Days 77-79 (May 22 - 24, 2013): Venice, Italy

The Quick Facts:

* Three days in Venice
* Stayed at Vaniglia e Soriso Guesthouse, a wonderful (and relatively cheap!) guest house run by a nice schoolteacher (Adriano) on the eastern end of the main island (near Lido)

The Good:

* With its canals and beautiful buildings, Venice is a stunning city
* Happy hours in Venice are fun, with the popular drink being the Spritz (equal parts Prosecco and Aperol with a splash of soda water, garnished with orange and an olive)

 

The Bad:

* The most disappointing thing is the people – there is a clear difference in how locals are treated versus how tourists are treated, most annoyingly in how much things cost at restaurants and bars (including the fact that most restaurants will charge a ~1 euro “cover charge” just for the pleasure of sitting down), with a close second being the general attitude of indifference or disdain that many of the people exude toward the tourists
* Venice is also really expensive – from the hotels to the cost of taking the water taxi system to/from the various sites and different parts of the city
* Because it’s concentrated on such a small piece of land, Venice is also extremely crowded (overrun, really) with tourists.

Get up.  Go for run.  Shower.  Breakfast of cappuccino, croissant, and fruit.  See the sites.  Lunch.  See more.  Gelato break.  Happy hour.  Dinner.  Sleep.  Repeat.  Such is life in Venice.  More than just the sites, Venice is about immersing yourself in the European way of life while being surrounded by immense beauty, seemingly half the world’s population, and an almost militant core of locals who hate you.  Yes, you.

Arriving from the train station, we took the vaporetto (the water bus system) to our hotel.  Here are some shots from the water (and one from happy hour with our orange spritz drinks described above, not sure how that got into this series!  Indiana Jones aficionados will recognize the structure behind the cocktails as the library Indy goes in where "X" marks the spot in the Last Crusade):

 

The main site in Venice is San Marco Square, which includes the Basilica di San Marco and its famous gold altar panel:

 

Also in the square is the Campanile, which Carrie and I went up in for some views of the city:

 

 

There’s also this thing, I’ll be honest with you I didn’t get the name of it and, due to the high level of tourists (see second pic), I just wanted to get out of there:

 

Speaking of tourists, after a brief hiatus, Venice saw the return of our friendly gaggle of Asian tourists (notice they are on multiple gondolas)!  They are no doubt yelling at each other in these boats….

 

We also went to the Lido, which is a separate island to the east of the mainland.  We rented bikes and checked out Venice Beach (wait, that doesn’t sound right…)

 

Follow me on Twitter at @adonaldson1214

Day 76 (May 21, 2013): Verona, Italy

The Quick Facts:

* Our first train trip and use of our Eurail Pass!  We made the ~3 hour journey from Rome to Verona, a cute little city about 2 hours west of Venice
* Spent the day walking around the town and taking in the sites
* Stayed at the Casa Nuovo, a great hostel run by a guy who claims to be from Italy but I swear is the Scottish version of Robin Williams

The Good:

* Verona is just this quaint little town, set on the banks of the River Adige, where riding a bike is the most popular form of transportation and people can be found in the squares drinking coffee, eating fruit, and generally enjoying life
* The Giusti Gardens are beautiful, as are the views from the Castel San Pietro
* We also had the best gelato – seriously, I will never forget this stuff – at La Romana on Via Carmelitani 

The Bad:

* Nothing, this was a great quiet town and a nice respite after Rome and before Venice

Our time in Verona was short, but adequate to get a good feeling for the city.  The owner of our hostel sent us on a good walking tour of the city, which began in Piazza Erbe where we had lunch:

 

 
We then walked toward the river and some wonderful bridges with great views…

 

And then up the hill to Castel San Pietro where you can see all of Verona.

 

Then we went to the Giusti Gardens…normally they want 7 euro per person to get in, but there was nobody there so we get in for free, yeah!  And, it’s quite lovely in there.

