And then there were two...

After wishing Angela good bye in Rome, the two of us headed up north towards Venice. Upon our arrival to the romantic city, we were greeted with a flash storm of rain. Fully loaded with our backpacks, we decided to book it as soon as we got off of the water bus (public transportation on the canals, so cool!). About an hour later, and with the help of some very nice locals, a very wet Melissa and I checked into our bed and breakfast.

Although a little weary and very wet, the Four Seasons B&B provided a great break from the hostels we have come accustom to. Our couple suite would prove to be the first reminder that we were in fact staying in a very romantic destination spot for couples. After unpacking and drying off we wasted no time in venturing out to explore Venice. The city was beautiful and of course full of many great smelling restaurants that called to our stomachs. Our next destination in the city was found much more easily, a famous joint among locals in the heart of Venice (recommended to us by Rick Steves of course). Everything was made from scratch and after devouring a very delicious meal we ventured out again to explore the manyturns, canals, and dead ends of Venice.

That night we headed in early to get ready for a busy day of sight seeing and late day travel to Pisa. The next day we woke up early, checked out (leaving our bags at the B & B), and headed towards the Piazza San Marco. The piazza is surrounded by almost all of the touristy sights one must hit up before leaving Venice. Here we saw the Bascilica of San Marco and the Dodge's Palace. Next door to these very history-filled buildings were both the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Law Courts) and Procuratie Nuove (New Law Courts). The famous Piazza San Marco square reminded us that although the city was amazing to visit it would not be our first choice to live. Venice as well as Italian law dictate that no remodeling as well as reconstruction is to be allowed in the city. This is great for us, because the city is left in its almost medieval state. However, locals are often times left with basements filled with water, and in the worst cases, totally abandoned buildings due to these policies.
After seeing the sights and walking around the city for half the day we found a great restaurant (perfect for people watching), where we grabbed a bottle of wine and chocolate mousse and wasted time until our train to Pisa.

When we had booked our train to Pisa we had wanted to spend as much time as we could in Venice. Naturally we booked a late train that didn't arrive into Pisa until around 11 PM. As soon as we arrived in Pisa, however, we realized that this was probably not a good idea.

The hostel we had booked in Pisa had bragged that it was within walking distance of the train station, offered free breakfast, and happened to have the highest ratings of any hostel in the area. Reviews of the hostel raved that "Carlos" the manager did a great job of taking care of hisguests and providing a fun and safe atmosphere. Therefore, upon our arrival in Pisa, equipped with walking directions to the hostel, we left the train station. We immediately couldn't find the first turn and the train station's surrounding area consisted of a very unsafe looking crowd, so we headed for the nearest cafe to ask or call our hostel for better directions.

After calling the hostel, Carlos said he would meet us at the cafe in 5 minutes on a silver "moto-bike". Before Carlos arrived a large man, with a long pony tail, who happened to speak verylittle English pulled up and got out of his car to talk to us. The man explained that he had come to pick us up and take us to the hostel. However, upon questioning him, we found that not only was he not driving a silver moto-bike, but that he also did not know our names or the name of the hostel that we had booked. Needless to say that we decided to wait longer for the real Carlos to arrive.

A few minutes later, wearing tight flare jeans, a tight belly-showing T-shirt, and equipped with better and longer hair than Mel or I, Carlos arrived on his silver bike. Carlos soon explainedthat something had happened to the beds that we had reserved (it sounded like bed bugs) andthat we were to stay at his friend hostel who was still standing near us on the sidewalk. He promised that his friend's hostel was actually much better than his, and that we would get a very good discount.

With little other options and very reluctantly, we put our bags into the other man's trunk and hopped in the back seat. On the way to the hostel, we planned our escape in case the situation (if possible) got anymore sketchy (we decided on rolling out of the moving car). Carlos' friend kept referring to his hostel as his house and we further discussed other escape plans in the backseat. Soon we pulled up to a building and walked far behind our host up a fewflights of stairs. His "house" was actually a very small bed and breakfast, which was actually probably his house at one point. The place consisted of one long hallway, one bathroom, one kitchen, many locked doors, and no other people. He unlocked our room, revealing that we had bunk mates, a TV (that we later found was just for looks), and best of all two beds for us. After finding that with the "special discount" we did not get breakfast and after of course paying with cash, the man left us.

Needless to say, WE LIVED! Otherwise this blog post would not have been written or posted. Later in the night other guests trickled in, and we found that the very same situation had happened to a very nice German couple that was also sharing our room. The next day we took a picture next to the leaning tour of Pisa on the way to the train station and PEACED OUT, our next stop being Florence.