10 May-Austria to Venice, Italy

First breakfast and then on the road to Italy.  We were warned that the first 1.5 hours of road would be winding but beautiful.  I took Dramamine, though I am not really sure I needed it as the roads were not bad.  The majestic Alpine views were beautiful.  Here are a few facts some of you might know if actually paid attention in geography.  There are 700 miles of Alps.  Austria is a country that is 2/3 Alps.  Of course the highest Alps are in Switzerland.  As we left Austria the Alps we saw were between 5 and 6,000 ft. high.  Many still have snow but they won't in another month.  The entire area is covered with many feet  of snow 4 months of the year.  There are a lot of tunnels in Europe.  We went through a short 2 mile tunnel today.  We were told we will pass through a 10 mile tunnel when we leave Italy and go to Switzerland.  The summit of our pass from Austria to Italy today was Fernpass 3,600 ft.  There are deer, wild boar, fox, and other small animals in the woods.  Bear are now extinct.  We listened to a bit of Mozart on the road as he was Austria.  He had written 25 symphonies by age 16 and died of  unknown causes at age 35.  He had stomach pains, went to bed, and found dead in the morning.  As our ride continues our guide Rolinka tells us many other facts of the area.  We passed by the city of Innsbruck, named for the river Inn, meaning "bridge over the Inns River."  This area of Austria and Italy is really very German, the people speak German down into Italy quite a ways.  This area is called Tirol even as part of northern Italy and the people call themselves Tirolians.  We also passed by the valley where the "Ice Man" was found, sadly a visit to see him in a museum was not on our agenda. Our stop in the morning was a McCafe where we got coffee and were able to view a part of the Roman Road, which was also the path we hiked yesterday.  As we passed through this area we also saw very different mountains, the Dolomites.  It would be interesting to know the geology of the area.  We have been informed it we want to mail postcards we should do so from the Vatican as they will arrive  quickly, unlike mailing them in any other area, I plan to do this.  We have passed the border into Italy before we stop for lunch, so we had our first meal in Italy; salad and 3 different samplings of panini sandwiches, then gelato for dessert.  The it is back on the road.  The coach is comfortable and most people nap after lunch.  We have had a brief Italian lesson and outline of what we will do as we arrive to Venice.  It is anticlimactic to see the area just outside of Venice as it is very industrialized and looks so polluted.   Finally we arrive to the point where we will get a boat taxi to take us to our hotel via the Grand Canal.  We are responsible for our own luggage and that is not bad for us, but some people have brought things much too heavy.  Anyway, we have a 40 minute ride to the  departure from the boat and then a 15-20 minute walk including steps to reach our hotel.  Now things look like the Venice we expected!  Luggage is dropped in our rooms and we all meet in 15 minutes for an orientation walk and dinner.  As we walk onto St. Marks Square I can say it was breathtaking.  To even see the outside of St. Mark's Basilica and know his bones rest there is pretty amazing.  The Basilica was built in 828!  Dinner was pizza, wine, and dessert.  No labels on the first bottle of wine for our table (all included) but it was delicious.  Afterward we walked back to the hotel, made phone calls with our E$5. phone card talking with Mom and Jeff.  Unable to reach others and heading  for bed.