Viva Italia!

Trip Start Feb 21, 2012

111

Trip End Jun 05, 2012

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Flag of Italy Venice, Veneto, Italy
Thursday, March 29, 2012

It was goodbye to Switzerland today and hello Italy! I couldn't quite tell you where one become the other until the announcements on the train were made in Italian. In the north of Italy, mountains still dominated the landscape. Train service in Italy is not as punctual as that in Switzerland. Instead my train was 20 minutes late into Milan and I missed my train to Venice. Never fear though as they are actually quite frequent, so I just hopped onto the next one. Just over 7 hours after leaving Lucerne, I finally set my eyes on Venice.

As the train rolled towards this city on the water, you can't help but love it right away. Canals take over from the roads and the water is actually not that bad. The pedestrian areas are pretty neat to walk around and wander in. All in all, this is a European city that stands out and provides more to someone who may have seen one too many European city in the last month and a half

Grand Canal - evening

. It's so beautiful that even as you step out of the train station, you're tempted to whip out your camera before even looking into how to get to your hostel!

It wasn't too hard to buy a vaporetti ticket (water bus), for those 29 and under, get the Rolling Venice card and you'll get a big discount on the 72 hour transport pass (18 euro vs 33). Unfortunately I got off at the wrong stop though and had to double back. Venetian streets are fairly narrow, unless it's a main street. On top of that, the bus stopped at the opposite side of the canal, so I had to carry a fairly big suitcase across the Rialto bridge. Getting my exercise in, I'll say. After asking for directions and circling a bit, I finally made it to my hostel. Interestingly the place seems to be run by a Chinese family, and they live there was well. It's a bit on a quiet street, but considering there's not much of a night life in Venice, it's in a good location from which to explore the city from.

Wandering the streets, filled with stores selling masks, you really felt like you're in medieval Venice. When night fell and we walked down alleys, the illusion felt even more complete. One kid walking by was decked out in a wig and tailored clothes styled hundreds of years ago!

I finally met my first Vancouverite of the trip tonight, and we checked out a cheap place for dinner. At Taverna del Campielo Remer, they have happy hour between 530-730 where you can get a drink and buffet for 5 euro. Now before you get too excited, the buffet consists of pasta and a selection of bruschetta, some topped with tomato, other cheese, pesto, tuna. The sun had just set on our way back, so we spent some time people watching on the Rialto bridge. Not bad for a 1st evening in Venice. Tomorrow, explore Venice, the next day checking out the other islands and day 3 in Verona before heading south to Florence.

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