Her View 

Italy - Caywood's perspective

 

Milan

We chose to spend a quick day in Milan, Italy’s fashion capital. Although I didn’t see a single person that I felt was fashion-forward, we did see a few really neat things. We started out with the Parco Sempione, which housed a castle, a dog park, and an arch. Compared to the other parks we’ve been to I found this park very simple, too simple. My favorite part of the park was getting to see all of the wild Italian cats on the castle grounds. They were everywhere! If I posted all of the cat pictures I took we could play Where’s Cat rather than Where’s Waldo. My favorite part of our day in Milan was seeing the Duomo, the most intricate and beautiful church we’ve seen to date. After the Duomo, we walked through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a designer shopping area in which there is a famous bull in the center of the tile floor. Rumor has it that you stick your heel on this bull and spin three times for good luck. Along with many other tourists, Feliks and I spun three times and made our wish for good luck. It was a fun little task.

 

In Milan we also saw the church Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, home to the painting the Last Supper. We’ve seen more churches than anything else, and this church was very boring in comparison. Besides the Duomo in Milan, the other highlight was the pizza! We actually took the time in Milan to sit down in a local Italian restaurant and share a pizza. A+++++ from me! I will give you this tip though - we bought a pizza (a whole pizza) for 6 euros and wanted to split it to save money. We had to pay 3 euros just to share the pizza, so I would recommend just getting one per person and taking leftovers (if you actually have them).

 

 

Florence

Florence was our second time with a host from Couchsurfing. We stayed with a great couple just outside of Florence who work with a lot of tourists, so they were able to give us some great recommendations, especially for food. We got there late Monday night and went straight to our host’s house. After a good night’s sleep, we were rearing and ready to go. We stayed two nights in Florence, but had only one day in the city. A lot of what we wanted to see in Florence were different buildings. Our first stop was the Florence Cathedral, which was unique on the outside but nothing special on the inside. I liked the outside because it was very different than most of the churches we’ve seen thus far: a lot of white, a lot of tiles, an interesting design on the building’s facade. Next to this cathedral was one of Florence’s oldest buildings, made of green marble. I was really excited about this building, The Baptistery of St John, but unfortunately they were doing some work on it so we couldn’t see a single part of it. 

 

Next we went to Piazza della Signoria, a huge square of different art and statues. This was a beautiful area of Florence where we got to see a lot of cool statues, including a copy of Michelangelo’s David. Next was the most unique bridge I’ve been on, the Ponte Vecchio. This bridge, built in 1345, is gorgeous from the side. It was the first bridge to cross the Arno River, and is actually the only bridge left standing in Florence from the medieval days. Both sides of this bridge are consumed with shops, full of the finest jewelry and handmade goods. It truly was a beautiful sight. After crossing the bridge, we crossed back and headed up a massive hill to get to Piazzale Michelangelo, which presents tourists and locals alike with a postcard view of the city. It was a bit foggy when we were up there so we couldn’t see the mountains, but we could clearly see the entire city of Florence in all of its beauty. We also got a great view on the way up, since we chose to walk up to this area through the Rose Gardens. I even found a sweet little cat that wanted to become our friend. Our last stop in the city center of Florence was the Basilica di Santa Croce, which is the largest Franciscan church in Italy. It holds many works of Michelangelo and Dante; however, we chose just to view it from the outside (which was nothing special) since it cost money to go inside. We’ve been able to go into so many beautiful churches for free, I would hate to pay (with the exception of something like the Vatican).

 

We left Florence city and headed back to the outskirts where our host’s house was. We had some big dinner plans! Our host Paolo told us about this restaurant that is completely off the tourist map, in which you get a huge three course meal for 25 euros. We had been craving a steak and had no attraction or lodging costs in Florence, so we decided to get this nice steak meal as a two-day early Thanksgiving meal. To start, we had a fresh loaf of bread and were given unlimited house wine (which was very delicious). Our first course was a scrumptious pasta dish with marinara sauce, cheese, tomatoes, and eggplant. Next was the steak, which was a massive t-bone cooked medium rare. It was actually amazing! I was very proud of myself since I usually get medium. With the steak we got two sides of broccoli and fried potatoes. After our steak, Feliks got a delicious slice of garlic cheese for dessert, and I got some chocolate cake. Everything was truly amazing, and I would eat this meal all over again every day if I could.

