Hey everybody! I'm ((Tibby)) glad that the blog is back and running! Silly blogger was freaking out.
Anyways...the 12th started out with us packing our backpacks and making our way to the bus stop to catch a bus to go to the train station to catch trains (yes, trains) to Venice. We made it to the bus stop, and the train station, and even made it on the first of two trains without any hiccups. PRAISE GOD!! Yet, the fun was only beginning.
We had to change trains in a town called Ferrara. Usually, it's not a big deal at all to change trains; in fact, we've become quite the train travellers. However, maybe this was just one of those times where you have to learn you are still human and are still going to make mistakes.
So we got to the correct platform (binario in Italian!) for our train to Venice (Venezia in Italian!). We stood there waiting and waiting, along with dozens of other travellers and buisness-folk. Our train (as is quite normal) was running "5 minutes late". (Quick side note: "5 minutes" can really mean anywhere from 2 - 10 minutes. Meaning they'll just show up whenever. Trains are just all over the place). So we're standing there and then this train pulls up. We're kinda checking it out, and it looks a bit nicer than the average train, but hey, it's going to Venice. One of the top tourist spots in the country, maybe they wanted to show off a little?
So the train stops, the doors open, and a handful of people disembark the train. Right after the arriving passengers disembark is usually when all the "new" passengers (us) get on. Well after some got off, only a few got on the train. This was confusing to us. (Sidenote: When only a few of the dozens get on a train, that should be warning flag number one). After a few seconds of indecision and confusion, I made the last second decision that this was our train and we needed to get on. So I told Kyla, "This is it! Go!"
Try to picture this: Kyla, with backpack and purse and grocery bag in hand, lunged forward with all her gusto to grab the closing door. She managed to get a hand on it, and using her brute strength, she pried the doors open. Let me tell you, our ensuing entrance onto the train was less than glamorous. Kyla describes it as an inward avalanche. Yeah.
After the mad scramble to get onboard, we then composed ourselves and turned into one of the cars to find a seat. It didn't take us very long to notice that this was definitely a nicer train, and different than all the ones we've been on before. We're talking bigger seats, tables, luggage storage, and then the kicker; assigned seating. That's when we really began to realize that something wasn't totally right. We checked our tickets again, and as we already knew but didn't want to admit yet; we were not assigned seats. By the time we passed through that car and made it into the middle section (where the bathrooms are), we made the conclusion that we were on the wrong train. This train was indeed one of those highspeed bullet trains, which are quite expensive. The train we paid for was a much less expensive, old, jerk-you-around, and stop-at-every-station type of train. Upon that realization, it was a definite face-palm moment.
This Canadian lady ended up coming out to use the bathroom and we ended up talking with her and she felt bad for us for getting on the wrong train and then told us that the conductors were going through the train making random checks on people's tickets. If you were on that train and didn't pay for it (US!), they are allowed to kick you off. In all honesty, we actually wanted someone to come by to help us to figure out the correct trains.
Since we didn't have assigned seats, we just sat down in the stairwells of the doors and waited until the next stop where we could get off and get on the correct train. Again, twas not one of our best moments. I will say that the wonderful upside to this was that we were indeed headed in the right direction very quickly!
As soon as the train made it's next stop, we were the first off. As we were walking away, we spotted a few police men and conductors taking a quick smoke break from the train. We then thanked God that we weren't haggled by anyone and had mercy through all of it.
Us, on the wrong train!
Once on the correct train to Venezia, it was a quick jaunt over the water into the city. We walked out of the station and may or may not have had a little celebration moment that we were finally in Venice!!!
We had directions to our hotel, but oh my word, if you could read them, it is quite hilarious!! In fact, I'll post the directions on here; just so you can laugh along with us.
Hotel Directions:
Arriving by train: once you walk out of the train station , you will see a big bridge to your left. Walk over this and turn right so the canal is now on your right (fondamenta s. Simon piccolo) . Continue walking along the canal cross a small bridge always canal on the right walk turn left and pass a green bridge on your right contiue walking (canal on your right) , pass a white bridge(on your right) walk over a little wooden bridge and go straight on (fondamenta del rio novo) than follow round the left where you need to pass one bridge but walk over the second , turn left so that the canal is on your left, turn right at the end (into rio de santa margherita) , cross the second bridge( on your left) and continue straight on until you come to a big square , campo santa margherita, where hotel antico capon is opposite and slightly on your right . Welcome.
