Tasting Venice: A story of ups and downs and learning you can't always avoid the rain

After a three-and-a-half hour train ride, a 22-hour ferry ride, and five more hours on a pair of trains, we arrived in Venice. Sometimes, often times, train stations and airports inject you into the not-so-glamorous parts of town. But this is not the case with the Santa Lucia station in Venice. It took Jordan and I less than 30 seconds to walk from our seats on the train to the edge of the picturesque Venetian canals.

Couples walked hand-in-hand, a pair of twin boys chased pigeons, and gondolas drifted throughout the famous waters. It was exactly as I pictured in my sleepy mind as we approached the city -- and I had plenty of time to conjure up images.

Clouds were scattered throughout the sky, but overall it was a beautiful day. I had a slice of Italian pizza in my mouth not more than five minutes after our arrival. We crossed to the other side of the canal over a bridge I'm sure has a well-known name. I took a seat on my backpack and soaked up the sights as I inhaled my slice of margherita. Some people have 15-minutes of fame. I would have 15-minutes of Venice.

***

Although part of us immediately wanted to roam the streets, our bodies were telling us otherwise. We hadn't had a quality night's sleep in three days, so we decided to head to the campsite we had booked a half-hour out of town, planning to wake up early to head back to possibly the most unique city in the world. It would be a day filled with gondolas and laughter and blistered thumbs from snapping so many photos. Or so we thought.

I slept well, and by well I mean 12-hours well. The pouring rain allows for that, but what it doesn't allow for is an enjoyable day discovering Venice. We tried to wait it out, going for a wet run near our cabin, doing a load of laundry, sipping on Italian beer and making ham and cheese sandwiches in the uneventful campsite shelter. Jordan is normally a very goofy, cheery girl. At this moment, she looked sad. She had forgotten to collect 6 euro from the change machine, but I knew her frown was not just due to this small loss.

As I swallowed my last bit of lunch, I had a thought.

"What if we just go to Austria right now and come back here when it's nicer?" I suggested. It was a crazy idea, but it wasn't at the same time.

"I was just thinking that," Jordan said.

I ran to the front desk through the downpour to figure out some logistics. Yes, we could checkout what was now four hours past checkout time without paying extra. Yes, we could catch a bus for one euro a piece to the train station. And yes, we would arrive just in time to catch the final train heading for Innsbruck.

We dashed toward the room to gather our belongings and fold our laundry. A stranger approached us to hand Jordan the extra money she found in the change machine. Good things were happening. Jordan was smiling again.

As we headed toward the station with restored hope of brighter days, the woman at the front desk informed us we had missed the bus. Our ups were going back down. She called a taxi for us which wasn't guaranteed to get us there in time. The bus, which would have put us there a half hour early for 2 euro, was now replaced with an unpredictable 36-euro taxi.

The driver drove along the shoulder, cutting cars along the slippery streets. We arrived to the station with time to spare. We grabbed some snacks and boarded the train bound for Austria. We would visit Venice again under sunnier skies.

I write this from a guesthouse in Vienna, Austria. My clothes are still soaking wet from our two-minute run back from dinner this evening. I guess it's a lesson that sometimes it rains everywhere. It's then up to me to make the best of it and learn to appreciate the rainbows.