IC London...I See France

12 March 2007

Glass, Gondolas, and Our Last Gelato (Last New Entry)

We arrived in Venice just after noon on Friday where the weather couldn't have been any better. Initially, we experienced a lot of problems navigating the bus system and, apart from the half hour or so we spent checking into our hostel, spent a good 2 or 3 hours travelling around the suburbs of Venice. Our hostel was actually a campsite in which we had two two-person cabins with very nice private bathrooms in each. It was obvious they were preparing for their busy season as not too much was open, but in their prime it must be great to stay there. They have a pool, a few hydromassages, a bar, a pub, their own restaurant, ping pong tables, a market and store.

The bus stops right outside the entrance, so once we got it all figured out, getting to Venice wasn't so difficult. We got in around 5 and were starving for dinner. We began lingering at menus outside of restaurants and had more than a few managers/waiters come out to lure us in. When the friendly, enthusiastic man greeted us with menus (in English too!), we couldn't resist eating where he was. We ordered the tourist menu, but don't let that fool you - it was the traditional Italian meal with a first course of pasta, second course of meat, salad, and a fruit course. I got spaghetti with meat sauce, mixed fried fish (calamari, crawfish, and perhaps some other seafood too), a mixed salad, and fruit cocktail. Mmm. The seafood was amazing. We lingered over dinner for an hour and a half as the man doted on us and insisted that "Here anything is possible!" It was a great choice.

By then, it was dusk and rapidly approaching dark, so we wandered very limitedly so as not to get lost without a map. We stopped in this huge, bustling piazza full of restaurants and shops. Everyone else got some gelato, we looked for postcards, and we stopped in a wine and pasta shop before heading back to camp.

In the morning, we checked out, stowed our luggage, booked a shuttle for the airport, and headed back into Venice. We bought a ticket for the waterbus to take us to San Marco along the Grand Canal. Venice is what I naively thought all of Italy was like - full of quaint little streets and flowering windowboxes - so I was in love. The view from the water was magnificent. We de-boarded, but for some reason, couldn't find Saint Marc's Square for our lives. Then, our plan in Venice turned out to be sightseeing by way of shopping.

We became aimless wanderers about Venice, going from shop to shop to shop. We stopped in one glass store and somehow couldn't bring ourselves to pass up any that we came across; we must have visited nearly 20 glass shops by the time we left the island. Murano glass is another of my new obsessions. We happened upon the most picturesque canals and house fronts and windows, particularly, and I took far too many pictures. We ate lunch at a pizzeria just outside The Rialto (Venice's main bridge - beautiful and huge and with shopping in the middle). We got Capriccioso pizza, with ham, pepperoni, artichokes, zucchini, mushrooms, and capers, which was absolutely delicious. Eventually we found our way to St. Mark's, a square full of pigeons and people. We watched a bunch of little kids feed pigeons, inspiring Erin to buy some seed as well. We had a great time taking pictures of the pigeon frenzy she created - two of them were fighting in her hand!

We went back to the piazza from the night before for dinner, some last minute gifts and a final cup of gelato, just soaking up the last of Venice before we had to leave. A bus to camp, a shuttle to Treviso, a plane to London, a shuttle and bus back to the flat. At 3:30am, we were home. Midterm break is over, and finally with some time to rest, I realized Meg and I have a trip to Barcelona next weekend.

All of Italy right here. (How did it fit?! Crazy.)

2 Comments:

  • That hostel sounded like the best one you have stayed at so far.

    We envy you having had real Italian pizza, real gelato, seeing all the glass places..........

    Sounds like one fun trip!!
    Can't wait to hear about Barcelona!
    Love ya
    Mom

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:59 PM  

  • You are so lucky Honey!!! The pictures you've taken are priceless!! They are awesome!!

    Great job, Honey!

    Love,

    Dad

    By Blogger Dad Krzyske, at 8:35 PM  

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