· Pizzas, piazzas and pasta ... bet you can't guess where we are!Venezia, Italy · 12th Mar 2008 · Posted by Chris
Our tickets back to NZ have to start in Venice. Because Annie had to go back to NZ to finish off her UK HSMP application we decided to spend a couple of days in Venice before she left. I'd never been there and had only heard how beautiful Venice is, along with the classic photos you see on TV and at travel agents.
We got up at 3:15 a.m. local time in London to fly out - talk about early! This was made even worse by the fact that after packing and tidying up, we finally managed to get to bed at around 1 a.m. but never managed to fall asleep! It really sucks getting back out of bed having had NO sleep at all. Anyway, we managed to find our way to London Gatwick Airport with no hassle at all and jumped on our 7:55 a.m. flight to Aeroporto Marco Polo in Venice.
Getting from Marco Polo airport to Venice city was an interesting experience for sure. We found we had 5 minutes to get from the airport to the water bus jetty - quite a decent walk! We hauled our massive bags at full pace and only JUST managed to make it! Thankfully we then got to settle in for the 50 minute boat ride to our stop at Guglie. It was pretty exciting for me to get near to Venice City and actually see the places I'd only ever seen in photos. We quickly found our hotel, Ca' Pozzo (which was unbelievably nice!), checked in and set about going for a walk.
The first thing we found was a small bakery that sold REAL European cakes, unlike the ones you find at home in NZ. We tried a little chocolate eclair thing and I'm convinced it's the tastiest thing I've ever eaten ... that didn't last for long though.
One of the first things that struck me about Venice is how much the city is ruled by water. The canals really do dictate the layout of the entire place as bridges cross over the canals everywhere. Small boats are constantly cruising up and down the canals and the famous Gondolas are everywhere, full of tourists to complete the classic Venetian scene.
We'd basically had no breakfast or lunch so naturally we had to try genuine Italian pizza. All I can say is oh my god. It was really simple, just salami and cheese but like nothing else I'd ever tried - the chocolate eclair had serious competition! :)
After pigging out for a few minutes we continued walking among the maze of tiny streets and alley ways. I didn't realise it at first but eventually noticed that one of the weirdest thing is the complete lack of motor vehicles of any sort. It makes walking around the city really peaceful and easy!
The next stop was Piazza san Marco or St Mark's Square. Without a doubt one of the most famous landmarks in Venice it's infinitely more impressive in person that in the photos I've mentioned a couple of times so far. For a start it's frickin' huge and Doge's Palace at one end sets the scene for an unbelievable view.
The central area is almost completely overrun with pigeons and people were buying bags of corn to feed to the pigeons. I wasn't too keen on the idea but Annie managed to talk me into it. It was awesome! From the moment I opened the bag of food until it was all gone I was covered in pigeons! On my hands, arms, shoulders, EVERYWHERE! When they eat out of your hand it doesn't hurt a bit and is actually really good fun. One of them hung around without eating and even stayed on my shoulder for a few minutes after the frenzy was over - very piratical hehe.
After soaking up the square for a while we decided to check out the waterfront and walk back towards our hotel that way. At this point we'd been awake for quite some time so we were pretty knackered. We proved this to ourselves by geting totally lost on the way back and spending about an hour trying to unwind the maze! With a quick stop in a deli to get some Italian wine, cheese and salami, we eventually made it back to our hotel and decided to have a well-earned rest before seeking out dinner.
Europeans eat quite late and Italians are no exception. We found a small but quaint restaurant not far from our hotel that served what we were after - Italian pasta. Gotta try the real deal when you're in Venice! The food was AMAZING! Far better than I had expected and well worth travelling across the world for! Suitably full we wandered home again and enjoyed the cool air after dinner. It was really nice and it's easy to see why Venice is described as one of the most romantic places on earth. :)
After a decent sleep (I think we rolled out of bed around 2 p.m. haha) we headed out towards Piazza San Marco again to see it properly now that our brains were working properly. Overnight it must've rained a lot or people were expecting a downpour because the temporary flood platforms were setup in a lot of places. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the square flooded although it must be an amazing sight! Because we were on holiday to rest we wandered around the square and decided to take a seat at one end and just enjoy the atmosphere. The view of Doge's Palace from the other end is simply spectacular.
On the way back we looked around for some restaurants we'd seen the night before. Confusing as Venice is we eventually found a really nice and had yet another amazing pasta meal. I can't believe how good real Italian food is - I doubt there's anything quite like it anywhere!
We had to get up super early the next morning to get to the bus station and it had rained overnight. I only have one piece of advise to offer - DO NOT wear leather soled shoes on wet tiles in Venice! We were in a hurry because of a problem with my credit card at the hotel so we tried to run. BIG mistake! Insteaf of running I was reduced to what can only be described as an old man's hobble exaggerated by the fact that I couldn't take steps bigger than about 1ft long! Annie was in tears of laughter when we eventually reached the other end and then only because I stopped to change my shoes along the way! Anyone watching must've wondered what the hell was wrong with me! :)
Venice was where Annie and I had to say goodbye for a while because of the need for Annie to go back to NZ. It was very sad and it sucks to be sitting here in London without her around. We're both looking forward to meeting up again and going to see more of the world - we have no idea where to go next!
