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Published: December 21st 2018
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Monday, 28 March, 2016
Venice, Italy
Curtis bought tickets for a flight scheduled waaay too early in the morning – 8:40 am. That may not sound that early but we had to be up at 5:00 am to make it there on time. Painful... We felt bad as Bill agreed to take us to the airport. We got there with time to spare, and for once, the plane left on time. However, before our flight Curtis made sure to try a Max burger. Patrik was right, much better than “those other” chains. We were happy we got to try it, but are now sad we cannot get them in the states.
Our layover was in Copenhagen, which appeared to be a really nice airport. Too bad we were unable to enjoy it since we had 30 minutes to get to a terminal really far from where we landed. But, lucky for us, we actually made it!
Venice, unsurprisingly, is much warmer than Stockholm. The airport is poorly laid out and the directions for transportation to city center are difficult to interpret. We took a water-bus, arriving an hour before we could check into our AirBnB. Our host is
incredibly nice and accommodating. His place is centrally located and for a very fair price. We forgot the apartment had heated floors so the snack bag that contained all of our chocolate heated and melted our sweets that first night. Lame.
Venice is a unique city as its only traversable by foot or boat. Surprisingly, the second such city we have come across in our travels where motorized vehicles were not allowed. At any given time, the city is mostly tourists with only few locals. Hence, rarely anything in the city is truly authentic, but mostly tourist driven. It is no big deal as long as travelers are aware of it.
We randomly wandered through the labyrinth of streets and alleyways on the first day. It is a wonder we found an amazing chicetti bar in the north of the city. A chicetti is a tapas-like snack that is considered an authentic, affordable, Venetian eats. One of the only things unaffected by the amount of tourism in Venice.
For dinner we ate at a little place a few doors down from where we were staying. While the food was filling, Jen could not tell if it was
good since her allergies had kicked in while she was in Sweden and it still had not given her use of her nose, and in turn her taste. Curtis said it was okay but probably not worth the cost of the meal.
Tuesday, 29 March, 2016
Venice, Italy
Easter weekend in Europe is officially over, and with that, businesses are now open during normal operating hours. This was fortunate because Jen needed some decongestant for her stuffy nose and we were having a hard time finding an open pharmacy the day before.
We set off somewhat late in the day and ventured out toward San Marco Plaza. The plaza is the largest in Venice and some of Venice's biggest sites are found surrounding it. Basilica di San Marco is a huge church overlooking the plaza and there are long lines to enter it, but they move remarkably fast. No bags or photos are allowed inside and is probably what keeps people moving through it so quickly. Also at the plaza is Palazzo Ducale or The Doge's Palace. It's just as large and beautiful as the basilica, but we didn't go in.
We left the square and
Curtis
...looking regal during lunch on the canal. wandered over to the Gallerie dell'Accademia which features Venetian art dating back to the 14th century. It's the most popular museum and worth checking out. From there we headed south to view some other sites but found ourselves at a restaurant on the pier overlooking the Canale di Fusina. After the late lunch, we had gelato twice while walking back to the apartment.
Later in the evening, we wandered around the alleys until we decided upon a busy restaurant. Jen got the carbonara and Curtis got the eggplant parmesan. He did not enjoy his meal, it was cold in the center which suggested it was poorly reheated. The wine was great and at the end of the meal, we even got shots of limoncello.
Wednesday, 30 March, 2016
Venice, Italy
Early in the morning, we headed back out to Piazza San Marco to visit the Basilica di San Marco, a huge church. We arrived around 11 am and a substantial line was already starting to form. Luckily, they move fast. You cannot take your bag inside so Curtis had to find the free baggage check which was west of the plaza down some little alley. Very not
Hopper Exhibit
What better thing to do in Italy than go to an exhibit for an American artist? obvious. Venice does not label its streets well making it difficult to navigate. With the exception of the tourist attractions, a Venetian street is like a video game since there is a restaurant, a café, a souvenir shop, a gelato shop, and a luxury goods store on every single street. Every. Single. Street.
