Europe 2nd Trip - Venice, Italy (Day 10)

3rd Nov 2013, Sunday, Rainy

High Tide

Today, i had planned a free day in Venice before we take our train down to Tirano. But because of the customs stamp for the tax refund, we wanted to head down to the train station first to see whether we can change to the earlier train to go Milan first (can't change reservations online too). So we woke up and got ourselves prepared and had breakfast. Then we went and do the check-out and asked for a water taxi (the ride back to the train station costs euro $70... @_@). There was heavy rain in the morning too and there was high tide at the Grand Canal. The water was already up to the pavement, and the ground wet everywhere. We had to go to another corner to wait for the water taxi, which was guided by the hotel staff who also pushed our luggage there. At the waiting place, i saw a tower, which was actually leaning (like the Leaning Tower of Pisa). The water taxi came after like 10 mins later, then the hotel staff helped us to take our luggage up to the taxi and i gave a small tip to the hotel staff to thank him and bid him good bye. Again, we had a good ride on the water taxi, we even had to bend ourselves down when going under the bridges (as the bridges were too low)...hohohoho....But after some time, we found ourselves got into a unfamiliar area, and it looked like the port of Venice, which worried us. So i went up to the taxi driver to tell him again that we wanted to go to the train station. And i think he said ya, ok. Then later he let us off at a stop different from the place we took the water taxi yesterday, which was not in front of the train station. So i went up again and asked him, he explained by saying due to high tide, he cannot drive in, so had to let us off here. He told us to just walk in the road and the train station will be there. So i got no choice and we got off (cos the driver had already stopped his boat), and he got our luggage off his boat. Then we tried to follow the road and walked in, luckily there was signs indication to the trains. But after walking a distance, i realised my shoulders doesn't have any weight sitting on them, i wasn't carrying my backpack!! i turned and asked my friend where's my backpack...and then i just ran off back to the place where the taxi had stopped. He had just started to leave, so i shouted to get his attention. Luckily, he still heard my shout, despite he was still on the phone and he threw mi my backpack....

A Nice Building saw @ Accademia Area

After i got back my backpack, i ran back to the train station and went off to the train reservation office. There was a queue and we were trying to get on the next train which was like leaving in less than 5 mins. When i got my turn, i was told that all the trains for the day was fully booked, there's no way we can change our reservation. So after discussion, we decided to forget about the tax refund, and continued our walk in Venice (anyway, it was really a risk going to that station to get custom stamps, cos by the time we could get there, there was no train back to Tirano). So we went to deposit our luggage at the train station and went to take the water bus to Accademia stop to find gelato. Along the way, we bought some postcards and souvenirs from a stall on the road (i told the owner with the stamps too). But again, we were unable to find the recommended gelato shop there and didn't manage to take gondola ride too (as it was raining). So we just walked around and enjoyed the views. The rain was also weird, it can be raining heavily in 5 mins, and it will stop after that. Then, we just went in to a restaurant there to have our lunch. The restaurant name is Terrazza del Casin dei Nobili. We ordered a clams & mussels bowl and my friends ordered seafood risotto (i didn't order any main course as i was not hungry and just now had a shock. Wondered was it that i used up all my luck to help block my friend' bad luck, and so now i not having good luck myself......hahahaaa).

Clams & Mussels Bowl

The clams & mussels bowl was not bad, and even the risotto was full of seafood, you can taste the seafood in every mouth. I tried one mouth, it wasn't salty and it tasted yummy. My 2 friends were enjoying the risotto and after the good lunch, we paid and made our way back to the train station. Then i realised the stall owner where we bought the postcards didn't include the stamps in...arghhh.....we went to look for stamps once we reached the train station, but no luck. Luckily, there was a shop in the train station that sells stamps, so my friend got her stamps and we went off to take our train to Milan. It was a 2 hours train journey, and we had to take another regional train to get to Tirano. And it was kind of scary, as it will be the last train out from Milan. If we didn't get on this last train, we will be struck in Milan for the night. So my friend decided to try get the train tickets for that regional train first, luckily we still managed to get the tickets. Because the stupid train was late, by the time we reached Milan, it was like less than 5 mins for our connecting train to leave. We had to make a mad rush to the platform to get on that train. I went off running to try see the board for the platform number, with no luck. So i went to ask the staff at another platform, and got to know where is it. Apparently, my friends already knew and got on the train and so i went up. I tried to move coach by coach to meet up with my friends....so tiring to carry and push my luggage along the super small walkway in the train...cos other people were also having their luggage near to their seats (One of the passengers still had to help me carry my luggage over, cos their was blocking the way and there's no way to move them). At 1 point, i had to stop cos there was a family with 2 young kids standing at one of the door and they didn't have the intention of letting mi pass across to the door of the next coach. They were just talking and letting the 2 kids jumping around, i just sat down and rested first. Anyway we had data, so i just texted my friends that i took a break first, continued to move in later. After that family got off, i tried to move in again, then i just stopped and sit near the train door. I started to sweat, and my arms were really tired from the pushing. At least there was wind coming in near the door.

After a lot of stops (don't know how many), the train seems to be more free up, and there were lesser people on the train. I tried to move again, finally i caught up to the coach where my friends were seated at. But there was still no empty seats, so i sat at the previous coach. Later then i moved up to sit beside my friends in the same coach. And later it turned out the train was delayed too, so we reached Tirano later than expected. But i'm just glad we reached Tirano and we found the hotel. The name was Hotel Bernina, it was the most recommended hotel which was located near the Tirano Train Station (Italy) and Tirano Train Station (Swiss). We had to go in from the hotel restaurant to get to the hotel lobby. There was a cupboard beside, where all the room keys are placed...kind of interesting....Then the hotel staff gave us our room key...and we took turns to go up to the room. You can see the outside street when taking the lift, too bad it was facing a construction site. And when we opened our room door, hahaha....the room was so small, not to what we expected. There was 2 single beds placed side by side and a bunk bed opposite the 2 single beds. And there was only 1 window, so we opened to let some wind blow in to cool the room. So it was decided i sleep the bunk bed, as i was the lightest. Me and one of my friends went downstairs to buy a bottle of mineral water...thirsty thirsty.....hahaa...did i mentioned, one of my friends was putting yoko yoko every night before she went to bed....luckily i was almost asleep by the time she was putting it....and i was sharing beds with her for the whole trip. Oh well, this is how i passed my day today...up and down....and exercised too much...hahaa...

I will definitely come back to visit Venice again, if i get a second chance (need to save $ first). It is worth the visit and there are still many places i didn't get to see this time and i will make sure i eat the gelato here and take a ride on the gondola boat.

Hotel Stayed:
Hotel Bernina, Tirano