VENICE — Sumwhere in the World

Venice Itinerary:

Grand Canal - ride on the Vaporetto
Rialto Bridge
Bridge of Sighs
Saint Mark’s Square (chase the pigeons)
Saint Mark’s Basilica
Saint Mark’s Campanile ($13 viewpoint)
Island Tours (approx. $55)
1. Murano (island known for blown glass)
2. Burano (island known for vibrant colored homes)

VENICE JOURNAL ‘15

Well, we actually meant to head to Florence after Rome. We got to the train station to buy our tickets for the departure at 8:10 PM. But at 8:00 PM we still didn’t see our train number on the board. In Italian, I asked a woman if she spoke English, and she very kindly explained that the trains were delayed due to some suspicious activity, whatever that meant. The train station was packed with uncomfortable and confused-looking people, so I could see we weren’t alone in this. Some of the trains appeared to be two hours late at this point. So we decided to take up residence at a McDonald’s to use their wifi in the meantime and wait. We continued checking the board to see if our train number was up - 9562 to Firenze (or something like that). We did see another train, 9564 to Firenze but we figured ours would appear on the board eventually, because they wouldn’t just cancel a train or change the number, would they? Finally we decided to check on the status of our train or see if we could switch to an earlier one if there was room. The women at the desk where we bought the tickets were completely bewildered. They asked why we didn’t get on the train. We told them the number never appeared. They discussed the situation in Italian and looked extremely confused. They said we could catch the train in the morning to Florence. But we would have to stay the night in the train station because I certainly wasn’t going to inconvenience Valentino so late at night. In problem-solving mode, I looked up and saw a train to Venice was still coming. I asked Cindy how she felt about heading to Venice early and she agreed. So, we exchanged our tickets and boarded a slow night train to visit The Floating City.

When we got there at 5 AM, it was pitch black and the air was full of mist. We waited until 7:15 AM for the first boat to Venice proper, but the boats had to move super slowly because of the darkness. It was such a mystical experience as we floated through the foggy abyss. It made Venice feel like some sort of mysterious, hidden world.

Having boats as our main source of transportation was fascinating to me. I was surprised at how skilled the captains (is that the right word?) were at bumping right up into the dock. I’m not prone to motion sickness, thankfully, so I found the constant wobbling and swaying while waiting at the dock rather entertaining. My friend did not.

It was frigid when we visited Venice, not the sunny paradise with crystal blue waters that many people imagine. My friend and I were bundled up in as many layers as possible during our partially open-air boat rides. Food in Venice was quite expensive, as one could imagine. At even a mediocre restaurant, you can expect to pay $20 for a simple bolognese. I had heard though, that Venice was not renown for its food culture, so we mostly ate at the hostel to save money.

During our time there, we ticked the touristy things off our bucket list: The Grand Canal, Doge’s Palace (still can’t say that without thinking of a doge and laughing), St. Mark’s Basilica and Square, took a look at the Bridge of Sighs as gondolas passed underneath, admired hand-painted Venetian masks, and visited the islands Murano and Burano to see colorful houses and blown glass.

We also connected with a few people at our hostel, a New Yorker named Rachael and a Brit named Simon. We ended up traveling with them off and on the remainder of the trip, ultimately reuniting for New Year’s Eve in Paris.