 

Finally, there is Piazza Bra and the Roman Arena (a small knockoff of the Colosseum which, apparently, had a One Direction concert two days before we got there…Carrie was upset she missed it!)

Follow me on Twitter at @adonaldson1214

Days 73-75 (May 18 - 20, 2013): Rome, Italy

The Quick Facts:

* Three days in Roma, our first stop in Europe
* Did all of the main sites – Roman Forum, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and more!
* Stayed at three different hostels since we booked last minute – Central Station Inn in Ciampino, Il Gong Guesthouse in Bologna, and Le Constellazion B&B in Bologna (Bologna is a section in Rome, near a metro stop…as opposed to the actual city in Northern Italy).  All were nice – Il Gusto was the best value for the money.

The Good:

* The food!  As those of you who have been to Italy know, it’s seriously good stuff.
* St. Peter’s Basilica I found to be especially moving and beautiful
* The Colosseum is awesome, although the Romans were some twisted people back in the day!
* Ristorante di Franco – just a little restaurant we found near our hostel at the Bologna metro stop.  As you might expect, Franco was our host for the evening.  Not only was he gracious and joyous (he seriously would sing and hum as he carved you some meat tableside or showed other people the fish he was going to cook for them), but he turned out some of the best food we had in Italy.  It’s a little out of the way if you’re staying in the heart of Rome, but it’s close to the metro and was a great experience for us.  29 Via Stamira, ~5 minutes walk from Bologna metro stop

The Bad:

* Hmmm, amazing historical sites, endless amounts of Italian food, and gelato that will make you never want to eat ice cream again….what could be bad?

Few things in my life had I anticipated more than my arrival into Italy (my first time).  As a mild nut for Italian food, hearing everyone else rave about the quality of the food in Italy has been hard to handle for so many years.  Once we landed in Rome and made it to our hostel, our first lunch at a little café in the Ciampino area of Rome did not disappoint.  Nor did the next three days.  I think you get the point about the food (Andy was happy), so I’ll move on to the sites.  We did a lot in our three days, so I will hit the things that I liked best rather than a chronology of events.

 

I’ll start with St. Peter’s Basilica.  Its presence and beauty are immediately apparent when you first take hold of it, and are only cemented as you get closer and then actually inside.



 

 

Standing on the steps looking out onto the square, what a beautiful sky!

 

And the pope’s guards….can’t they find uniforms so I can take them more seriously?!?

 

Also in the area of St. Peter’s is the Musei Vaticani (the Vatican Museum) which includes the Sistine Chapel.  Getting in is chaos.  Here’s the line when we got there…

 

 ….which leads to this line when you turn the corner….

 

 …which led to another line indoors.  Basically, the whole experience is one big line, almost like a ride at Disney World, as you are shuttled on a one way trip through room after beautiful room of paintings, sculptures, and tapestries.

 

The pinnacle of the journey is, of course, the Sistine Chapel.  And, of course, you can’t take pictures so this is all I got, including the line to make your way in!

 

 

 

 

The Colosseum is another one of those sites that, when you come upon it, immediately answers the question as to why it’s so touristy!

 

We went inside of course….the maze thing on the floor was actually underground back in the day, and was where they would keep all the animals and gladiators used in the games.  This was covered by a wooden floor that contained a series of trap doors so all the animals, people, and props (yes, props) could be loaded onto the floor seemingly by magic.

 

 

 

 

We also hit the Pantheon, which I enjoyed because it’s an interesting piece of architecture – no visible arches to hold the thing up, and the diameter of the dome is equal to the height of the building.  The hole in the dome you see is 9m across, to give you a sense of the size.

 

Trevi Fountain was another great spot, definitely a must see.

 

And the Spanish Steps, though inundated with people, is a fun place to sit and drink a beer.

 

 

 

 

Those were the highlights, here are some other pictures I thought were nice.  All in all, a wonderful three days in Rome….I can’t wait to go back!  

Ohhmmmm.....

 

Follow me on Twitter at @adonaldson1214