on the ends that were a deeper green than anything that exists in nature. They sure as hell weren't real pistachio. We avoided those shops and tried to find some that looked slightly better, but even then the chocolate one I tried was pretty bad. It was clearly just icing inside and there was no trace of ricotta anywhere. I guess they don't have Mike's pastry in Brazil, since I seem to have been the only one who identified this as an issue.

The Brazilians left a little early to catch a train to Bologna, so I explored a little bit longer on my own. I worked my way into some slightly quieter parts of the city that were more peaceful, and once again found myself appreciating just how cool Venice is. In so many ways it's amazing that this thing still exists, and I'm glad to have been able to see it before that changes. Even today it's obvious that buildings are sinking and falling into one another; large fractures in foundations are everywhere and floors are never close to flat. The waves lap concerningly close to the level of the streets, and that's on a calm day with no wind. I know it's protected somewhat by the lagoon and barrier islands, but it's hard to imagine this place would be walkable in a real storm. It seems just a matter of time before it's no longer safe to live in.

Back at the hostel I tried to make shrimp scampi with some butter or oil from the free shelf, but discovered that the all three of the bottles that I thought were oil were actually vinegar and that the butter which had been there earlier was entirely gone. Oh well, it wasn't good but it was edible. I met a Moroccan guy there who was very nice. I don't think he was very social usually so he was relieved to have someone to speak with. At one point I mentioned having a geology degree and he asked me to confirm that the earth is in fact a globe, because apparently a lot of people back home have decided it's flat.

Venice is awesome, whatever misgivings I may have about its museums or crowds or cannollis. I just wish there was a little more to actually see, since I don't feel as though I missed out on much despite having only spent 10 or so hours there. I'm glad I only allotted the single day trip for it. Off to Slovenia tomorrow morning, just 3 hours by bus. Not sure what to see there but probably something. I don't think Ljubljana is a very large city so just 2 nights there probably, though if I find a way outside the city I'd be extremely tempted by that. If looks beautiful.