Now, how do I decently sum up a trip to Venice, Italy? It's going to be tough, since I really can't find just one word to describe the trip. I suppose I should explain how the idea came about to go first. Laura, one of my best friends from college, and I had been saying ever since we graduated that we were going to make our way to Europe. Unfortunately, right out of college you don't necessarily have loads of cash to throw around. So, it was set on the back burner so we could both save. Course we still needed a destination. Laura had never been to Europe and really wanted to go to Italy. We decided on Venice since it was a place both of us had always wanted to go to, but also because it was a place neither of us had been to.
I should also mention that Laura is from New Hampshire, so buying airline tickets was kind of tricky. We both wanted to be on the same flight coming and going, but finding an airport that was midway for both of us to fly out of was the tough part. We picked Philadelphia since I could drive up and there was a flight from Boston to Phili that continued onto Venice, which I could get on. Although we learned a most valuable lesson at the end of our trip about buying tickets in a rush. Make sure you always pay attention to every little detail . . . otherwise it may come back to bite you. I'll get into that later.
We both met up in Phili without a hitch! If you can believe that or not and got into Venice right on schedule. One direct flight, so the way to go for any trip, but especially one as long as this. Plus on the flight Laura and I were both seated in the middle of the plane with two empty seats in between us. Could not have been more perfect. What about the luggage? It arrived too, safely, which I was worried about since I usually carry on. From the airport we boarded one of the many water taxis to head into the heart of Venice. It was such a surreal experience to come into a city who's traffic is made up entirely of little motor boats, ferries, and gondolas. I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to go diving and see all the stuff under water that had been covered over the years. Although, in reality I think the visibility would probably be pretty poor. Not too mention the dangers of diving while there are motor boats everywhere, haha.
We found our hotel pretty easily after getting directions from our taxi driver. We stayed at the Locanda Art Deco hotel and actually reserved a small flat that was away from the main hotel. It had a half kitchen, which was the size of a closet and that we, of course, did not use, haha, but hey it was there. It also had a living room, large bath (which can be a rare find in Europe) and a loft bed. The bed was hard as a rock and by the end of the trip I have to say I was not sad to leave it. However in general it became our little home away from home. Course, a little better because at home I don't get a yummy little breakfast of awesome cheese, bread, and cappiccinos.
After getting settled we decided it would be best to try and stay awake for most of the day even though we were tired from the time difference. Besides we were very excited so the thought of exploring didn't sound bad at all, not to mention the fact we were starving! So we set out and had our first bad Italian meal at the square by our hotel. In fact, most of the food we had in Venice was bad. I was really surprised. I was expecting such great food. However,I will say the wine and pizza were both excellent and eventually we did find one restaurant that was so good we went there twice.
One of the highlights of the trip was our private gondola ride, which was in the package we got when we rented our room from the hotel. It was a small tour around the main island down some not so touristy spots with complimentary sparkling wine. Laura and I managed to finish the bottle by the time the hour tour was over and we were let off near all the shopping. I think they do this on purpose because after having that wine I really didn't care what I bought so long as I liked it. Lucky for me Laura was there to question some of my impulses and I didn't end up getting that hundred euro purse, lol!
It was easy to see everything we wanted to in Venice because it was so walkable and after a while we finally got use to our surroundings so getting lost happened less frequently. We were able to shop just about everywhere we went, saw all the churches that looked the most interesting to us, explored the Doge's Palace and went up in the clock tower to get amazing views of the city. We even went into Prada where Laura came very close to buying a pair of shoes!
Overall we had a great time, but if I had to do it again I would have spent less time in Venice and more time in some of the surrounding towns. Venice was just very touristy, the people weren't very nice, and the food was very "blah." We had the worst trip ever the way home. As I said before always look at every detail when buying tickets. Our return flight left from Venice and we had a transfer in London. From there we connected to Charlotte, NC, and then to Phili (where I drove back home and Laura had another connecting flight to Boston). Already sounds like a headache right? Well, add an eight hour layover to that in London and you will truely feel my pain. That's right eight hours. And no it's not because of any delays, that's just how it was when we got the tickets in the beginning. One detail that we both overlooked. Although, I did learn that if you are tired enough you'll sleep anywhere. It was the worst flight of my life and I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my bed, haha. I will tell you next time I go to Europe I will have a direct flight there and back.
This is how one acts with very little sleep . . .
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