When In Rome

Jen, Vanessa and I in our room before our night out
Day 1: Thurs Sept 29: Arrived at hostel which was really close to the train station, thank goodness. Caught up on the blog, and just relaxed after the travel day. Early evening I met some great girls (jen and vanessa) staying in the same room who were also from Toronto, and were doing a whirlwind trip thru europe. (you think i'm seeing a lot on my trip, try spending each night in a different city. I dont know how they're doing it!) We went for dinner at a place near the hostel. After some delicious pasta and salty broccoli, we attempted to find a pub crawl we had heard about at the Spanish steps but failed. May have been because Rome's subway sucks--there's only two lines to begin with, and one of them stops at 9 pm! Naturally, that was the line we needed. We were forced to wait for the bus, which meant we did not make it there by the 10 o'clock cut-off. I wasn't too upset--I really just wanted the t-shirt. We decided that since we had already come all the way out here, we would just make our own pub crawl. Turns out we picked the worst possible area to do this in, as it was the shopping centre of Rome, and it took a good hour of wandering until we found any type of suitable establishment. Finally near Piazza Navona, some promoters came up to us offering a good deal so we decided to check it out. Open bar until 12:30! Score.

We get there, order our drinks, and then get told that'll be 15 Euros. Each. Turns out there is a cover charge for this "open bar" which we just assumed was free (don't ask me why we didn't think about this). Since it was already midnight, we decided to just pay for the one drink and then go somewhere else. We met two Italians who chatted us up, and as the only other people in the bar, we couldn't exactly make a quick exit. They started doing dream interpretation (explains a lot) and talking about Italy in very broken english. They wanted to go dancing, and anywhere else had to be better than the place we were currently in, so we went along. We ended up in this club called La Maison, which actually reminded me a lot of clubbing in Toronto, but it was fun. Oh yeah, did I mention we partied with DJ Afrojack?

Venice

Had a BEAUTIFUL ride through the Austrian Alps, although I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I didn't want to curl up in a ball and die--Oktoberfest is not for the weak!

The state I was in on the morning after Oktoberfest
So it turns out my hostel isn't actually IN Venice, but in Marghera, which is about 12 minutes away by train. Kind of a sketchy neighborhood, but luckily after Oktoberfest the last thing I wanted to do was go out at night anyways, so it didn't really matter. The directions listed on the website were undecipherable, so I decided to wing it. Luckily, for once that actually paid off, and was one of the more easy hostels to find. I crashed at about 9 pm and prepared myself for the next day of sightseeing on the island.

I took the train into the city and arrived directly in front of the Grand Canal. Venice is really beautiful--all the old buildings, it really feels like a city from another time (unless you look at the Prada and McDonald's. Just avert your eyes.) I discerned that Piazza San Marco (the real tourist attraction) was on the opposite side of the island, so I headed off on foot. I could've taken a water taxi, but let's be real, those cost precious Euros I need to conserve if I don't want to live in a cardboard box for the last week of my trip.

I also decided to forgo the quintessential Venetian experience of a gondola ride. Although I'm fairly certain I could've convinced a gondolier to give me a discount, I am beyond frugal these days and decided it wasn't worth ANY euros to ride around in a gondola, alone. Save that one for the honeymoon, folks.

The closest I got to a gondola :(
I quickly learned that Lonely Planet makes terrible maps. They might even make the worst maps I've ever seen. Entire blocks have NO labels! And since Venice is already enough of a maze with the canals and streets, this is a huge problem. Luckily I had time on my side, because it took me about 3 hours to make it to the Piazza.
Me in the Piazza San Marco
I looked around, imagined I was Angelina Jolie for about 5 minutes (Italian Job, anyone?) then got really tired of all the tourists, really quick. After posing for some photos with some Asians (seriously, do I look like a celebrity on vacation or something? I don't understand why this keeps happening to me), I began the long trek back to the train station. 3.5 hours later...

I met up with one of my roommates, an Aussie named Pip, who is also on a solo travel mission around the world, for some dinner. She recommended a place around the corner from our hostel, and we checked it out. It was PACKED with locals, which was fantastic--the prices were at least half of what we would've paid if we stayed in Venice for dinner, and it was delicious! She was really fun, and I hope we keep in touch--maybe she'll visit me in Toronto while she's in the US (peer pressure...do it, Pip!)

I'm glad I budgeted only 2 days for Venice, as I definitely saw enough in the time I was there. Any more and it would've been Paris round 2--more of wanting what I can't have. I'll come back on my honeymoon or something--or maybe on a seniors' cruise when I'm 65+--that seemed to be the largest demographic I saw when I was there! It is a beautiful city, although I wouldn't want to live there; doesn't seem like there was a whole lot to do. Now, off to ROME! So excited, there's so much to see here, and so much food to try! Ciao!