We took the train from Florence to Venice and didn’t have any problems. We decided to cut corners and pick the cheaper option of “standing” instead of an actual seat on the train despite the fact that it was a four-hour train ride. As you can imagine, it was stupid of us, haha. You don’t actually have to stand, but instead of sitting inside one of the compartments with a seat, you sit on zbenches in the hallway. At every stop you have to get up and move all your crap. Needless to say, it was a pain. You live you learn.
While in Venice, we decided to give Couch Surfing a whirl. Basically, other people who enjoy traveling/foreigners/etc., have a profile on couchsurfing.com and either offer to meet up with you for a drink, or if you're lucky, offer up a bed (if they have an extra) or their couch for a night or two. I see it as a sort of “pay-it-forward” thing to do for fellow travelers, as most of us travelers are on tight budgets but we still want to see the world. Now, you may be thinking that it’s a sketchy thing to do, but it’s pretty safe because you have to recommendations to have a profile on the site.
Our “host” Andrea (a guy), was nice enough to pick us up at the train station with his cute dog, Nana. We were immediately amazed by the unique city surrounded by water. We weaved through the narrow streets of Venice and finally arrived at his house.
He had a large flat, with a huge living room for us to crash in. The only hitch was that it was so cold in his house, that you could see your breath (Venice is colddd in the winter!) Also, turns out he had no extra blankets for us to use, and we didn’t have sleeping bags, (which you usually bring to couch surf)…but honestly, who doesn’t have any extra blankets?! We decided we’d suck it up and make it work.
Andrea was a rather… eclectic dude. He was about 27, lived with two cats, a dog and two roommates and was just…interesting. The first night there, we went to a really cute bar with all of his Italian friends. We had our first tastes of a drink called a “spritz,” a popular type of drink made of either Campari + soda water, or Aperol + soda water. Campari is extremely bitter, Aperol is a bit more sweet. At first we were like “what is this?!?!” but it grew on us. Everything closes early in Venice, so when the bar closed at 1AM, we all went to a little concert. The concert was group of about four people and was folk/jazz. It was so great! We were with pretty much with all Italians and had a very authentic Italian experience. Everyone was chain smoking, dancing (especially our buddy, Andrea…yowza!), drinking and having a great time. We got home late and put on about three layers and our coats, mittens, wool socks, etc. to sleep in.
(folk/jazz concert...awesome violinist; accordion)
(sort of hard to see...but Andrea dancing like a crazy man LOL)
Venice is super confusing because of all the water and narrow streets...
(gondolas + gondoliers...you can take a ride for...80 euros!)
The next morning we woke up with the cats and dog laying on top of us. I think the poor things were freezing too! The next day we got a late start, but walked around alittle and before we knew it, it was night time again. We decided that since we had so much fun the night before, that we should go out again! Bad idea. Andrea and the two of us met up with one of his friends and his sister (who we had met the night before). We started at the bar we were at the night before, but then when it closed we had nowhere to go. Some French people we had met at the bar, invited us to they flat they were staying at while visiting Venice. Soon after arriving to the flat, we all ended up arguing and getting pissed off at each other about politics.
(Kitteh #1...the other one was..a scardy cat! hahah)
(view from the Rialto bridge at sunset)
(and again...)
(my favorite thing ever: you can bring dogs IN TO BARS!!! I was obsessed)
I think that as Americans, sometimes we think of politics/religion/etc. as a taboo subject and are not accustomed to discussing these topics with others openly. While Lindsay for the most part held her ground, I crumbled. I was always taught to not talk about religion, politics and money to others. European people on the other hand, talk about this kind of stuff all the time and can have a heavy discussion over drinks, argue and leave on a good terms. I for one am not used to that kind of discussion, nor do I feel comfortable having to defend myself and my country. I know that I am technically representing my country while travelling, but at the same time I don’t like feeling as if the weight of my county’s problems is on my shoulders (which it can feel like in these situations). After reflecting on this in retrospect, I think if I ever encounter this type of experience again, I’ll try to hold my ground a bit better and try to not get so emotional about it.
Anyway, the next day we left in the morning on rocky terms with Andrea. Stuff got messed up with our hostel, but they moved us into a different hotel which ended up being perfect. We finally had our own room and bathroom, hallelujah! (we had been staying in 6-8 bed hostels & sharing bathrooms our whole trip). We walked around our last night, as our trip came to an end.
(St. Marks Basilica)
(St. Marks Campanile)
(cool zodiac clock)
(Linds double fisting gelato + hot wine in Piazza San Marco)
The next AM, we took the boat ferry to the airport and headed back “home” to Madrid.
(On the ferry, Rialto Bridge)
(gondolas)
It was an amazing trip and we saw many things that we’ve seen on TV, in books and magazines our whole lives. It was an expensive trip, but great. I hope to go back to Italy some day, especially to see the coastal towns.
Until next time, Ciao!