 

 

Pisa

We took a couple hours out of our day to stop and see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Although I've heard from most people that it's overrated, we were so close that we just had to. Soon after we arrived it started pouring so I didn't get as many goofy pictures as I'd like, but I am glad we can mark that off of our list.

 

 

Rome

I was excited to go to Rome. There’s so much to see, even though a lot of people call it one of the most overrated cities in Europe. Feliks and I both were really happy to go there. We arrived at night and went straight to our hostel to rest and prepare for a very busy upcoming three days.

 

Our first day began with a walk to the Spanish Steps. We arrived at the top of the stairs and got to see a beautiful view of the city, a few cute corridors and alleys, lots of tourists, and a neat fountain. There is a church at the top and a square at the bottom, and the Spanish Steps gained their significance from linking these two areas. Unfortunately for us, the church at the top was under construction. A lot of things have been under construction since we’re traveling during the winter. We walked down the stairs and started walking around the area at the bottom.

 

Our next stop was the one I was most excited about: the Trevi Fountain. Very much unfortunately, this was under construction too. I was so bummed. No water was flowing, and most of the unique sculptures were covered by scaffolding. They set up a walkway where people could get close to look, but I can guarantee it was nothing compared to when the fountain is functional.

 

After the disappointment of the fountain we headed to what the call Capital Hill, also known as Piazza Venezia. This was truly amazing. Taking up an entire block if not more, this area was full of sculptures, memorials, a lot of stairs, guards, and even some fire effects! I’m pretty sure it was all made of marble, and it was brilliantly white. This place was beautiful. On the side of Piazza Venezia was another set of stairs that led to an amazing view of Rome. This was probably one of the highlights for me. You got to see a combination of Roman ruins, traditional homes, and big important buildings. 

 

We stopped for lunch an a really cute, local Italian cafe. Feliks got pizza (for the third meal in a row, at least), and I got some delicious-looking potatoes au gratin. To my surprise, it was actually a pizza covered with potatoes, and it was amazing. We ate it outside with the sun beating down on the cold day, and shared a glass of white wine. It started sprinkling here, but that never stops us. We headed next to the Turtle Fountain, which was cute because of course I like turtles. We also found one of many public water fountains in Rome and filled up our water bottle with fresh, free H2O. 

 

Next we went to see Trajan’s Column and Trajan’s Market, some of many ruins in the city of Rome. These ruins were spectacular to see, as well as to imagine all of the things that happened here in history. After walking around the city just to see different streets and such, we called it an early night to get some dinner and then rest before another big day. We walked to the San Lorenzo District because of something I had read saying this was a great area to get some local grub with local prices. My french friend Marie had told us of the Appertivo concept in Italy, where you pay for one drink and get an all-you-can-eat buffet of appetizer dishes. In the San Lorenzo district we found a great local bar with some amazing Appertivos. We paid only six euros a person and got a beverage of our choice, and probably eight plates each of food - everything from cheesy bacon pasta, to broccoli pizza, to a fried pastry, to zucchini, to french fries, to salad, to minestrone soup, to anchovy pizza, and so much more. Needless to say, we ate way too much this evening! But it was well worth it!

 

When we woke up the next day, it was our day for the Vatican. Arriving at St. Peter’s Square, there were beautiful sights and exponential people trying to rip you off. We only had to wait in line about 30 minutes since it was during winter and on a weekday; I was happy for this because I’ve heard of people who waited more than four hours to get in. Inside the Vatican, which cost us nothing to enter, was spectacular. I don’t think anyone would be shocked at this point that I am getting very sick of seeing churches, but this one is obviously one of the most important and most beautiful. It was great. Afterwards we took a 15-minute or so walk to the Vatican Museum, which is home to the Sistine Chapel. We just wanted to see the Chapel but you cannot see it without buying the full museum entrance ticket, which is 16 euros each. We got lucky and were able to get one ticket for the price of a student, so we got in for a total of 24 euros. We walked through the museums to see what they had to offer, but we pretty much hurried to the Sistine Chapel. You cannot take photos in here, but the ceiling is breathtaking. It was worth the high entrance fee just to see this.

