Posts Tagged With: Venice

Day 20: Venice 

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Mel

Today we went to Venice! It was a bit of a last minute decision as we hadn’t planned on it in our itinerary but B has never been so we opted to sacrifice 1.5 days of our 3.5 days in Rome to experience the romance capital together. We booked the train tickets earlier this week with the help of our intrepid leader and I found some accommodation actually ON the island. Yippie!

After a long express train ride (3hrs 50mins) where we experienced the joy of an Italian family eating a full on picnic in the seats next to us…with literally a suitcase full of food…we arrived in Venetia Saint Lucia which is the Venice port train station. It was then a 30 minute vaporetto (water bus) ride through the canals to the hotel. 

   
 

After some check in hassles (note: ALWAYS have your passports with you in Europe!!) we were able to get into our room and explore the city. We started with Saint Marks square and going up in the tower. Amazing view! 

   
 

We then went on a gondala ride! Great experience that you have to at least try when in Venice. Our gondala guide was awesome as not only did we get the history but he also let us bring a bottle of wine with no hassles…and no charge. B has actually let me post a super special photo this time around….he is in it! Sort of.
 

  

gorgeous canal photo

  

Rialto Bridge!

  
 

After the gondala ride (and sharing a full bottle of Chianti!) we went to 6342 A Le Tol Pizzeria which was a fair walk away from the hotel but AMAZING food. We were first in line when it opened and got the only unreserved table! Excellent value with all this + table charges and water only 40€. I am so full I can’t move now. 

deep fried mozarella and mushrooms

calzoni for B

 

pizza for me…delish!

  

Very happy with our decision to come to Venice at short notice – high 5 to us!

Mel  

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Day 11 – Venice to Rome

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Mel

Another travel day, another sore butt! This one was not as long as some of the others (7hrs in total on the actual bus plus 2.5hrs of stopovers) but it was probably the worst as I got nasty motion sickness and one of the boys threw up on the floor of the bus. Yep.

We left Venice bright and early with yet more seat stealing (I’ve yet to have mine taken, I am not sure how I’ll react when it happens – I guess a massive temper tantrum lol) and some very hungover people on board. Our first stop was an outlet mall full of fancy stores like Prada etc at discount prices. So not my thing since I love my op shop clothes, I did buy some beautiful smelling vanilla lip balm though.

We then had another four hours driving to Rome. When we arrived we did a quick bus drive around to see some of the sights before being dropped in the city for dinner. The traffic is absolutely nuts here, there are no lanes and people just cut each other off. They also double and triple park illegally or park in the middle of the road. It is terrifying! As Rome is a “no tour” city tomorrow we have to explore on our own, so tonight our tour guide “unofficially” took us to some of the most beautiful monuments on a walking tour. We ate dinner opposite the colosseum, saw the pantheon and the trevi fountain. Plus a few other monuments. After so long on a bus and two hours walking we were all knackered, our hotel is 30mins out of the city so by the time we got out here it was after 9pm and I think everyone has gone to bed.

Tomorrow we are catching the train in very early (eeeek) and going on a Vatican tour. Then we are going to see inside the colosseum, explore the city, find our own dinner and catch the train home.

We also get to do laundry tomorrow at the hotel! Hooray, no more poxy sink washing 🙂

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Day 10 – Venice

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Mel

Venice is unlike anywhere I have ever been before. We had to pay €450 just for our bus to be able to drive up to the ferry station where we got on a rickety and terrifyingly small boat. The ride to Venice was about 20mins (longest 20mins I’ve spent on a boat to date!).

The first thing we did was go to a glass blowing demonstration and that was amaaaazing. My grandad is a glass blower and I knew what it was in theory but to see the guy do it in practice was pretty cool. We managed to get lost in the shop so didn’t end up getting the sales spiel – good timing on our behalf. Most of our group then went on a walking tour for an hour. The lady used headsets to talk to us but mine was faulty which was a bit of a bummer. We still saw some cool things though…we walked through tiny little streets and across the Rialto Bridge as well is in the main square.

After the walking tour we had pizza and gelato for lunch from a street vendor. Yummy! We also discovered bathrooms in Venice suck as they are dirty, smelly and cost upwards of €1.50 each to use. We walked through the Rialto Bridge markets for a few hours buying souvenirs an searching for an illicit type of clothing we were told they are banned from selling here. I won’t say what it is as I bought two for gifts (Dad and Brad will be very excited lol) but the search and illicit whispering was almost as exciting as actually finding it. The guy we bought them off was happy as he made about €100 in 3 mins from us.

Later in the day (after more gelato) we went on a gondola ride which was a bit disappointing. The actual gondola ride itself was unique but the guys doing it were pretty crap, totally uninterested and clearly didn’t care for us contikians very much. I hope we get to give feedback on that. After the gondola ride was an optional dinner which was an entree, 4 courses of pasta and then gelato for dessert. Not to mention the copious amounts of wine! We sat with people we don’t normally hang with and that was interesting. Canadians are a little odd haha but they seem to think that about us aussies so it is all fair and even in the end. One of the boys bought all the girls at the table a rose which was sweet 🙂 After all that wine It was a very merry trip back on the boat and then the bus.

Sitting in the hotel room now we can hear some very noisy people from our group partying on downstairs. The wine combined with the pasta has done me in though! Zzzzzz.

Canals in Venice

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Percy on a gondola with emma and Amelia

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Prettiful Venice

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Our roses from dinner

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Selfie!

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Day 9 – Munich to Venice

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Mel

It was a long drive to get here! We left very early this morning (8am) from Munich with more than a few sore heads on the bus after Oktoberfest. It took 2.5hrs to get to Tyrol in the Austrian Alps. The views were amazing. About 3/4 of our bus people went rafting (see previous post) but emma and I opted out and sat in the beautiful sun enjoying the scenery for a few hours. I got some amazing photos.

After rafting it was back on the bus for 5 more hours driving….which turned into 6 because of traffic. We watched a couple of movies (avengers and the hangover) which helped the time pass quickly.

We are staying at some random hotel here (hotel Ambra?) which is, to be blunt, a shit hole. God only knows where we actually are but we appear to be surrounded by factories. Apparently this is normal because to actually stay anywhere near the island of Venice is hideously expensive. We had an included dinner tonight (the lasagne was awesome) then went for a wander with some contiki people and found a tobaccanist nearby who also sells chocolate and coke. YUM! I got smarties in a can.

We then had a room issue where there was panic as the hinge at the top right of the window broke. Both of us were convinced it would fall on emma and kill her in her sleep. We rang reception and after some Italian vs English language barriers, he came up.

And then made us look like total morons because hey, whaddya know, the window opens at the top and the side. Stupid windows! Oh well, at least we have working aircon now haha.

That’s the other thing about Venice/Italy – it’s warm! Shorts and thongs weather in the day time which is lovely. I have just done a whole bunch of washing in the room (soap and sink styles) and am happy it will be dry by the morning. We are now arguing about who gets the only blanket in the room because we don’t want to turn the room temp up in case we break the aircon (pretty sure we are the only room to get it going so far).

Tomorrow we have a whole day in Venice to explore 🙂 I am really looking forward to the gondola ride!

The Alps in Austria (Tyrol)

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A photo of the Italian countryside as we drove in. It was amazing – castles and beautiful little towns everywhere.

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Categories: Europe 2012 | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

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