Venice: The (Expensive) City of Honeymooners

Since our flight was so ungodly early, we got into Venice at 8:00am. However, the airport really wasn't in Venice, but in a nearby city called Treviso so we had to load onto yet another bus and endure another hour ride into the city. Once we got into Venice for real we were all tired, hungry, and homeless. Mindy parted ways with us to meet up with her boyfriend and Farashta, Kate and I argued over the newly purchased map trying to figure out where to inquire about a hostel. The booklet we got from the Tourism Office indicated that all of the places to stay were on the pricey side, and we couldn't figure out where we were on the map, so we decided to regroup over lunch. We found a cute cafe nearby and after a delicious meal of the best lasagna that I have ever had we were re-energized to once again begin our search for somewhere to stay. We happened upon a storefront that said "Hotel Reservations" and went inside to ask about hostels. The lady said that she only does high-end reservations (like a beach house or a 5-star hotel) but she knew a guy. So we walked with her around the corner to the Ristorante da Ivano where she spoke a few words to the guy behind the bar, and he agreed to give us a room for a good price. We were very grateful to not only get a room, but not have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Mr. Ivano even invited us to sit down, and gave us free coffees, free pizza, and a free dessert. You should never depend on it, but sometimes the random kindness of strangers really pulls through. After putting our stuff in our room - which only had one bed, and it wasn't that big - we started to explore the city.

If you know anything about Venice, you probably know that instead of streets it has canals.
Which is really neat, and very unique. It made for a very quiet city since there was absolutely no car noise (breaks, opening and closing doors, horns, etc). Instead of cars, they use boats to get around the city - There is even a public transportation system comprised entirely of boats! This is a "boat stop", or basically a dock where you get picked up.The sidewalks were normal size, but the space between buildings was quite narrow -It rained the whole day, but it wasn't anything we weren't used to after three months in Santiago!Sadly, however, the famous gondolas (you know, where you sit in the boat with your sweetie and some guy in a red-and-white striped shirt in a black hat rows you around while you make out the whole time) didn't run while it was raining. This didn't really bother us, because a) we weren't there on our honeymoon and b) it is 80 euros per ride, and we are poor and again, not on our honeymoon.I greatly admired the variety of colors and the architecture.We saw a lot of masks, for sale in the artsy stores as well as in the tourist ones. They look a lot like the carnival masks that people wore during carnival, but we were there long after carnival, so I really don't know why they are big in Venice. We were trying to find our way to the Piazza of San Marco, but we wound up on the opposite side of the city. After a hour of walking around in the rain and the cold we wanted to warm up, so we went to the nearest cafe. Unknown to us, it was a really posh cafe.We ordered hot drinks, and I had one of the best coffees I have ever had. Since we were already there, and the drinks we so good, we decided to get dessert. Because we were on vacation, and why not. I ordered this chocolate raspberry cake which was the best chocolate creation I've ever touched to my lips.Since we didn't order off a menu, we really had no idea what the prices were. We kind of expected to pay more than, say we do for the 0,35 coffee at the dorm, but we were not at all prepared for the bill!!!! it ended up being 4,00 euros for the coffee and 9,00 euros for the dessert! between the three of us, it was 39,00 euros! holy crap. After we emptied our pockets and asked the waiter for directions we made our way to the Piazza of San Marcos. This time, we found it!This plaza is mostly famous for the hundreds of pigeons.I am not sure exactly why there are so many pigeons there, but for a euro you could buy some pigeon food, hold it in your hand, and have them flock all over you.Kind of gross. Kate especially thought it was gross. Ever since Kate's mom warned Kate to stay away from pigeons because they are dirty birds that poop then walk in it, Kate has had an aversion to pigeons. But we sure had fun playing one of our favorite games, "fake kick the pigeon". This game started after our friend Alana told us about how she saw some kid kick a pigeon on the street. Shocking, but the pigeons in Santiago are really annoying because here have no fear, often YOU have to move out of THEIR way so in a way it was kind of understandable/hilarious. Kate thought this idea was genius but she didn't really want to kick one of them because a) they might poop on you and b) that is just mean. The whole point is to get them to move out of your way, not to hurt them. Thus "fake kick the pigeon" was born.There were also some ornate, famous for some reason, buildings in the plaza. I think this one is a church/cathedral - And there was this astrology clock - And this tower - (note how my umbrella broke. I refuse to buy my 5th umbrella, so I suffered in (relative) silence)By the time we had seen the whole plaza we walked around and did a little shopping. Venice is known for its glass - jewelry mainly - so we scored some good presents. Since we were pretty much broke from our snack, we picked up a sandwich on our walk home. We decided that since we hit all of the big things in Venice that the next day we would hop on a train and go to Florence, so we made our way to the train station and bought tickets to leave the following day. We were exhausted from our extremely early morning and day of walking around, so that night we went straight to bed.

Italy: The Tour of Things That Are Probably Famous for Some Reason, Part I of many

Yay! Finally, the Italy post. I hope you have a few minutes for this post, because it is really long. These aren't even all the pictures I have either, I took 626 in the week we were there. To make this a little easier to read, I'll break it up by city.