 

That was all for day two and we headed to our Roman hotel for the night. It was not as nice as I expected from the pictures, but it was still nice to not have to wear my ear plugs to block other travelers out so I could sleep. The next day, our last day in Rome, we visited the Colosseum. This probably was the place we’ve been to thus far with the most tourists, but even so I bet it was so much better than during the summer. There was a good exhibit on some history and artifacts, and the real fun was getting to see the sights of the Colosseum. Don’t worry, we watched Gladiator the night before. This is something that can’t be described; you just have to see it for yourself.

 

 

Venice

One of the cities I was most excited about was Venice, Italy. The sinking city. The island with 391 bridges. The city that used to have over 7000 wells and still today has over 700. The city where their tap water is just as pure as their bottled. We arrived from Rome after dinner time and went straight to a hostel on the mainland to get some rest. Although we didn’t even spend 12 hours at this hostel, it was a nice treat because it was only us two in a room and we had our own bathroom. We woke up bright and early to hop the train over to the island. We started our morning in Venice with a free walking tour, that lasted about four hours and only cost us a 5 euro tip. Our guide was very informative on the island’s history as we walked around the maze of calles (they don’t call them streets) and pontes (bridges). One of our first stops was the Jewish ghetto, which is the first ever ghetto in the world. This area includes two of Venice’s very few “skyscrapers,” which are only eight stories tall. Venice has no more than five buildings over four stories tall - one of the many things that make this city unique to walk through and experience. As we walked with the tour group around the city we learned some great tips on food we have to try, places to get certain things for good prices, and the importance of the canals to the island. 

 

Significant things to mention about food: 

1. Obviously, you must get gelato. According to what we read online the best gelato can be found at Boutique del Gelato. However, according to the locals you must go to Da Nico. We chose to try strawberry gelato at Da Nico, as well as an item not even listed on the menu that the locals call gianduia. For gianduia, a cup is filled with whipped cream, and a block of nutty chocolate fudge is cut and placed into the whipped cream. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it was amazing.

 

2. In Italy, of course you need to try wine. We learned that if you order a glass of wine, it can cost anywhere from 3 to 5 euros. If you order it like a local, “un ombra” will only cost you about 1 euro per glass. Un hombre is italian for “a shade.” On our tour we learned a story of in the olden days when house wine was made and stored in barrels, the barrels would be left under the shade of the church clock towers to keep the wine at the right temperature. Therefore, locals call a glass of house wine “un ombra.”

 

3. A common quick lunch meal in Venice are these mini paninis. Well, they call them paninis but I wouldn’t classify them as so. They are meat and sometimes cheese on small round buns, not served warm like paninis. Regardless, they are delicious. And usually only 1-2 euros each. We were recommended a great local spot, Bacareto Da Lele, in which we got three paninis, two glasses of wine, and a beer for only four euros and ten cents. Bacareto is the name for a small sort of “snack bar” where you usually stand outside to eat rather than having a place inside to sit. Their next step up from that is an osteria, which is a snack bar but a bit bigger where you can usually have a seat inside. And the last step up from that is the regular restaurant.

Tiramisu is something we Americans think of as Italian. Interestingly enough, it was pretty difficult to find. We did find it, and it was truly amazing - best I’ve had. But most of the places we searched did not have it. After this we were curious so we looked up the origin of the cake, and didn’t learn much. Supposedly it is an italian dessert that was possibly concocted in the 1980s, and probably in the Tuscany region, but no one is really sure who created it or exactly where it began.

 

Venice was very unique in the fact that it was almost a polar opposite of every other city we’ve been to. Rather than having a long list of eccentric buildings to see or museums to visit, Venice doesn’t have that much of those things. Now, they do have over 150 churches, but they aren’t the extravagant churches you think of when you think of France or even Rome. The unique thing about Venice is its character. My favorite part was seriously just getting lost in the labyrinth of streets, bridges, and canals. So many of the streets were narrow, there were no cars or bikes, the only taxis they had were water taxis. Almost no buildings were higher than four stories tall. So many of the buildings looked old as if they could almost fall apart, yet they were fully functional as homes and businesses. The atmosphere in Venice was relaxing, telling me it was perfectly fine to go at a slow pace and just enjoy the scenery around you. I loved every minute. 

