Venice, Italy

Ciao from Venezia!

After a lovely 3 hour train ride, we have arrived in Venice, Italy. As soon as you exit the Santa Lucia station, you are welcomed by the beautiful Venetian Lagoon and the Grand Canal. Water taxis and the water boat, or the “vaporetto”, are docked out front waiting for business. We bought a pass to hop on and off the vaporetto as much as we needed for 2 days, which cost us about 35 Euro per person. We knew we wanted to do a lot of exploring, and this was the cheapest option for that. The water taxis can be quite expensive.

The boat/bus/ferry ended up being one of the highlights of this trip. There is a voice that comes over the loudspeaker and tells you the next stop. “Nexta stopa” is how it sounded, and now me and Seth say that to each other every opportunity we get. I wish I could use that voice setting for Siri! Slowly cruising down the canals was relaxing and we got to see more of Venice than we thought we would. I am also a huge fan of the movie Italian Job, so riding on the canals made me feel like I was off to be a part of some grand heist.

Room With a View

We arrived at our beautiful Italian bed and breakfast. Right outside of our window is Teatro La Fenice, “the most famous and renowned landmark in the history of Italian theater.” The most famous theater in Venice, Itay is right outside our window! So cool. With the canal below our window we were treated to the gondolas going by and the guys singing Opera. Is this real life? 

Today was a day for aimless wandering. We freshened up at the hotel and off we went.

The streets are very narrow, almost like a maze, and we were kind of in the mood for getting lost. We walked along the cobblestone streets, poking in the stores and markets, crossed over bridges and stopped to listen to the gondoliers sing. We stopped and stared at the Bridge of Sighs, wondering what the people crossing that bridge must be thinking. One last look at freedom. We continued weaving our way through this labyrinth, feeling like we were going in a giant circle. Just when panic started to creep in, we popped out into this giant square with the biggest, grandest building I’ve ever seen. Italian music floated through the air, whiffs of bread and pasta. It was like an oasis in a desert. Like light at the end of the tunnel. It was so magical I wanted to cry. Turns out we ended up right in the middle of St. Mark’s Square. 

A Rose for the Lady

This is where the second, and last incident in Europe happened. While strolling through the square, we were approached by a man with a rose. He said the rose was for me and a bunch of other flattering stuff, pretty much refused no thank you as an answer. After a few minutes of trying to give it back to him, I started to walk away, with the rose. He then started yelling at us telling us we needed to pay him for it. I tried giving it back, but he wouldn’t accept it! What the heck man. So Seth finally shoved it at him and we walked away, ignoring his calls.

Another man came up to me with a rose and this time I ignored him. So he put the rose in my purse. I kept walking, and again this man started yelling and screaming in the middle of the square trying to cause a scene, so I took the rose out, threw it on the ground, and kept walking. I should have stomped all over it!

It happened a 3rd time, and this time the guy grabbed my hand and wrapped it around the rose, then immediately started telling Seth to pay him. This is getting out of hand. We yelled back, threw the rose and took off. Everytime we saw a man with a rose, we walked in the other direction. As I people watched in the square later that day, I really got to sit back and watch these guys in action. They can really spot a tourist. 

Forewarned

Beware of these guys, and the mosquitoes if you are visiting Venice, Italy during the summer. The water in the canal can smell strongly of algae, and seems to linger in the air during those hot humid days. 

We are lucky to consider this one of the more “major incidents” that happened to us on our trip. I had so much anxiety about being pick pocketed or having all of our money stolen. I am so grateful this didn’t happen to us, and I really feel sorry for the people that had to go through something like that. Being in a different country can be scary, and having something negative happen can definitely jade a person.

Now for the Food

I was a little disappointed in some of the food here. I had sworn off my all time favorite Italian dish, lasagna, until we were here in Italy. Venice seemed like the perfect place to order it. We got all dressed up and found a fancy restaurant along the canal. I ordered my wine and lasagna, they brought a basket of bread and I was so ready to indulge. I told Seth to be prepared to be at this restaurant for at least a few hours, I was going to take my time with this dish. The first bite I was instantly taken back to my childhood. It tasted exactly, and I mean exactly, like beefaroni. A can of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni to be exact. It was so strange. I couldn’t help but laugh. More like trying to laugh so I wouldn’t cry. I was in such disbelief! Had I waited so long for this?! I tried not to let it ruin my night, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. Literally.

Other than this dish, all of the other food we ate in Venice was absolutely amazing. We had delicious raviolis, more tagliatelle, and we ordered a caprese salad almost everywhere we went.  I am excited for the day I come back and retry the lasagna. I know the lasagna of my dreams is out there.

The Lido

Venice, Italy is known for being hot and humid. So we went off in search of the beach. The last stop on our water ferry happened to be the Lido. The town has super beachy vibes and is really cute. We found a spot where you can pay to rent a beach chair and umbrellas for a few hours at a time. We got our towels and chairs and straight into the water we went! The water is refreshing. Not cold by any means. Perfect for a hot day. There were big blow up slides anchored out in the water. There were a bunch of people out today. We got our chairs pretty early in the day, I would say by 10am, and by noon every chair had been rented out and the water was filled with people. This area had a little beach cafe that sold food and drinks. We had some snacks and a few drinks, and swam for majority of the day. Ahhh..why can’t every day be like this?!

Minus the very minor hiccups we had here, we just cannot wait to come back to Venice, Italy. Walking the streets, seeing the architecture, listening to the gondoliers. You can feel the history seeping out of the walls. Knowing that Venice might not be around for much longer makes coming back here a priority.

Next up..we fly to Greece!..