Rome - I of II
We began our journey by flying to Rome on March 28th. We flew on Ryanair. If you haven't ever flown on Ryanair before, you are missing quite a spectacle. They boast the cheapest flights, which is true, but it is painfully obvious what they cut corners on. First of all, they only have their ticket window open for an hour. If you aren't in time, tough luck. Also, they charge you for checking a bag - by weight. Then you have to stand in line forever to be shoved on a crowded bus to drive to the airstrip where the plane is so you can make the mad dash up the stairs and into your seat. The whole ordeal was pushy, hot, and stressful for no reason. Little did I know, Rome itself would have much of the same feel.

Our bus dropped us off at the Termini train station. They had this really funny sign - (gotta love bad English!) Since it was late (1:00a, thank you cheap flight) we went straight away to our hostel which was nearby, the Fawlty Towers. We actually stayed in another building called "Bubbles" which on the plus side had a bed for each of us (Mindy, Kate, Farashta, and I) but on the downside it had a shower...in the room. Without frosted glass. I didn't take any pictures because it really wasn't an experience I wanted to remember. (Yes, even after 1-star hostels and sleeping on trains a part of my prissy self refuses to die.) The next morning we had our first Italian meal - I had ravioli and it was to die for. After our meal we decided to go to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We decided to take the Metro, which was the worst Metro I have ever been on. Take a look -
It only has two lines and it goes in two random directions and it misses a lot of places you want to go. And, it was really dirty.
To be fair, it had frequent stops and we never had to wait a long time for the next train.
Once we arrived at our stop, Mindy parted ways to find an internet cafe so she could finish her paper. Farashta, Kate and I headed to the Colosseum. I almost hyperventilated when we saw it -
The Colosseum, for me, was one of those things I had always seen in history books and it was so incredible to see it in real life.
I couldn't get over how enormous it is.
It also was odd to think that centuries ago they were having gladiator matches at the very place where we were standing.
The whole thing was supposed to be a symbol of the greatness and strength of the Romans, and it was quite something that it was still so intact.
Right across from the Colosseum is the Roman Forum where they had the first Senate. And, uh, some other things. This is a view from the Colosseum -
Some arch between the Colosseum and the Roman Forum -
Entrance to the Senate -
As we entered the Roman Forum, I just couldn't get over how green it was and how much it looked like Spring.
The Roman Forum was gigantic, it was like a small village of ancient ruins.
We stopped for a few minutes and listened to this tour guide. She was leading a group of high school students through the Forum, and after a few minutes of watching them fidget, poke each other, and have side conversations that made it impossible for me to hear the guide talk. In that moment, I was very glad I was no longer in high school.
But we weren't above asking one of them to take a picture of all three of us :)
The Roman Forum gave me kind of an ominous feeling. Here I was, standing in what used to be the middle of the civilized world. Everything history of Western Civilization begins with Rome. They were at one time so big and so powerful - their empire quite literally was more than a whole continent. Then little by little, through wars and revolutions, they began to lose not only their land, but their influence.Until they were literally reduced to rubble. It is a difficult thing for me to wrap my mind around - how something so powerful can all but disappear. What did the Romans do that was so wrong? Was it that they stretched themselves too thin? Were they too oppressive? Did they take more than they gave? And how does a modern-day superpower avoid the same fate?After we had walked through the Forum, we got a call from Mindy. We walked back to the Colosseum to meet her, and when we got close we saw that there was someone else standing with her. She introduced us to Daniel, some creepy looking guy who she met at the Internet cafe and more or less followed her after it closed. He seemed weird creepy - like one of those guys at the movies who will laugh during the murder scene - not scary creepy like the guy at the movie theater who you are afraid who will try to re-create the murder scene. He is from Romania, and he insisted many times he wasn't one of those "poor, dirty immigrants". Nope, he makes 80 euros a day, a fact he repeated over and over. And over.
On the plus side, he lives in Rome so he knew how to take us to the places we wanted to go. We first went to Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II which the Romans think look like a wedding cake. I think they have a point.The best thing about Mr. Creeper was that he was able to get all four of us in a picture - At this point, we were more than ready to bid adieu to our companion. However, he was unable to take a hint so we let him lead us to the Pantheon. The only thing that I know about the Pantheon is what Kate learned from the Da Vinci Code, it is a temple to all religions. As we were walking with Mr. Creeper we all took shifts walking next to him, so no one person had to bear the brunt of his weirdness. Mr. Creeper, however, started to favor Kate.By favor, I pretty much mean fall in love with. At the end of our walk, he was full on singing songs to Kate that he composed himself - such favorites as "You Are So Special and Beautiful" and "I Really Want You To Come Back To Rome With Me, I Will Even Pay For Your Plane Ticket". Pay attention to Kate in this picture. Body langauge is everything. Notice how she isn't walking directly with him, she is putting as much distance between her and him. Not only that, but she is looking at the ground, not at him. This basically sums up what Kate was feeling - also known as "get away from me you weirdo". Once I caught on to this, I locked arms with Kate and we endured Mr. Creepy together.

He did show us one of the best gelatto stores in Rome - After we had our gelatto, I decided to make up some lie to get him to go away. I told him we had to get back to my hostel because my parents were going to call me. (yes, the "blame the parents" strategy even works here in Europe!) Before he let us go, he ran up to Mindy, apologized for liking Kate and not her and bought Kate this trinket and wrote his phone number, e-mail, and a picture of a dove and a heart on it -Yes, it is a miniture Vatican. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

For dinner, we had another excellent meal, this time with some Italian wine, which we of course, very much enjoyed :)The next morning we arose at 3:00am to catch the bus to the airport to go to Venice. I'll post about that one very soon :)