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Published: June 21st 2011
On the train again
JC and Alexis in the main gate of the arenaSorry about the delay again, but last night just as I was going to post this, the wifi stopped working. After 30 minutes of trying, at 12:30am, I gave up.
Another travel day for the three of us. We checked out of the hostel around 7:30am to take the bus down to the train station for our 3-stage trip to Venice. The trian from Genoa to Milano Centrale was on one of the better trains, the EuroStar City, so we had extra room and foldup tables between our inward facing seats, even though we were only second class. After arriving at Milano, we had to change trains to a Regionale that would take us to Verona. After a bit of confusion as to which train and track, we got on the right train, this time a bit more crowded with less storage space for our luggage. The upside is this leg cost us 6.50 Euros versus 20 Euros for the more spacious ES City train.
Arriving in Vernona around 1:15pm, we found the bagglio deposito (baggage storage) and checked in our three major pieces so we wouldn't be so encumbered while we checked out Verona. Storage cost 4 Euros
Pasticceria Povia
One of the vaporettos like to we took from the train station to our hostel on Guidecca in Venice per bag for up to five hours. We were making this stop in Verona so Alexis could check out the Casa Giulieta, home of the family upon which Romeo and Juliet was based. It has become quite a tourist thing, especially after the movie "Letters to Juliet." We walked uptown to the Verona Arena or coliseum to eat lunch at a special place before checking out Juliet's house and the arena. The Pasticceria Povia was supposed to have the best panzerotto (stuffed ravioli) in town. We ended up each ordering one, and I have to agree they were very good, with nice soft airy dough and lots of mozzarella cheese, and cheap at 3 Euros each. Since we were in a place specializing in pastries, we also had to try a canneloni siccialno (sp) and a baba al rhum, both of which were quite good. After lunch, we walked up the street a few blocks and found Juliet's house. It turned out the entry fee for Juliet's house was not 3 Euros as noted on the internet, but now 6 Euros! Oh well, we were there and wanted Alexis to go, so we bought her a ticket and waited down
Stuffed ravioli?
The main island of Venice from in front of our hostel below for her turn at the famous balcony. I videotaped her and Manoli got some photos, then she finished touring the house. We then walked back to the coliseum/arena and paid the 6 Euros each (4.50 for Alexis as a student), which again was supposed to be 3.50 Euros each according to the website in March. It was a bit of a let down, as it was touted to be the most complete coliseum in Italy, but the top looked like it was missing almost a whole level, and the inside was modernized to hold concerts. Very different from the coliseum in Rome.
After our brief walk around inside, we returned to the train station to catch the next train to Venice. Again, we had saved some money by booking the Regionale train, which was not only cheaper, but ran more often and as a side benefit, our tickets were good for any of the various trains leaving Verona. We left Verona on the 1634 train and arrived in Venice Santa Lucia station around 7pm. We crossed a bridge to the island where the train station is located and no more than walked outside and we were on one
OK, who did it?
Manoli and Alexis sitting at the restaurant where we ate dinner in Venice our first night of the famous canals of Venice. We'd already found out, courtesy of the hostel's website, that we need to take the vaporetto number 41 (basically a waterbus) to the Zitelle ... station (?) or pier nearest the hostel. This was definitely the most unusual way we've ever gotten to a hostel, and very cool scenery along the way. We found our HI hostel, Ostello Venezia, and checked in. This time we were in three beds of a multi-bed room (about 16 sets of bunkbeds in all), each with its own lockable locker. Manoli and I ended up on the top and bottom of one set in one cubicle and Alexis had the upper in the cubicle next door. Strangely enough though, all three of our lockers were in Alexis's cubicle.
We stowed our gear and went out for dinner and a stroll along Guidecca Island, a nice little island across from the main island. The windows in our room open onto a view of San Marco's Square across the large channel. What a view! We strolled up one side, then turned around and went the other way, stopping for dinner around 9pm at a nice little sidewalk cafe very
near the hostel, the name of which slips my mind at the moment, and the photo doesn't show the name, since the real view was Vencie the other way. Manoli had a foccacia (sandwich), Alexis tried spaghetti bolognese (with meat sauce or ragu), and I had to try the risotto. I ordered a mushroom risotto, which was ok, but not what I was expecxting. It almost looked (and tasted) like Uncle Ben's minute rice with a can of cream of mushroom soup ladled over. Oh well, I'll try it somewhere else and compare. All three dishes were fairly inexpensive, especially compared to the prices we saw elsewhere on our stroll. By the time we finished eating and then finished our stroll the other way, it was 10:30pm, so back to the hostel where Manoli went to bed, I started this, and Alexis last time I checked was reading in her bed with a subdued reading lamp. Tomorrow we cross to the main island for the real sights, along with a cool tour I booked a while ago of Murano, Burano & Torcello at 2:30pm.
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Pete
non-member comment
Relaxing
Seems the sun still exists on that side of the world. Wonder where the drop edge is? Man O man I wish I were visiting there.