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Published: August 24th 2008
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Louise and I arrived in Venice by train at 6:30pm. We spent some time trying to figure out how to get a ticket for the bus (it requires either a phD in transport or some basic Italian), and took the bus to our hotel. Our bus driver was the most stereotypical Italian I can imagine and was therefore a very bad driver with aviators (yes at night) (note: that might be a reconstructed memory). We wandered around for a while trying to find the hotel, asking some locals and getting some blank stares. When we found it we checked in and were very happy with our little spot. Venice is about 50% more expensive than any other Italian city so I couldn't find cheap accommodation, but what we got was definitely value for money. It was 8kms from the island, but there were regular shuttles so it was really convenient, and we had a really nice room and friendly staff. At 8pm that night we took the shuttle to the island, which was pretty slow because of the crazy traffic. When we got there we walked around and soaked it up for a while. Venice is an amazing place, it feels
like stepping back in time (except for all the tourists). We found a nice restaurant and had pasta and chili mussels. That night we became acquainted with the standard 3 euro cover charge and 12% service charge at restaurants, which makes the bill about double what you expect it to be. After dinner we stumbled upon San Marco square and had our first gelati experience, which was pretty good. We decided to go for a wander, which may have been a mistake, because the narrow and really windy streets make Venice the easiest place in the world to get hopelessly lost in a very short time. We had a small map, but the streets are all so small that most aren't marked on the maps at all. It turned out we were in Dordurusso, though we didn't know it at the time. We had to meet our shuttle driver at 11:30 so as the time ticked and we were asking more and more people how to get back and getting more and more lost, we started to get mildly panicked. We ended up sprinting through the streets of Venice to meet our driver, and if we hadn't run into one
guy who gave us really detailed instructions we wouldn't have made it. We made it to the meeting spot with a few minutes to spare and went back to the hotel.
The next morning we had breakfast at a bakery near the hotel, and caught the 9:45am shuttle to Venice. When we got there we caught the Vaporetto (ferry) down the grand canal past piazza San Marco to Castello. We then wandered back towards San Marco through the streets, and when we got there we were overwhelmed by tourists. Venice is a small island, and it has way too many tourists in the middle of July. When you are stuck in the middle of a popular area it's a nightmare, you have to get out. We were offered a gondola ride, but at 120 euros (~$200) for 50 minutes we decided to give it a miss. We went to a place called Doge's Palace to take refuge from the seething masses. It was worth a visit, the Dukes of Venice used to rule from there, and there's some good stuff on display, globes and maps and armour and weapons. Also Casanova apparently was in the prison there for a
Louise and I
near San Marco while. After that we stopped at a cafe in a touristy area, which was a mistake. We learnt not to do that again. After we went for gelati (I'm ashamed to admit how many gelatis I had while I was in Italy) and a coffee at a little coffee bar. The cappucino was categorically the best I've ever had, and was only one euro fifty.
We then decided to go to Castello, but got lost and ended up in Canareggio (which is nowhere near Castello). We were glad we did though, Canareggio was quieter and the streets were really nice. We had the usual experience of getting hassled over and over by restaurant staff trying to get us to come into their restaurants. It's such a pain in the ass, you just want to look at the menu and they just hassle you until you walk away. I can't believe it would ever work. One guy found out I was from Australia and said "Ricky Ponting", expecting that I would be compelled to go in. We didn't. We eventually settled on a place and had really good pizza. The bill was pretty exorbitant, but you get that in Venice.
Illegal photography
inside Doge's Palace After dinner we had lemon slushies (it was a hot day) and then headed back to meet the driver. This time we left a full hour to get back to the spot for 11pm, and we needed it. The next morning we got up really early and got the bus to the train station for La Spezia on the opposite coast to Venice. We didn't have bus tickets, and in Italy you can't buy them on the bus, and there are no machines. You just have to know where you can buy them, maybe at a nearby newsagent. It was 6am and we didn't know where to get tickets. We asked on board if we could buy tickets, and he said no. He then said "I don't care if you have a ticket". So we got on board anyway without a ticket, and discovered that the average Italian bus driver really doesn't give a shit. That impression remained for the rest of the trip.
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