Basilica di San Marco is impressive. Entrance to the church is free but tours, access to additional areas, and permission to take photos will cost a few Euros each. Visitors can pay online and skip the lines as well. The basilica is enormous and gaudy. It is nice but probably not worth the extra coin to visit.
After the basilica, we headed out to the San Marco water-bus stop. We bought round-trip tickets to Murano (€15 each). Murano is an island near Venice that specializes in the production of glass sculptures and glassware. We did a lot of shopping! The island’s buildings are plainer and the streets are less crowded. The water-bus ride only took about 30 minutes but catching a ride at the busiest water-bus stop in all of Venice was not the best idea.
Upon returning to Venice from Murano, we headed
Bologna
Fruit and vegetable stand. Curtis is in there somewhere. back to the apartment to drop off our new treasures. One of the disappointments of Venice is almost nothing is genuine. The island is only populated by about 70,000 locals; tourists outnumber Venetians two to one. Food and souvenirs have to be prepared to shuffle the masses of tourists in and out of the city like a factory. In addition, many restaurants squeeze every little dime out of you with silly fees such as cover-charges and service-fees. We opted to shop at the little market around the corner of our apartment and cook. Jen made a delicious pasta with sides of fresh bread and cheese from the deli with wine and beer. Unfortunately, this was our last night in Venice, so we concluded the evening with house chores before bed.
Thursday, 31 March, 2016
Bologna, Italy
With our bags packed, we headed north out of the city center toward the train station. Our phones showed the walk taking only 20 minutes so we decided to go by foot instead of taking a water-bus. Bad idea, how exhausting! We did, however, find an awesome fresh food market and discover a whole new section of Venice hadn’t seen before. What
a fun city to explore, just not while carting everything like a pack-mule.
We ate some little sandwiches while waiting for our train. We splurged for 1st class since it only cost €5 more. The seats come with electrical ports for charging electronics. On a speed train, the ride is 2 hours long, on a commuter, it would take up to 6.
In Bologna, we walked across the street to our hotel. It was really close. The clerk who assisted us at check-in was really familiar with Portland. He had visited Astoria in the past. Our room wasn’t ready so we walked outside and sat at a café and drank coffee and beer. It was sunny and warm.
Bologna is much less touristy and more Italian than Venice. The food is better, much better. Gelato, bakeries, cafés, restaurants, and bars are around every corner. There were even more pizza/kebab places. The center of the city is Piazza Maggiore. The square connects the library, the Enzo Palace, and Basilica di San Petronio. Entrance to the basilica is free, but extra coin is needed if you want to take photos. The basilica is tall with big white stucco and
Bologna
While Curtis looked for a place to have dinner, Jen played with her phone and took pictures. wood pillar gothic style arches forming the nave and apse. It was also really cold.
From there, we headed west to the old town to find some dinner. We hadn't realized that it was "riposo," Italy's version of the Spanish siesta so dinner wasn't available for awhile. We found a bar and stayed there drinking beer and wine. The bar was run by two nice locals who provided us with little sandwiches with nortadella ham and cheeses. They played Brian Adams, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. The TV was on international news so we got to see the reports on the delegate counts for the next presidential candidates. Europe and the world are watching our elections as much as we are.
After an hour or two it was finally 7pm. We went back to one of our recommendations produced by our research. In Bologna, you never ask for pasta ala bolognese. You say "tagliatelle al ragú." They say the style is much different than we are often times familiar with. Here, the sauce is more about the meat and relies very little on tomatoes which make it a little dry.
We wandered back to the hotel to get some sleep since we started drinking so early. After we got back to the hotel, Curtis headed back out to get more beer and some water for the next day.
In the morning, Curtis got up and headed into the city center to find a pastry shop. He got a bunch or creme filled croissants and donuts, all for under €4! Naples here we come!
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