We got up at 3:15 a.m. local time in London to fly out - talk about early! This was made even worse by the fact that after packing and tidying up, we finally managed to get to bed at around 1 a.m. but never managed to fall asleep! It really sucks getting back out of bed having had NO sleep at all. Anyway, we managed to find our way to London Gatwick Airport with no hassle at all and jumped on our 7:55 a.m. flight to Aeroporto Marco Polo in Venice.
Getting from Marco Polo airport to Venice city was an interesting experience for sure. We found we had 5 minutes to get from the airport to the water bus jetty - quite a decent walk! We hauled our massive bags at full pace and only JUST managed to make it! Thankfully we then got to settle in for the 50 minute boat ride to our stop at Guglie. It was pretty exciting for me to get near to Venice City and actually see the places I'd only ever seen in photos. We quickly found our hotel, Ca' Pozzo (which was unbelievably nice!), checked in and set about going for a walk.
The first thing we found was a small bakery that sold REAL European cakes, unlike the ones you find at home in NZ. We tried a little chocolate eclair thing and I'm convinced it's the tastiest thing I've ever eaten ... that didn't last for long though.
One of the first things that struck me about Venice is how much the city is ruled by water. The canals really do dictate the layout of the entire place as bridges cross over the canals everywhere. Small boats are constantly cruising up and down the canals and the famous Gondolas are everywhere, full of tourists to complete the classic Venetian scene.
We'd basically had no breakfast or lunch so naturally we had to try genuine Italian pizza. All I can say is oh my god. It was really simple, just salami and cheese but like nothing else I'd ever tried - the chocolate eclair had serious competition! :)
After pigging out for a few minutes we continued walking among the maze of tiny streets and alley ways. I didn't realise it at first but eventually noticed that one of the weirdest thing is the complete lack of motor vehicles of any sort. It makes walking around the city really peaceful and easy!
The next stop was Piazza san Marco or St Mark's Square. Without a doubt one of the most famous landmarks in Venice it's infinitely more impressive in person that in the photos I've mentioned a couple of times so far. For a start it's frickin' huge and Doge's Palace at one end sets the scene for an unbelievable view.
The central area is almost completely overrun with pigeons and people were buying bags of corn to feed to the pigeons. I wasn't too keen on the idea but Annie managed to talk me into it. It was awesome! From the moment I opened the bag of food until it was all gone I was covered in pigeons! On my hands, arms, shoulders, EVERYWHERE! When they eat out of your hand it doesn't hurt a bit and is actually really good fun. One of them hung around without eating and even stayed on my shoulder for a few minutes after the frenzy was over - very piratical hehe.
After soaking up the square for a while we decided to check out the waterfront and walk back towards our hotel that way. At this point we'd been awake for quite some time so we were pretty knackered. We proved this to ourselves by geting totally lost on the way back and spending about an hour trying to unwind the maze! With a quick stop in a deli to get some Italian wine, cheese and salami, we eventually made it back to our hotel and decided to have a well-earned rest before seeking out dinner.
Europeans eat quite late and Italians are no exception. We found a small but quaint restaurant not far from our hotel that served what we were after - Italian pasta. Gotta try the real deal when you're in Venice! The food was AMAZING! Far better than I had expected and well worth travelling across the world for! Suitably full we wandered home again and enjoyed the cool air after dinner. It was really nice and it's easy to see why Venice is described as one of the most romantic places on earth. :)
After a decent sleep (I think we rolled out of bed around 2 p.m. haha) we headed out towards Piazza San Marco again to see it properly now that our brains were working properly. Overnight it must've rained a lot or people were expecting a downpour because the temporary flood platforms were setup in a lot of places. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the square flooded although it must be an amazing sight! Because we were on holiday to rest we wandered around the square and decided to take a seat at one end and just enjoy the atmosphere. The view of Doge's Palace from the other end is simply spectacular.
On the way back we looked around for some restaurants we'd seen the night before. Confusing as Venice is we eventually found a really nice and had yet another amazing pasta meal. I can't believe how good real Italian food is - I doubt there's anything quite like it anywhere!
We had to get up super early the next morning to get to the bus station and it had rained overnight. I only have one piece of advise to offer - DO NOT wear leather soled shoes on wet tiles in Venice! We were in a hurry because of a problem with my credit card at the hotel so we tried to run. BIG mistake! Insteaf of running I was reduced to what can only be described as an old man's hobble exaggerated by the fact that I couldn't take steps bigger than about 1ft long! Annie was in tears of laughter when we eventually reached the other end and then only because I stopped to change my shoes along the way! Anyone watching must've wondered what the hell was wrong with me! :)
Venice was where Annie and I had to say goodbye for a while because of the need for Annie to go back to NZ. It was very sad and it sucks to be sitting here in London without her around. We're both looking forward to meeting up again and going to see more of the world - we have no idea where to go next!
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
'))
)
)
'))
)
)
)
