Before
Katie and I set out on our adventure, we sat down and decided that our trip to
Venice had to include two things, wandering the city and eating. Lots of
eating. After a couple of days and a couple of pounds, I’d say it was
definitely a successful trip to Venezia.
We
started our journey by walking down to the train station in Canterbury on
Thursday afternoon. After a train to London, a Tube ride, a train to the
airport, a plane, a bus and two boat trips we finally arrived at our hostel at
12:10am. We were slightly panicked because the hostel had informed us that
reception closed at midnight, and with no map of the city and no phone to
contact them with, we didn’t think we would make it. (After the last hostel
disaster in Brighton, we did not want to take our chances). As we waited for
our second boat we contemplated our options, which included potentially
sleeping in a docked gondola…
We finally found the place and rang the
bell several times, but received no response… not a good sign. Then, all of the
sudden we heard a voice from above, and an Italian man named Matteo appeared on
the balcony! I’ve never been so relieved. He let us in and after a couple
minutes of waiting he informed us that all the private rooms were located at
their sister-hostel, which was a seven-minute walk away. At this point several
things were confusing us. Seven minute walk? Private room??? Looks like our
hostel booking was messed up once again… We quickly informed him that there had
been a mistake. Being extremely cheap, we had booked the 10-bedroom dorm and
once again I had all the confirmation numbers and emails. Unlike the Brighton
hostel, he apologized for their mistake and told us he was still taking us to
the other hostel (at this point we were slightly shocked at our terrible luck
with hostels but mostly we were just relieved not to be homeless). We began our
walk, which consisted of me Katie and Matteo venturing down tiny alleyways for
about 5 minutes before we made a slightly awkward and sketchy alleyway tradeoff
to another guy who we were told would take us the rest of the way. Turns out he
was an extremely friendly English guy and Katie I were so relieved to hear a
familiar accent. Turns out that our hostel mix-up was once again, a blessing in
disguise. We ended up in a private room with its own bathroom while still
paying the price of the dorm! Guess everything happens for a reason… but next
time I book a hostel I’m not taking any chances...
The
next day we set out to explore the city! We had a delicious breakfast of pastries
and nutella coffee (which literally consisted of Italian espresso and straight
nutella) I wish I could start every day like that. From there we walked around
and window-shopped. Adventuring through the neighborhood and getting lost. We
grabbed a slice of pizza and ate on a little bridge overlooking a canal. So very
Italian of us. Our next goal was to ensure that we stayed hydrated for the day,
so we stopped into a wine store and picked up a bottle. In a city where the
wine is cheaper then the water what do you expect??
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| Just chilling with my new Italian friend... |
We then left our local neighborhood and headed to the Basillica de San Marco where we braved the tourists and saw the city’s major attractions. After a near death experience with a pigeon darting straight for us, we sat in the square, soaking up the sun, drinking our wine and indulging in some first-class people watching. Life was good.
We walked around the area and went to the top of the Campanile, where we saw a beautiful 360 view of the city! We also enjoyed a double scoop of Gelato. Yum! Eventually we had some dinner before getting back onto the water taxi just in time to see the sunset on the Grand Canal. It was absolutely stunning.
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| San Marco |
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| Awkward photo, but the Gelato made up for it |
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| Sunset on the Grand Canal |
The next day we devoted to more wandering and most importantly more eating. We splurged on ourselves and had our morning coffee break at The Florian Café, which is one of the oldest cafes in Europe and was rated the number 2 most beautiful café in the world! Notable attendees included Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, Casanova, and of course, us. While is cost us a small fortune, we sat and enjoyed our cappuccinos and biscotti and soaked in the amazing ambiance of the place. We spent the rest of the day adventuring the canals and seeing the rest of the sights. Time went by so quickly and soon we were having our final supper of red wine and bruschetta along the canal. We went to grab the bus back to the airport, but not before grabbing another double scoop of gelato for the road! (I am now broke and slightly heavier then before I left, but it was all worth it). We then began our long journey back to England, which of course, included several complications including almost being denied entrance at the UK border patrol despite having our Student visas. In the end we eventually made back to London where we stayed in our friend Charlie’s amazing home! We spent the next day wandering around Portobello market, which is walking distance from his house. It was so nice to be able to explore London a little more as well as meet Charlie’s family; it was the perfect way to unwind from the busy week, thanks again for all your hospitality Charlie! Ciao!
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| Living luxuriously at Cafe Florian |
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| The Grand Canal |
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| A final glass of Wine before heading out! |
