When Ben and I were in Bruges, we heard that it was the "Venice of the North," but trust me, nothing can compare to the real thing.
Last night Ben and I had a sleeper car on the train and met two guys who were in our car which made us four people in a six person car. We become fast friends and spent the day in Venice together and even got a hostel together. Dimitri and Michael are going to southern France next but we're going to meet up in Barcelona on the fourth in order to spend it with other Americans!
We arrived in Venice around 8:30 this morning and as we stepped out of the train station, we are awestruck by the initial view. 
We then took a water bus to our hostel which was 7 euro for a one way ticket and took us through the entire grand canal because our hostel was one of the last stops. We dropped our bags and began our day in this beautiful city. Luckily we followed the pattern of Vienna and took it easy today as we toured the city. 
What an interesting concept, no cars, no motor bikes, just canals and sidewalks. The city is slowly sinking which is quite interesting because you can see steps leading down into water where you used to be able to walk! 
While there aren't any super popular sights here, we saw a cathedral or two and some pretty cool castles and museums (all from the outside because of our limited budget of course). The awesome thing though is that Venice is a sight to see in it of itself. The place is breathtakingly beautiful and is one of our favorite cities so far! 
Food here was a lot less expensive than expected, the only trick was eating out for our multiple lunches. The price almost doubles if you sit inside of the restaurant. Here is one of the classic Italian dishes we experienced. 
Yes, this is a hot dog wrapped in pizza.
Anyway, we found that we were sticking out too much as tourists so naturally we attempted to blend in. At one of the open air markets, we found a wide variety of scarves (which are ever so popular in Europe) and we each got one for the evening segment of our adventure.
We decided that since we are in Italy, and want the full experience, that we would have an authentic Italian meal on the grand canal no less!
We had a great first day in Venice and are excited for a second tomorrow!
Austin, so glad you were able to experience the magic of Venice! One of my all time favorite cities. If you are still there visit the Peggy Guggenheim museum on the canal. Enjoy!! (BTW ... Despite the scarves I'd still peg you as Americano tourists) :)
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