Walking out of the train station in Venice, it was love at first sight. The train station sat right on the edge of the water, so we were instantly introduced to the Grand Canal. The water was sky blue, warm, and GORGEOUS! Because no vehicles are allowed inside the city, and because the city sits on water, the major form of transportation would be waterbuses and water taxis.
Taking a waterbus to our hostel, it reminded me of a very small ferry. The front half was open, which allowed for people (me) to look out onto the Canal, as well as it allowed for the entrance and exit to the bus itself. The bus also had a covered area, which had seats identical to that of a bus.
After checking into our hostel, we were given keys to our room. Walking upstairs, the hostel looked exactly as I had always pictured one. The huge metal door slid open, and there was a ton of old metal bunk beds lining the walls and throughout the center of the room. I honestly think the building was an old factory at some point that had been converted. It was all concrete, metal and it was freezing. Changing our clothes and situating our stuff in the lockers, we left the hostel on our way to Piazza San Marco.
Catching the waterbus, we were able to see a lot of shoreline of Venice, which was awesome! Following the crowds once we arrived, we turned the corner and ran into Doge’s Palace, the former home of 120 doges that ruled Venice from 697 to 1797. The structure itself was amazing. Everything was so intricately made, carved, or designed. Moving on from the Palace, we were able to see the Basilica San Marco, the most dominating feature in Piazza San Marco. The Basilica was beautiful! Domes, columns, arches and mosaics made up the exterior of the building. The Torre dell’Orologio was next, a Renaissance-style clock tower. The Campanile followed, which stands at 323 feet. As a former lighthouse, watchtower and torture chamber, the tower over shadows the Piazza. Other things we were able to see was: the Piazzetta, a mini square that fronts the lagoon, the Columns of San Marco and san Teodoro, the Piazezetta dei Leoncini, the Giardinetti Reali, and other amazing buildings and cafes.
Leaving the Piazza San Marco, we headed toward Ponte di Rialto, the major bridge connecting San Marco to San Polo and San Croce, or the upper districts of Venice. The bridge itself was full of street vendors, artists, and gondoliers asking for business. Moving over the bridge, under my directions (which for whatever reason, are AMAZING in Europe- I have people to vouch for me), we headed toward Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Although a lot of the churches had been closed for the evening, we still had a really good time just walking through and admiring the architecture. Grabbing some gelato and a slice of pizza, we continued our journey through the city toward Campo Santa Margherita, a square in the district of Dorsodoro. This was by far the largest Campo that we had seen so far, which was due to a project in the 1800s, which filled in the canals to enlarge the space. It was here that we piled into a gondola, and began our water tour of the city and Grand Canal! Our gondolier was a really nice guy who, for our enjoyment, would occasionally sing in between giving us information about Venice and the different buildings and bridges we came across while on our tour. I still cannot get over the fact that I rode on a gondola in Italy. How cool is that?!
At the completion of our gondola ride, we were dropped back off at Campo Santa Margherita, and from there we headed out to find some dinner! We found this small restaurant, which seemed to be pretty popular among other Venetians and tourists. I, of course, ordered Spaghetti alla Bolognese, or spaghetti with meat sauce. My roommates however, ordered these seafood dishes. Apparently they were delicious, however Sydney and Juliet ordered Pasta con il Nero di Seppia, spaghetti with cuttlefish, where they used the ink from the fish to dye the noodles. It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen, but it was hilarious as it dyed their mouth completely black.
Once we had finished eating, we then headed to find the church of San Barnaba- the church where Harrison Ford destroyed the floor in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.’ Unfortunately, the church was closed, but it was still pretty cool to see! I think that is something my entire family would have liked to have seen!
Making our way back to the Grand Canal, the coldness crept in and it got FREEZING! We were beyond thankful to get back on the waterbus and hide from the wind in the covered area of the bus itself. It ended up taking us around forty minutes to get back to our hostel, although I slept for the majority of it. We all ended up passing out as soon as we got back, only to have to wake up five hours later to catch our train to Verona.
I’m currently sitting on the train from Verona to Munich. We should be arriving in about thirty-five minutes, where we have at least one more train to catch. We’re hoping that Randy will be in Weiden, so we can avoid another train and the cost of a taxi, but we’ll see.
Looking back at this weekend, it has definitely become my favorite. I loved everything about Italy, and could really see myself living there someday. Although Rome was beautiful, I left a piece of my heart in Venice. I’m not sure if it was because of the sheer beauty of the area, the lack of cars, the beautiful canals and waterways, or just the sunshine, but I adore it.
I’m hoping that I’ll be able to return to Venice before I have to leave in December, and if not, it’ll give me a good excuse to come back some other time in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment