If it is possible to be absolutely charmed with a city, then this was such the case for me in Venice. The canals are beautiful, the buildings are old and enchanting, the bridges are numerous- each affording a great view, streets so narrow that I can stick out my elbows and touch both sides, gondolas and gondoliers are everywhere on the main canal, churches with so much history you can't help be in awe, gelato so delicious (to use a dutch saying, roughy translated) its like angels peeing on your tongue. Pizza, pasta, wine, seafood, and limoncello abound, as hawkers stand in front of their restaurant, trying valiently to bring the customers in. As the rain begins to fall, terraces are efficiently covered, the stands have their canvas roofs extended, locals simply open the umbrellas they carry around, and tourists sprint for cover... It was wonderful.
To arrive at our Hostel was a feat in itself. We took the bus from Jero's apartment to the local train station. Caught a stoptrein to Zutphen. Switched to a bigger train- sat upstairs, and headed off to Nijmegen. After arriving in Nijmegen caught a 'shuttle' to the airport. Cept that our shuttle was to pick us up in a random spot and turned out to be a taxi. But it got us to the airport Dusseldorf/Weeze in Germany. We ended up there nearly 3 hours early, so we sat in the bar, on the patio, watching planes load and land, drinking Varsteiner(German beer) and Baileys. The flight was uneventful, we boarded by crossing the tarmac and there were no assigned seats, allowing people to sit wherever they please. So we land in Venice(YAY! ITALY!) and buy a round trip ticket to Piazza del Roma- a public transportation hub, and board a greyhound sized shuttle bus to the square. We get to the square- its now like 10pm, neither of us speaks any Italian and Italians don´t speak much English, so we find the bus that we need to get on (chosen thanks to an email from the guy who runs the hostel we were headed to). So we get on this bus, and try to ask the driver if we are on the right one. After like 5 mins we just point at the name of the street to which he responds ´sí´. The bus is full as it leaves the depot, full of Italians who know where they are going, and two tourists completely lost. After about 10 minutes and various stops, we look back and realize that we are two of three people on the bus. Now we are getting worried. How are we supposed to find a hostel on some random street, if we can´t even ask the driver to tell us when to get off? All of a sudden the driver stops, just before a roundabout, with no bus stop in site, opens the doors and says the street name. So we get off. Cept for that we are on a round about and not sure where we are going. After a moments hesitation we head down a street, find a supermarket mentioned in the email(after 10 mins of walking in the near dark on a very narrow strip of side walk that switches sides of the roads randomly and unexpectedly) and discover we don´t know what building we want. So we ask a couple of guys, who have no idea what we are asking, and tell us there is no where to sleep nearby. Then I see a woman and ask her, using gestures, english(uselessly), and the three words of Italian we know. She leads us up to a building(directly behind us) and we have found our home! It was a gong show but quite the adventure!
The first day we took the water bus for a while, getting off randomly as we agreed it would be more fun to try and walk to our destination- San Marco's square- one fo the most famous attractions in Venice. It was overcast with light showers on and off, so while there were people about, the numbers were down from what they would had been had the day been sunny. On the way to the square we stopped for Speghetti Carbonara and a glass of wine- pasta and wine in a little cafe, on a narrow street, just off a canal, in Venice... San Marcos Basilica is a huge church rebuilt in the 12th century. After visiting the church we simply wandered around, me browsing stand after stand, taking piles of pictures, and essentially loving being there. As we were looking for a place to eat dinner, we passed some gondoliers and they tried to get us to go for a ride. The plan was to go on day two, so we said no and continued walking. One of them came up to us and said that rather then the usual 80€ he offered us a ride at 60€. Impossible to say no to a bargin, so we went for a ride. In Venice. On a gondola. He didn't sing but when we docked again, there were a couple other 'drivers' standing there, so I asked them to sing, and got my song from a gondolier while sitting in a gondola. It rocked! Dinner ended up at a little restaurant with a terrace literally right on the canal. Beside our table was steps leading down into the canal right next to the Rialto bridge- a large and recognizable and popular bridge. The pizza was good, the wine was delicious, the atmosphere was amazing. I love Venice!
Day two started well, with clear skies and promises of sunshine. We packed up our bags, left the hostel, and headed to the bus station. Rather then hoping on the water bus we simply started walking. Before I left Canada, Cheryl gave me some amazing advice- when you get to Venice, aim to get lost. I thought she was nuts at the time, but by day two we were ready to give it a try. The narrower the street, the more likely we would walk down it. Over bridges, past canals... It was awesome! It was sunny out, but where we were walking, there were less people then the day before, and a much higher percentage of them were speaking Italian. After a while we were standing in a little square, getting hungry, and a nearby tavern started putting out tables in the middle of the square. A delivery boat was unloading its cargo, a couple Italian guys were discussing something as one sat in the sun and the other 5 feet away in the shade, the two bridges connected to the square were occupied, but only by a couple people at a time, not a steady stream like the bridges from the day before, there were moms pulling strollers, and old ladies with their shopping carts, business men walked into the tavern, and from a window above us a lady began pulling in her laundry off the line and replacing it with a fresh load, occasionally a tourist or two would walk by but for the most part, it seemed to be locals. We simply looked at eachother, and sat down to eat. Our getting lost in Venice experiment was a huge sucess as sitting there, watching everything go on around us, soaking up the sun, we were perfectly content and could have stayed there all day. Eventually we rose, wandered aimlessly for a while longer, then returned to the crowded areas and headed to San Marco square so that I could do some shopping.
Getting back to the airport turned out to be an easy thing to do. Caught a water bus to the depot, almost bought a ticket for the shuttle, but remembered at the last minute we had a return ticket and didn't need to buy another one. Got to the airport and couldn't find our check in desk. Our flight wasn't on the departures screen- not by the name Dusseldorf or Weeze. So we went by time, picked a line up, and discovered the airport has not one, not even two, but three names- Niederrhein being the last one, one we didn't know and naturally being the one used. So after checking in, we are sitting there talking about how bad it sucks to be late for a flight and how you never understand them when they page you(me remembering Guatemala and Jero remembering Washington). Finally he gets up for a smoke and I agree to meet him in a couple minutes, but then I look at the customs line and at the time, run outside, grab him, and run to customs. The line up took forever, one security point was going through, and they were calling last call for our flight. I'm freaking out about missing the flight, and he is laughing at me for it. A couple ladies in front of us let us go ahead of them, then the man in front of us stalls things. He tries to take his suitcase through the metal detector and argues when they tell him to put it through the machine. Finally he does, then he has to go thru again, without his jacket, and his shoes, and then they ask where his wife is- somehow she ended up a few people behind and he had given them her boarding pass. I'm getting more and more anxious as they have called our flight again, and finally we go thru. I have no problems. Jero has to pass through a second time with out his shoes. Oh, and the need to search his bag, in a moment when they are done with this other one. So I tell a guy, that our flight is boarding and we can't miss it and as I am explaining this to him... They page us. Finally the start going through jero's bag, they actually do an on the spot check of his cologne and FINALLY let us through. We literally ran to our gate at which point the airport employees were waving us through as fast as possible... Our plane was supposed to leave at 9 55. We boarded at 10pm... I love Italy!
So it was awesome. Had a great time, so glad we went. I recomment Italy to many people. Just use a bit more time awareness when you are departing. Biggest piece of advice? Like Cheryl says, if you have a day- aim to get lost. It was probably my favorite thing about the trip!
At that, I feel I have bored you enough, Have a great day!
Ciao
http://jssgallery.org/Essay/Venice/San_Marco/Basilica_San_Marco/Basilica_San_Marco.htm for more information on San Marcos Balisica
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