Day 23 - February 15th 2009 In treno returning to Rome, Italy

Katie and I were picked up by Martin early this morning to head down to the bus station to grab the 9:30am bus over to the train station to get on the 10:40 treno to Venice Mestre train station. Well all that didn’t happen because apparently there is no 9:30 bus to the train station but only a 11:15am one. So this threw quite a wrench in our well laid plans (which in reality were not well laid out). We found a small albergo nearby and grabbed some scrambled eggs (uova strapazzate) for breakfast. The bus deposited us at the Calalzo train station and we bought tickets to Padova station. Arriving in Padova station we hit our first big problem. The trains heading back to Rome and Florence were almost completely full. Thankfully or not depending on how you look at it, there were tickets available but they were only first class. Here’s the best part: they weren’t guaranteed seats. Nope. Katie and I stood in the first class car for 2/3s of the trip. How about them apples. Needless to say, it was a horrible day of travel back to our respective cities. Sleep was most welcomed.