krista@Travelintoxication.comDay 9
Upon waking up in the morning in Italy (heaven), my host made an amazing breakfast for me before I headed off for the long drive to Venice.
I was once again on the Autostrade…paying tolls like a boss!
I googled parking places in Venice prior to getting there. I spent 20 euros to park in Venice at a parking garage. The garage was called Venezia Tronchetto Parking. After parking your car you could take the elevator to the ground floor and buy your water taxi tickets. You can also use the bathroom next to the ticket window…for 1.5 euros that is. Yep, all the public bathrooms in Venice charge you money to use them. And you better have coins, because they don’t take anything else. If you eat at a Venice restaurant then you are allowed to use their bathrooms for free!
The water taxi is the best way to see Venice. You get onto a small boat (aka water taxi) and then you choose which stop to get off at. There are a lot of different areas to see in Venice.
All through Italy you can see the Italian police and military. Even next to the water taxi in Venice. I would smile at them when they passed, and even asked them some directional questions at the airport. My interaction with them was great, they were very nice, but…I didn’t push it. I was in a foreign country and not willing to get black balled. I wasn’t going to be that obnoxious American, plus, I want to be able to come back to visit…a lot!
I was in Venice for only five hours, and I only saw about 10% of the city. I would love to go back for a week and stay in a hotel within Venice so I can explore as much as I want! Plus, I would love to see the city at night. On my bucket list for sure!
It’s hard to explain how absolutely beautiful Venice is unless you are there and seeing it with your own eyes. I took so many pictures I can’t even pick the best ones to put into this blog post because they are all so amazing!
So here are my most favorite:
The city is so beautiful that you walk looking in all directions including up. You walk towards the beauty…which is every where. The city is like a labyrinth, a series of small alleys leading to courtyards, and waterways appear when you least expect it.
When I got hungry I picked from many restaurants within the city. I picked one that had outdoor seating. It was amazing food, and the wine was one of the best wines I had ever tasted.
They had a staff member at the restaurant whose only job was to open the wine. The waiter brought it to the table in a bucket of ice, then the wine opener came to the table, opened the wine and then poured a little into my glass. He asked if the lady approved of the wine. And so I did like I have watched in the movies…I faked it. I swirled the wine in the very large wine glass, smelled the wine, then drank a small sip. I told the wine opener that it was very good. He then poured more wine for me and one for my boyfriend, then put the wine bottle in the bucket of ice.
While enjoying the food and the wine, and the total joy I felt just being in Venice, I over heard a couple sitting next to me talking. They were definitely American. I asked them where they were from, and they said they were from Ohio. They were very nice, and it was so interesting how you miss having people who are from the same country as you to talk to. They shared their joy of Italy and we talked about the many places that we visited on our trip.
After lunch it was off to do more exploring. I even got to see a wedding within the city. And a couple who just got married! It was so romantic!
Upon walking down one of the alley ways I started to smell seafood. I don’t like seafood, but I was curious to see where the smell was coming from. I came upon where they have the morning fish market, and this seagull was helping to clean it up!
To say I got lost is an understatement. As previous stated I spent about five hours in Venice, and guess how many hours it took me to find where I could catch a water taxi so I could get back to my car…at least an hour.
When I got lost I had to get my GPS out on my cell phone and pay the $10 daily charge to use my cell phone in Italy…it was worth the ten bucks.
I wished that I had spent the money on a map of Italy. It was about 2.5 Euros, which in hindsight is cheaper then the GPS charge. Next time, for sure I will buy the map.
I couldn’t resist adding three more pictures! And I put together a short video too! I can not say enough about Venice. It is absolutely breathtaking…I can’t wait to go back!
After the long day in Venice it was time to head back to Bercia for my last night in Italy…
When I arrived at my host families house they were dressed and ready to go out to dinner and to help me enjoy my last night in Italy. We went to an amazing Italian restaurant…pizza, pizza and beer! The food, drinks and company were amazing! Then we drove around Bergamo seeing the sites!
It was getting late and I had to get up early for the flight to Dublin, so it was back home to get some sleep!
16, 771 steps taken in day 9
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So… this is the first time we hear about the boyfriend going?!
Yeah, he’s a pretty private person so I kept my writing about me. As per his request, ❤️