We ate a late lunch at a café right next to one of the many canals. We chose it because it was away from all the traffic. We decided to order proscuitto with melon because it has sounded amazing and we haven’t ordered it so far on our trip. We also shared a carbonara dish. Both were delicious.
On the walk back we briefly escaped the rain and ordered a cappuccino and shared some sort of meringue pastry.
After changing we headed back out for a very late dinner (Italians eat dinner between 8-10pm, we’ve been eating between 9-11pm) and luckily the rain had stopped. The main streets were filled with the late night crowd but the side streets (which we tried to take most of the day) were bare, so we stuck with the crowd since it was dark and nighttime. Many of the restaurants were closed since it was later but we found a nice little café. We ordered a seafood pizza, something we haven’t tried yet. It was delicious! As per usual, we also ordered some house red wine. That stuff is like kool-aid here! This time at the restaurant we noticed the wine came from a tap! So cool!
Day two in Venice started out with breakfast at the hotel. Italians apparently don’t know how to do breakfast because in both Rome and Venice the breakfast offered by the hostels/hotels consisted of stale (on purpose) bread, sugary cereal and sugary juice. Needless to say we required a croissant almost every morning besides the free breakfast that was offered. We wanted to take the public transportation motorboat down the Grand Canal to St. Mark’s Piazza. Gondola rides or water taxies are another option for traveling down the canals but they are ridiculously expensive. First we found an Italian market, which was very exciting but also quite intimidating. Everyone is shouting in Italian their orders and we seemed to be the only ones out of place. We did manage to purchase some bread, cheese, and meat to take along for lunch since the cafes are expensive in the piazza. The ticket buying for the motorboat was very confusing and it looked like only the locals knew how it worked. We tried watching some other tourist try to purchase tickets but they didn’t’ have any luck either. We eventually gave up and decided to just hop on and see what happened. Since it’s public transportation the motorboat was very crowded with both locals and tourists. We managed to make our way to the back of the boat and found two seats outside. The view was absolutely breathtaking. After making our way to the end of the Grand Canal where St. Mark’s Piazza is located, we got off the boat without having to pay!
After we got off the motorboat we wandered into the piazza. St. Mark’s Basilica is very impressive. There is gold everywhere. We escaped the crowd for a sec and found a little park and ate our take out lunch we bought earlier. Pigeons tried to attack us. They are everywhere and quite tame and fat because so many people feed them. If you stand with food in your hand they will surround you and even perch on you. This is something both of us opted not to do for obvious reasons. After lunch we walked around and saw the Bridge of Sighs. This is a bridge where they used to take prisoners right before they were about to be sentenced.
Then we walked around inside the basilica, which is also extravagant and all the dome ceilings are covered in mosaics and more gold. The crowd was so crazy that we decided to leave the square and wander the nearby neighborhood. Really the only way to escape the crowds is to take tiny side streets, which even then sometimes you run into crowds. We had to catch our train back in the afternoon so we eventually wandered our way back to the train station, while stopping at the many shops. Their specialty is glass. The pieces are very unique and beautiful, though you do find the occasional knockoff. There were a few shops where you could see the pieces actually being made right then and there. Those were the most beautiful but also the most expensive.
Our train ride back was quite peaceful and we just took the time to rest. When we got back to Rome, it was around dinnertime and we managed to find a nice little restaurant that was the cheapest place to eat we’ve found so far. We had to run to catch the last train to the airport where we spent the night. This is not uncommon, there were several other travelers doing the same. It was hard, however, to stay warm and comfortable while trying to keep our luggage close and secure. Needless to say, we only got a few hours of sleep before catching our plane to Athens, Greece.
How beautiful! Nice sleeping in the airport Steph :-). I hear from everyone that Venice is breathtaking!
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