 

As for the typical touristy things, the #1 sight to see in Venice is St. Mark’s Plazza, which is home to St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, and Torre Dell-Orologio, and considered by Napoleon to be the “drawing room of Europe.” We visited this square and it was pretty, but again not my favorite by far. My favorite building in Venice as far as extravagance goes was actually their hospital.

 

Last thing I’ll discuss is the Grand Canal. It was a beautiful sight to see the Rialto Bridge and the Accademia Bridge, both of which cross the Grand Canal and present great views going both ways. The Rialto is the one that all of the tourists know, but the locals actually say the view from the Accademia is better. We actually got to ride two different boats through the Grand Canal, and even under these two bridges: the vaporetto and a gondola. From the very top of the Grand Canal to the very bottom, we rode the vaporetto, also known as the water bus. For 7 euros per person for a single ticket, we took a 30-minute (ish) ride through the whole canal, saw some beautiful sights from the water, and just enjoyed ourselves. Our next adventure on the water was via gondola. Now, let me warn you: a 30-minute gondola ride will cost you 80 euros. (However, the guy quickly went down to 50 for us since it was a slow day.) We wanted the gondola experience but did not want to pay that much. We found a middle ground with the Troghetto service. In seven spots in Venice, it would be very useful to have a bridge to cross the Grand Canal. However, due to the expense that comes with bridges they are not able to build them. Instead, they have a gondola service that will take you across the canal for a mere 2 euros per person. So instead of paying 80 euros, we paid four and got a quick 5-minute ride. If we had a bigger budget obviously I’d like to do the full ride, but this was definitely a no-brainer for us and we enjoyed our little slice of a gondola ride.

His View 

Italy - Feliks' perspective

 

Milan

Our first city in Italy. This was our first time dealing with late trains, and apparently it's pretty common in Italy. Most of the trains we saw were about 10 to 15 minutes late, while some were more than an hour. It's weird that we did not experience this in any other country. 

Our first stop in Milan was Sempione Park, a pretty good-sized park including an old arena, a couple of lakes, and tons of statues. At the top of the park is Arco della Pace, a pretty cool arc surrounded by a nice sitting area. The rest of the park was really beautiful with lots of trails. At the bottom is Sforzesco Castle, not really what you would expect to be a castle but it had all the requirement: really old-looking with huge walls and an entry gate. There were tons of cats roaming the lower area of the castle and it was hard to try to count them all. At the main entrance of the castle was a huge fountain with locals dressed the part of the original soldiers asking for money to take pictures with them. 

 

The rest of Milan was pretty cool, the streets weren’t anything special but we did come across one of the coolest churches ever, Duomo di Milano. This thing was seriously breathtaking. The outside and the inside were both insane with craftsmanship. I can understand how it took more than a century to complete. Right next to the church was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which was nothing more than an extravagant covered shopping area, but it was beautiful. From the ceiling down to the floor, just awesome. In the center of the structure on the floor was a mosaic of a bull and various other things. The bull, around the reproductive parts, had a hole that you had to put your heel in and spin for good luck. There were about twenty people lined up waiting to do this; we were two of them. 

 

We took a decently long walk to try and see the last supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie but unfortunately for us the church was closed at the time we arrived. It wasn't all for nothing though because on the way back we stopped for lunch and had an amazing pizza from a legitimate Italian restaurant. My first pizza with anchovies. 

 

Overall, Milan had a couple really cool places and an awesome church. It was a nice clean city. The traffic was not as hectic as I expected and the food was pretty good. I’m sure that there was a lot more to it than what we saw but we only had one day. I would come back to see more but it's not at the top of my list. WiFi was moderately hard to find and there were no public restrooms.  

 

 

Florence

We got lucky in Florence and found a couchsurfer to host us for two nights. We stayed with a couple just outside the city center. He was Italian and she was Russian. I got to converse with her a little. They did city tours on the side so they gave us some good recommendations. 

