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Published: August 7th 2007
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Lovely
Views from the Brenner Pass Even though I'd turned in early the night before, 6:30 came far too quickly for my liking. I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed. I did though. Got dressed, did a quick re-pack of my suitcase and went down to breakfast. Mmm. Bread. :P We were on the road quickly this morning, and within half an hour or so we were crossing the border into Italia. The views as we drove over the Brenner Pass were pretty spectacular. The scenery was so pretty it didn't look real, and with the hot sun beating down on the landscape...I was happy that I wasn't asleep and missing all of it. (
I may have napped on the bus once throughout the whole trip, which Pom Pom told me later was "freakish"). As we drove, Pom Pom pointed out the highest elevated McDonalds in Europe. MY TRIP WAS COMPLETE.
We drove for a few hours, and I spent a lot of time staring out the window, looking at the vineyards on the hills and the monochromatic buildings. Then we had our first Italian service stop. Pom Pom gave us the rundown of ordering at this place, but it really didn't make
Mmmm
Success with ordering lunch it any less confusing...it was a bit of a gong show. There was a display counter where you'd pickyou wanted, in your broken Italian, of course, then you'd go pay and they'd give you a ticket to take back to the counter to pick up your food. It doesn't sound all that complicated, but it was a little overwhelming with 50 people trying to figure this out at once. I got up to the counter..."Uno, uh, *points at a sandwich* and uh, uno cappuccino, per favore". I got what I asked for in the end, which was more than some people could say. Fun times at the service stop. As he was going down to the bathroom, Jon set off the alarm at the top of the stairs. I always knew he was part bionic man.
The rest of the drive to Venice was full of Pom Pom giving us directions, language lessons and cute anecdotes, plus a rundown of things to buy in Venice. Soon enough, the coach pulled up to the water taxi stand. Since Italian law states that only Italians can guide groups around in their country, Pom Pom told us that from here on in,
water taxi
On our way to Venice we were all just "amicis" traveling together. It was VERY funny watching Pom Pom trying to be sneaky. He walks with his hands in his pockets and whistles when trying to be inconspicuous. HILARIOUS. He's so cute. We couldn't find our taxi at first, and I got my first taste of loud, boisterous Italian culture. Even when they're speaking normally to each other they sound like they're furious.
The ride over was nice. We got a good view of the neat looking buildings and monuments. Our taxi guy also pointed out Elton John's house, though was quick to say he was NOT a fan. Once we arrived in Venice, it was pretty, but I wasn't blown away like some people were. We walked over a bridge and saw the Bridge of Sighs, and passed through St. Mark's Square (Pom Pom hadn't been kidding when he talked about the pigeons...they were EVERYWHERE). Yuck. We were taken to a glassblowing demonstration - nothing I hadn't seen before, as I used to work in a crystal shop with an in-house factory. I saw it everyday. The blower made a horse figurine, which impressed everyone, and then we were led to the showroom,
From the water
A view of Venice where
there was a ton of very expensive coloured Venetian glass. Not really my thing, thanks. After that demo we were on our own for the rest of the afternoon. Sara and I wandered around, looked at the canals, the buildings, stopped in a Gucci store just because we could, and checked out some touristy shops. Nothing struck my fancy as it was all the same and mostly crap, and I wasn't into worrying about having to carry a mask back home, so I decided not to get anything but some VERY delicious kiwi gelato. I can still almost taste it. So good. We found our way to the Ponte di Rialto for a quick photo op before going back to meet the group for our gondola ride. Sara was skipping out on it, as she'd been on one before, but I was signed up - you can't not do the gondola thing in Venice.
Our gondolier kind of annoyed me. He kept yelling to his co-workers and I got the distinct feeling that they were just making fun of us the whole time. I was slightly unimpressed. Being in a gondola in Venice was kind of cool, but
not the greatest part of the trip so far, by a long shot. By the time it was over, I was ready to get out of the damn boat and go over to the optional dinner. Pom Pom walked us over to the restaurant. I was so hungry by this point, I would have eaten anything, but the food was fairly good, and there was plenty of water, which I needed. I was so dehydrated from the scorching temperature, I almost didn't even bother with the bottles of wine on the table. Almost 😉
The rest of the night was spent taxi-ing back to the coach (Venice from the water is SO pretty at dusk), getting to our hotel, watching a bit of Italian TV with Jeff, Laura, Erin and Tracy, and hitting the pillow hard. I was wiped out from the heat and walking around so much all day. I was looking forward to heading to Rome. Italy had not been one of the countries I was most looking forward to on the trip, and I don't know whether that was what influenced my perception of Venice or if it just wasn't my type of place, but I
Glassblowing
I'd hate to be a glassblower in the middle of summer in Italy. Hot hot hot. wasn't sad to leave it like I had been for other places on the tour. I feel like I've done Venice and have no desire to go back anytime soon. I didn't have a bad time or anything, I was just slightly...underwhelmed, I suppose.
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