See what we were up against?! Haha.
Kyla, with our lengthy written walking directions to the hostel.
It took some wandering and asking for directions, but we did find our hostel and successfully checked in! (Even though they had us down for one person, two nights; instead of two people, one night. It all worked out in the end). Our hostel is located in this cute, classic Italian piazza called Campo di San Margherita. It even had trees in it, which are a rarity in Venice. Complete with shops, restaurants, benches, and a water fountain, it is truly a piazza.
(Our hostel was the yellow building)
After all of our vagabonding around, we realized we were quite hungry. So we grabbed our bag of groceries, and headed out to find a bench in the square that our hostel is on. We munched on a baguette and olive oil, chips, tomatoes, and grapes. Yum. Once our tummies were full, it was time to head out to explore Venice!
And explore we did! We just wandered and wandered and wandered. One thing is for sure, Venice is an incredibly confusing city. There are SO many tight and small passageways, and not all are labeled. Without a map, it would be an enormous challenge to make it back anywhere.
We spent our time perusing shops, eating gelato, and taking in the scenery of canals and gondoliers. Since pictures speak better than my words, here are some of the best!
First shots in the city!
Classic Italian : ]
The sunset made for some awesome lighting!
Us along the Grand Canal!
Us on the Rialto Bridge!
Eating gelato!!
One of the many more popular and famous (for good reason) souvenirs one can buy in the city of Venice is a Venetian mask. They are EVERYWHERE. And in nearly any size you could hope to come by. And let me tell you, they are fantastic!! So many of them are so intricately decorated that it hardly seems real. You can find masks of nearly any animal you can think of, and masks of any color, and masks that are seriously so beautifully decorated that you can't take your eyes off them. You can certainly tell that SO much work and effort goes into each and every single piece that is made. Many artists don't want tourists taking photos, but we did find a lady who allowed us to take a few snapshots so that you can get the idea!
V for Vendetta anyone?!!
We even found one shop that had these ITTY BITTY tee-nee tiny metal masks that were seriously SO cool and amazing!
We eventually wandered into San Marco (St. Mark's square)! It's definitely so stocked with tourists that we didn't stay for too long because these tour groups and mobs of people seriously get really annoying. (Quick sidenote: If you ever plan a trip to Italy, I would HIGHLY advise never going in the peak of the tourist season, purely to stay away from the mobs. Whenever Kyla and I find a few moments in a place with minimal people, those are the moments where we think to ourselves, "yea, this is marvelous"),.
Bell tower
Even with all the meandering people, you could hear this cute little cafe band in the background playing tune after tune.
This is the symbol of St. Mark. I know nothing of it's historical value, other than it's become the symbol of Venice. Kyla is the expert in these matters : ]
So stoked to be there!! (even with the crowds crushing in!)
Kyla, making the lion's face! (Can you see it on the flagpole?)
Me, making the lion's face! (Can you see it on the flagpole?)
After that, we really wanted to find a place to get on a boat and tour the city. Gondola's are SUPER expensive, so we didn't want that. (Yes, I know it's the classic, but with two girls on a budget; it really isn't our top priority). We eventually found a place that did boat tours, but sadly they were already done for the day. So we decided that the next best thing was a water bus!! So that is exactly what we did! It didn't go along the Grand Canale, but it was still a boat in Venice and we enoyed it.
I'm on a boat!!!
Our evening concluded with grabbing dinner from a pizzeria we found while strolling by. I had a HUGE slice of pizza, and Kyla had a calzone.
Upon returning to the hostel, we learned that our blog had been temporarily deactivated "due to unusual activity detected"...whatever that means. Maybe they finally picked up on the fact that despite all of our efforts, Kyla and I still manage to keep taking buses and trains we haven't paid for. But hey, it's back now and we're posting!!
Until next time...buonasera (good evening)!
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