My Favorite Place so Far, Venice, Italy

We spent the weekend in Venice and I would have to start by saying it was by far my favorite place we have been to so far. The beautiful sparkling water, small winding streets, and endless canals made this unique Italian city unbelievably beautiful. Despite that it is SO very “touristy” but the beauty of the town explains why. We arrived into Venice from Nice late Thursday night and had to take a taxi cab to the water-taxi station. This taxi was the first car I had rode in since being in Europe. Needless to say it was a crazy high-speed race just like the taxis in Mexico. We then took a water taxi (sort of a small ferry) for about 40 minutes to the main area in Venice. We were so lucky as our hotel was right on the water and right across the street from the water taxi station. Venice is built on canals so there are absolutely no vehicles whatsoever in the town. This made the city even more charming.

When we woke up Friday morning I was actually able to see the town in the daylight and it was POURING down rain. I had heard from a few people that Venice is known for flooding so I thought to myself “oh no” but luckily the rained cleared out by around 3pm. The Paganelli Hotel we stayed at was such a perfect spot. We had several restaurants and cafes right on the water steps outside our door, tons of vendors, gondolas galore, and just minutes from the famous St. Marks Square.

We walked around all day Friday getting lost in the maze of streets. Venice is definitely a tourist trap as there are shops upon shops of the same souvenirs. My favorite stores were the jewelry shops with Murano glass bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc. Italy is known for their glass and had some of the most beautiful glass sculptures I have ever seen. Everyone has different prices so it was fun to shop around for the best deals. Other street vendors abundant in Venice are the men from Africa selling the knock-off Gucci, Prada, Coach, etc. bags and wallets. They are so funny as there are about 10 of them lined up in a row with a blanket filled with their merchandise. When you walk by them they say “Lady, Lady, which one you like?” and they are on you like a leech if you stop for a second. I was browsing them and did not think I had any cash but found 5 Euros so I pulled it out to see what they would give me for it. I ended up getting a cute “Gucci” wallet for only 5 Euros. Fake Gucci or Kmart special a cute wallet for around 8 bucks is hard to come by. The funniest part of the purse vendors is that it is illegal to sell the purses on the streets in Venice like they do. There are cops walking around everywhere (big old machine guns in hand) and when one vendors spots one coming their way they yell to the others and they will wrap the purses in the blanket and all run in a pack out of sight. It is extremely humorous to witness!

Venice is also famous for the amount of pigeons that reside there. I read online something like 5,000. The locals despise the dirty birds but it is again a tourist trap as all of the vendor kiosks sell bags of seeds for about 1 Euro for people to feed the birds with. Several people held the seed in their hand and let 5 or more pigeons crawl all over them. I found this disgusting as I know they are full of disease. On Saturday we woke up to hot weather around 90 degrees and a bit humid. It was a big day in Venice as it is the Redentore Celebration which is celebrating those who survived the plague back in the day. It is a huge celebration and HUGE party (similar to a 4th of July). We then did the famous gondola ride for about 45 minutes. It was so fun and peaceful gliding through the canals and under bridges as you will see in the video.

Out in the harbor hundreds and hundreds of boats started to emerge for the big celebration and fireworks display. Everyone decorated their boat, had music blaring, were dancing and having a great time. We got the perfect table right on the water at a café by our hotel. We sat there for about 4 hours until the fireworks started at 11:30. We enjoyed Italian wine, cheeses, bread, and of course had pasta for dinner. The fireworks display was beautiful (not as big as the Disneyland one but very close) and lasted for an hour.

We took our water taxi back to the train station today and when we were walking I all of a sudden felt what I thought was warm water being poured on me. Unfortunately this was not the case. A bird released a gallon of it’s nastiness all down my arm and ALL over my luggage. I stood there in disbelief when I realized what happened. Trevor ran to get napkins and the nice water taxi man came to help. He said the bird must have been an eagle because he had never seen that much crap before. The smell was horrid and after getting it off my arm we tried for my bag but the stench and residue would not come off. LUCKILY right next to us was a clothing boutique and they sold luggage there. Trevor went and dropped my old luggage off in an alley and I bought a new one. At least it wasn’t all over my clothes and hair I guess. We are now on the train to Munich ,Germany (6 hour ride). Trevor just got fined 50 Euros for not having the date written on his Eurail pass (Train ticket) but it actually was a miscommunication. Still they do not care, they took his visa right here sitting on the train.

Italy overall was so much more friendly than France. I love the Italian language (similar to Spanish), they love to sing and we heard people singing all of the time, and for the most part everyone is very nice, relaxed, and helpful. I would definitely come back and highly recommend it to anyone for a vacation suggestion. The landscape is going to be very different in Germany and I am excited to experience that. We are already passing through large rolling hills, fields of corn and grapes, and castles as we are passing through Austria.

Ciao
XO

Shawnie