 

We only had one day in Florence so it was packed with sightseeing. We started off with the Florence Cathedral which was right next to The Baptistery of St. John. The cathedral was pretty cool but nothing spectacular. The square where they both were was full of tourists and hagglers trying to sell you selfie sticks. It was actually ridiculous how many people were selling selfie sticks. The Baptistery of St. John was undergoing some remodeling so it was covered up with scaffolding. 

 

My favorite part was the Piazzale Michelangelo, a park at the top of a hill on the other side of the river that offered an amazing view of the city. We probably had a solid 50 mile view into the horizon. It was a pretty good hike to get up there but well-worth it. On the way there we passed over Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that was like an apartment building. It was pretty big and lined with shops, but it looked like people lived above the shops. Very unique and apparently very famous as there were a ton of tourists there. 

 

We filled the rest of the day with getting lost in the city. The streets were very nice and buildings pretty unique. Lots of shops and restaurants to look at. As we got closer to the evening we headed to dinner. Our hosts gave us a great recommendation of a local restaurant for steak. It didn't open till 7 so we had to wait 30 minutes, but we were the first ones in. We started off our three course meal with amazing pasta with red sauce and eggplant. Probably the best pasta I’ve ever had; I still have random taste memories of it. The main dish was steak. They cooked the biggest t-bone I have ever seen for the two of us to share. Medium rare and perfectly cooked. Even though we split the steak we barely finished it. The dessert was a pie-size slice of cheese. I thought the same thing,..what? It was actually really good. Caywood and I used to get cheese in the Smokey Mountains and this was just like that but a little drier. It was an amazing dinner to finish our trip in Florence. 

 

Overall, I really liked Florence, minus all the selfie stick sellers. There was something to see on every corner and the streets were very unique. The people seemed pretty nice and not really in a hurry to get rid of you. So far Italy was good. WiFi was difficult to find and public bathrooms were non-existent. 

 

 

Pisa

We stopped in Pisa to see the leaning tower. It was much bigger than I thought it would be. We only had time to take a few pictures because it started pouring cats and dogs about 15 minutes after we got there. Someone told us that it was funny to watch all the people posing for pictures, which it was. We did a couple of poses that I’m sure were just as funny for others to watch. It sucks that it started raining but we did get to see the tower, check that off the list. 

 

 

Rome

I was really excited to get to Rome, mostly because I love the movie Gladiator and really wanted to see the Colosseum. Also, the Roman Empire was my favorite part that we studied in Western Civ. We got a hostel right by the train station and spent our first night resting and planning; we had a lot to do in the next three days. 

 

We started off by checking out the Spanish Steps. The walk from the hostel took about 30 min but it was cool to see the neighborhoods. Obviously, right by the train station there were a ton of tourists and people selling random China-made products. Once you get away from that, Rome is just beautiful. The buildings are captivating: not very tall, but very detailed. Everything looks like it took a hundred years to build. Not everything, but that’s the feeling I got. When we got to the Spanish Steps we were at the top and the view was really good looking over part of the city. Unfortunately the church was under construction but the rest was fine. The steps were pretty long, at least four stories worth, with a nice size fountain at the bottom. Of course there were a lot of tourists, shops, and everything else that goes with the territory. 

 

Not too far away was the Trevi Fountain, again unfortunately under construction. They had pretty much the entire fountain draped with scaffolding and there were people working on the statues. We were still able to get close thanks to a walk way that I can only assume was in place to not completely disappoint the tourists. From what I could tell, it was an awesome fountain and I could only image what it would be like in its full glory. 

 

Our next stop was Piazza Venezia, also known as Capital Hill - a magnificent, huge, white building. Sculptures all over the place, from small ones to some the size of houses. To the side of this building were some ruins of the city. Not very big, but deep. It looked like it went down about two stories underground. It was cool to image how much of the current city is built on top of old ruins. On the other side of these ruins was a massive staircase leading to the top levels of Capital Hill. From here we got an amazing view of the city and got to check out the museum. The view was the best part. 

 

Our next stop was the Turtle Fountain, nothing special but it did have a couple turtles on it. On the way there we stopped for lunch, pizza of course, which Caywood was already getting tired of. We both thought that she ordered some Potatoes Au Gratin but in fact she got potato pizza. You can image the disappointment on her face when I put the plate on the table. I wish I had video-taped her reaction to the first bite, because it went from “this is going to be so gross” to “that is amazing” in just a few milliseconds. I would have never thought that potatoes on a pizza would be good, but it really was. 

