Venezia

Wednesday, April 23

We woke up at 1am. Yes. 1am. We had to check out of the hostel, catch a city bus to the coach station, a coach to the airport and then a plane to Venice. After lots of travel and lots of naps in weird places, we were in Venice by 9:30. Then we had to take another bus to Mestre, the city next to Venice we were staying in. We walked to our Hotel and it turned out to be really nice! If you are going to Venice anytime soon, stay in Hotel Guidi. The staff speak English and its only a 10 minute bus ride to the center of Venice.

After finding food, we took a nap during Siesta time – pretty much everything in Venice closes from 1 – 3:30 so the workers can go home, eat and rest. I don’t know what in the world America is thinking, but I wouldn’t complain a bit if I was told to go home and nap!

We went into Venice in the afternoon and just wandered around exploring. It was so warm compared to England. The sun combined with 70 degree weather made me put on a skirt and a tshirt. It was a very welcome change. I really do prefer the warm weather.

 

We found strawberries, kiwi and paninis for dinner and it was such a good decision. The fruit here is so fresh and so sweet. We called it an early night and watched Eat, Pray, Love while eating dinner.

Thursday, April 24

The hotel had breakfast for us and that was a nice change. We had some pastries and yogurt before heading off for the day. We walked all the way across the city to San Marco Piazza so I could climb the Clock Tower. (After climbing St. Paul’s and Arthurs’ Seat, I have decided I want to climb as many things as I can on my travels!) When we got there we found out you can only take the elevator up. I was pretty disappointed, but I’m sure Erin was cheering on the inside. The view from the top was amazing. You could see the whole city! We happened to be up there when noon hit so we got to see the bells in action! It was really neat.

We went in search of Calzones once we made it to the bottom. That calzone was so good. Erin and I both agreed that we will never be able to eat an American Calzone again. We took a WaterBus back up the Grand Canal. As was the rest of the city, it was extremely beautiful. We got some more Strawberries, then went back to Mestre to rest.

Then we went out into Mestre to get pizza for dinner and to see how far away the train station was because we needed to go there the next morning to go south.

So far, Italy has been great. More people speak English than you would think, and it’s amazing how much you can understand from context clues. Currently it is Friday the 25^th and I am sitting on our train to Sabaudia. I am so glad we have almost a week left because I don’t want to leave just yet! (And I don’t want to have to go back to school to work on essays)