Salzburg to Venice - Day 76

Date: November 2nd, 2009
Distance: Cheating by train
Country: Italy
Song of the Day: Southbound - Thin Lizzy

Woke up and got myself a ticket to Venice. I didn't have much of a choice though because of the bike. There were only a couple of trains that I could go on. So I had to be on the 10:31. I was really hoping to spend a bit more time in the city, but oh well.

Salsburg itself is really cool. It is built on top of all these rocks at a bend in the river Salzach. So a number of the buildings are built right up against a rock face. Overlooking the old town is a giant fortress. Man, I really wish I had the time to see that. There is always next time. I have just accepted that I can't possibly see everything on this tour.

From there it was over to the station for the first of four trains. With three changes it really made for one hell of a day. On the Austrian side of the Alps, boy was it pretty. These tiny towns built all over little mountain valleys. Frankly it reminded me a bit of central Colorado. The rivers on the other hand were this blue-green color that reminded me of Alaskan rivers. Maybe one summer I will do a tour of the Alps. But I was glad not to be biking.

On the Italian side, the weather turned bad. Cloudy and raining. I really could see much because of all the mist. Plus the sun set shortly after that, and I couldn't see anything anyway. So I spent a bunch of time sewing. My walking around pants had just a short strip of velcro to keep them closed. So I replaced that with a zipper, and then put a flap with a big piece of velcro over that. Amazingly it all worked, and I didn't do anything stupid like sew the pocket shut. I hope it keeps the pickpockets out...

When I arrived in Venice it was pouring rain. Just buckets. I guess I had arrived during the middle of a storm. Ugh. This wasn't something that I really counted on. I waited for the rain to subside for a bit. I was going to head out to a camping site on the north end of the lagoon, but after half an hour, I realized it wasn't going to get any better. So I just found a place near to the train station. Yeah, it was expensive, but it did save me tons of misery. Tomorrow I will try to get to the camping site.

-Dravis