I was really looking forward to coming back to Venice, because I was meeting up with friends I’d met in Munich and was picking up my cameras, which had finally arrived from Australia. After landing at around 1pm I took the bus to Mestre station and walked to the hotel/hostel. The night before I could only find the Colombo Hostel (which was actually a hotel with dorm rooms) online, as there isn’t a quality hostel in Venice. Nicole and Izzy were already there as they stayed the previous night. It was great to land in a city and be greeted with a hug & familiar face! Arriving in new places and having to start from scratch with everyone can get a little tedious.
After I settled in, we took the train to the Island of Venice (The city of Venice expands to the mainland as well) where we met up with Jon and Ashley. Nic, Izzy, Jon and Ashley were part of our Oktoberfest family in Munich. It was great to catch up and chat about old times (from less than one month ago) and our travels since. We found a nice looking Osteria (a place that serves simple & cheap Italian food with a short menu & often served at shared tables), and enjoyed some local food and wine. We later went to another Osteria and drank some local beers. On the way home Nic showed me how to spot the North Star, Cool.
Thursday was the day I would receive my cameras from home, but it wasn’t to be. Dad sent a package from Australia with 2 cameras in it and paid the extra for fast delivery (7-10 days)… It arrived after a month. Our good friends at Post Italia decided they wanted the Sony waterproof camera more than me and relieved me of the camera. They taped the package back up with “Post Italia” tape and sent it anyway. The only good news out of this is they left the more expensive GoPro camera, the $50 memory card and most of all the vegemite mum had sent me… suckers!! Later that day I reluctantly let Nic and Izzy taste the “worlds best spread” which is vegemite. Nic nearly threw up and Izzy wasn’t far behind her. What a waste, I could have had that on toast for breakfast the next day. These women just didn’t appreciate a good tasting food when they were given one. Isn’t free food meant to be the best?
Later Thursday after Jon took a flight back to the States, the “3 Cool/Awesome/Fun/Exciting/Adventurous women” and I headed back to the City of Canals for the day. We found ourselves sitting outside a nice little Trattoria, on the main path to San Marco Square, for lunch. It was a fantastic meal where I had my first Calzone, yum!! Since it was our last full day in Venice we all wanted to see as much as we could, but didn’t want to compromise on enjoying a good bar crawl. Ash came up with an amazing idea… “Since it’s not illegal to drink on the street in Italy, why don’t we grab a bottle of Vodka and walk around drinking, instead of bar hopping, it’s cheaper and we can see more of Venice”… WIN. So we all put in €5 each, which paid for a bottle of Polish Vodka (for you Izzy) and some mixers, and made our way further into the maze which is Venice.
I’ll remember this as one of the best days of my trip. I’m in Venice, Italy with 3 amazing women, the sun is shining and the temperature is in the mid 20’s. After a lovely Italian meal at a Trattoria, we walked around exploring an amazing floating city with a drink in our hands, a camera in the other & without a care in the world. It was amazing. We took reflection photos in the canals, pictures of us in doorways & archways, walked passed a fluffy cat which looked like it was out of Harry Potter, got lost, window shopped, tried on masks, laughed at the prices of things, saw the Bridge of Sighs & watched the pink sunset sky from the Rialto Bridge. We would walk into a bar to use their toilet because it costs €1.50 to use a public bathroom (these “paid bathrooms” are few and far between). This would normally include a shot or a beer, as management didn’t let us in without purchasing something. I can’t remember getting back, but I think we got off at the wrong bus stop (my fault) and had to walk a long way home.
Friday morning we checked out of the hotel and made our way back to Venice by train, as all our trains left from the Island. The main station is on the island & all long distance trains depart from there. Nic has a habit of falling asleep as soon as she sits down on a train and it starts moving. On the way from the mainland to Venice, I got some great “half asleep quotes” of Nic talking shit, but they were wiped when I upgraded my iphone… thanks Apple!! It was funny, and you got away with it this time… but next time I’m recording it!!
Once the girls had their tickets for their onward journey we made our way to an Italian restaurant, where the pizza & calzone was fantastic (the American girls loved their Calzones)!! My coffee was served with UHT milk (long life milk you keep in the cupboard for an emergency) and I felt like throwing it back at the waitress, but I didn’t as to not embarrass the girls. We took some photos and chilled out until I had to grab a bus. I said goodbye to an amazing group of people and took the bus to the airport. A quick one hour flight saw me landing in Barcelona, Spain.
I enjoyed the island of Venice more so this time because I had amazing company, it really does make a difference. Ciao Bella
Below: Me, Nicole, Ashley, Izzy.