Today was the day I had been waiting for since I was a little girl. It's always been my dream to go to Italy and finally, I was going to be in Italy for not just a week, but 12 days!
Of course, I couldn't sleep the night before, I was like a little child on Christmas.
But, thank God that early the next morning I was up and ready to navigate public transportation and get to the airport. We got on the metro and got off to get on the good 'ol Renfe train, this time doing it right as to avoid a ticket.
From the metro, we ran to the train just in time for us to hop on and the doors to shut. Off to the airport we were! Everything through security went smoothly and we were in line waiting to board our Ryan Air flight to Venice, Italy!
Before getting on the plane, Ryan Air is SUPER paranoid and has to check everyone's carry on and make sure it fits the very strict criteria otherwise you have to pay a 60 euro fee to check it. Let me tell you, they go over board with it. Because we're traveling around Europe and have to haul our bags with us places before we arrive at our hotel, we always just take a rolling carry-on so we don't have to lug a huge bag around. For a wardrobe person like me, it's definitely a struggle: every. single. time. to fit everything in to that little bag, but every. single. time, I make it work :).
Anyway, we were second in line to board the flight, when the guy in front of us had a backpack that was too wide to fit in the measurements. Naturally, he started taking a few things out so that it would fit, but the boarding gate lady said it all had to be in his bag. He was in a panic and thought he had to check his whole backpack and pay the fee. I had a little extra space in my luggage so I offered to put it in mine just until we got on board and then he could take it back. Apparently I saved the poor guys life! Besides him being very attractive he was super nice too.
After we boarded the plane he sat next to us and talked to us the whole time. He was from Italy and going home for his semana santa. He was studying architecture at a school just outside of Barcelona. On the plane, he taught us some Italian and wrote it down so we would remember, told us where good places to go/eat were in Italy, and everything else you could think of. As we got off the plane he made sure we got to our bus and bought our tickets and then we went on our separate ways. Chao Andrea, we will see you when we both get back to Barcelona!
Finally, we took the bus to the main piazza in Venice. No, we didn't get lost. Yes, it was easy to get to the bus.
After arriving, we bought our vaporetto passes. The vaporetto is the main transportation system in Venice. Because it is all water, they get around on boats, it's actually really cool. They have little docks that the boat comes up to and ties up, the people get on, and then they untie and are on their way: all in a matter of seconds. It's really something to see. They even have water taxis! No one even owns a car, it's not an option.
After walking around the alleys and bridges in Venice for awhile, not knowing where the heck we were, asking everyone and their mother where the street was for our hotel was, we finally arrived at the hotel. The hotel was right in the middle of town too, such a great location!
We put our stuff down and our first destination was: gelato, of course. We got our gelato, a.k.a. the best thing I have ever tasted, and sat in the sun on a bench and watched everyone passing by on the grand canal for the rest of the afternoon. The gondole men were the best. As they were waiting they would call out "gondole, gondole" and then follow with a song and then continue with some jokes. They were dressed in stripped shirts and usually had a straw hat on, quite comical!
Then it was time to try the Italian cuisine everyone talks about. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING they can do wrong when it comes to food. The whole time I was in Italy I had never seen/tasted anything that tasted less than perfect. The food was indescribable, best food ever.
We wandered around the alleys and crossed over the bridges, eventually getting lost, and found a little whole in the wall restaurant. I had the best bruschetta and gnocci I had ever tasted. We sat at the restaurant for three hours, just talking and enjoying our food. Uh oh, the Spanish habits are starting to sink in.
When we had arrived at the hotel earlier they were nice enough to provide us with a map, so navigating our way through the alleys and over the bridges to get home was easy, we weren't really lost after all.
As we took about 10 minutes to figure out how to open the door to the hotel, a guy in the restaurant next to our hotel was trying to start a conversation and calling to us. He wanted us to come sit down and he would take us out for some beer and wine, but we were tired and decided to call it a night.
Day 1 in Italy: Success
No comments:
Post a Comment