Venice

Venice/Venice Mastre

What a day! Beginning at 4 am with a phone alarm clock, we readied ourselves and jumped in a cab on time at 4:30 am.  A slower, female driver took us to the airport through much traffic. Longer security lines in a smaller airport awaited us, which meant we were unable to visit the local airport grocer to purchase goods with our last forints (HUF - Hungarian Ft). We clambered upstairs with our heavy packs and settled for cappuccino and a sandwich for breakfast. 

The flight  was uneventful, with little sleeping, and Milanesa airport greeted us with crowds, and a train trip to Milan.  We inquired about renting a car to take us to Ileo Lake, where we wished to see the Floating Piers exhibit by Christo-JeanClaude. None available, and not recommended, due to the incredible traffic to the exhibit, according to the car rental agent. When we walked over to the train ticket office, we were disappointed to hear that while the trains were still going there, that the police were allowing no more to go to the exhibit until the next morning at 7:45 am, If that, because of the high use and the crowds.

Slightly disappointed, and exhausted at 9 am, we went to breakfast at an Internet cafe/bakery on the Milan train station square. We decided on another cup of cappuccino, freshly squeezed OJ and two salami and cheese sandwiches, Rachel's was sweeter, while mine was less appetizing. Rachel filled her water bottle in the public water fountain on the way back to the train. Plenty of homeless or otherwise unengaged people hanging out, who obviously hadn't bathed or used a regular toilet recently. For being such a beautiful airport architecturally and art-wise inside, it seemed tragic to have such filth outside. We considered that it could be refugees from the middle east looking for a place to land. They were dark-skinned, and groups of 15-20 gathered on rug- and towel-like cloths, men and women alike.

We hopped on the 2 1/2 hour train to Venice, a nice train that travelled past Ileo Lake, where I strained to see the bright orange floating piers, to no avail. I laid my head on the pop up table and slept for maybe a quarter hour. Rachel and I had separate seats during the ride, and I encountered an unusual man who spoke to me about a clothing designer he had met with in his trip to Milan. Understanding his broken English was challenging at times, but as I interpreted, he was a fabric designer and took the train to Milan from a town outside of Venice on a regular basis. He gave me some instructions on how to make it to the grand square of the island  the city, which proved to be fruitless.[

Upon arriving in Venice, we took the smart route and placed our heavy backpacks into the "left luggage" section at the train station. I did not know exactly what this man had described to do when I purchased a map and we started walking. We were turned around and the signage was not exactly clear. We were hungry and had a little trouble deciding what or where to eat, for we did not see too many restaurants that appealing/affordable. We settled on going into a deli store and purchasing some tasty cheese, proscuittio, a loaf of bread and some chips. We grabbed a spot on a shady spot of the river and chowed down. We shared a bottle of Proseco in celebration of our several modes of transport before noon - a taxi cab, airplane, metro train and fast speed train. We decided not to splurge on a $125 gondola trip on the Venice waterways, although it would have made our transportation modes complete!

Our combined description of Venice was a resounding "eh." Lots of meandering streets where we were lost or confounded, plenty of vendors near the bay waterside, and mega crowds everywhere we went. No stunning architectural marvels (although the square had a few cool sculptures and the buildings were impressively large. It was fun to see all the boats as well. We also played a little with handstands on the edge of the boat docks.

Once we made it to the shipping side, we grabbed some delicious gelato and headed back to the train station. This took us over an hour, but put us there just in time for the six hour period charge of $6 for our bags. Back on the train we piled again, to take us back across the river to our hotel. Finding that hotel was a nightmare. We saw that it was within a mile of the train station, but because on my GPS I had it listed as driving instead of walking, we marched for about a mile, through a run-down neighborhood, with no success. With Rachel near total exhaustion and complete exasperation with me, we entered a hotel and asked them to call us a cab to take us to our hotel. They were very helpful and we were quite grateful. It turns out that it was about a mile away, on the other side of the tracks though, and a mere seven euros cab fare.

The host at the hotel was brusque but friendly, and we made it to our second floor room and plopped down on the beds. After refreshing ourselves, we went down and asked about nearby restaurants. We were directed to an excellent pizza place up the street. Unfortunately, there was no pizza to be served. I asked for a recommendation and received mushroom ravioli of sorts that was incredible! Besides being eaten alive by mosquitos, it was an enjoyable meal, but of course, we were very tired. I grabbed an Italian beer at the nearby convenience store, and we went to bed with a world of sights and experiences travelling throughout our heads. Two countries, three major cities in Europe, and four types of transportation, beginning at 4 am and ending near midnight. What a travel day!