 

As we made our way to the Colosseum, we stopped by the Trajan’s Market. Really cool area with lots of ruins and places for tourists to get close. It was like a zoo, in that the tourists walked around the perimeter and the ruins were about 20 feet below the walk way. It was done very well and I liked that some of the ruins you could tell what they were and where they went, but others you had to use your imagination. These were the free ruins available to everyone; on the other side of the street were the ruins you had to pay for. We got lucky and found a spot right behind the Capital Building where you could see the entire area and saved our money. 

 

The Colosseum was just as you see it in the pictures. Huge. The outside was just jaw dropping. I remember in the movie Gladiator, one of the actors says “I had no idea men could build such things” and it really makes you wonder how hard it must have been to build this thing. We didn’t go inside the first day because we did not have the right camera. We did come back and walked around inside. There is a nice exhibit on the Romans on the second level and some examples of the technology used to build the Colosseum. They also had good examples of what it was used for and how everything worked, for example bringing animals to the arena level from their cages below. 

 

We pretty much called it a day after that and retreated back to the hostel. We walked some 15 miles around Rome that day and every mile was better than the previous. Our plan was to relax a little and do the Vatican the next day.  The Vatican again made me think of the DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons with Tom Hanks. I also read both books so I was really excited to see the places that were described. The wait to get in was about 30 minutes, so I think we got lucky there. St. Peter’s Square was pretty cool. I really liked all the statues that lined the roof of the entire area. Inside the church was spectacular. We have seen a lot of churches at this point but this one still was great to see. I can describe the center of the church but you can see in the pictures that it was obviously a place that I will never forget. The rest of the Vatican you can see in the museum a short walk from St. Peters Square. Do not buy the tickets or the tours from the people on the street; it is much cheaper to buy from the door…unless you go in the summer and the line is just too long, but expect to pay more than at the door prices. We spent quite a bit of time wondering around and looking at all the artifacts but we were mainly interested in seeing the Sistine Chapel. They don’t allow pictures inside so if you want to see it, Google it. The artwork was pretty neat on the ceilings; it really made me wish that we had a tour guide for this part because I would have loved to know more about them. 

 

We called it a day early and headed to the hotel we would be staying in for the night. Yes, hotel, it was our 3 year anniversary and we decided to do something nice for ourselves. While the hotel was not entirely what we expected, it was the perfect accommodation for a relaxing night. The breakfast buffet was the best I’ve had so far, they even had two types of scrambled eggs. 

After checkout is when we did the Colosseum and we were pretty much done after that. 

 

Overall, I think Rome is one of my favorite stops so far. I would love to come back and do the guided tours everywhere. I feel that there is so much to be learned from the Roman Empire. I did not appreciate all the hagglers on the street trying to sell you selfie sticks, tours, or tickets to an attraction. I think I got the most frustrated with them in Rome than anywhere else. Other than that, it was a great experience and another check off my bucket list. WiFi was pretty hard to find and public bathrooms were not existent. 

 

 

Venice

The famous city of Venice. Makes me think of so many movies, specifically the remake of the Italian Job. Venice is always shown as the romantic city with the beautiful Gondolas and the singing gondolier going through the peaceful historic city. Even though the weather was not the best while we were there, my expectations of this city were not too far off.

 

It got exciting pretty much from the moment we left the train station, which forces you walk out and look directly onto the Grand Canal. Any direction you looked it was canals, boats, and bridges. It was a short walk to our hostel on the north side of the island where we left our luggage for the day. We caught the 11am free walking tour of the city. 

 

Pretty good tour that went from Campo San Geremia to the Rialto Bridge. We walked through the Jewish Ghetto, which was the nicest part of town back in the day and still is. We learned about the squares and all the wells that they have in the city. It used to be some ridiculous number like 7000 wells for fresh water, but most are now closed. There are random fresh water fountains that you can drink from in various places; apparently their water comes from the Alps which makes it really tasty! We learned about the effects of Global Warming on the city. The tour guide said that the high tides have gotten worse and worse. The water covers the streets by almost a foot in some places. It's really crazy to see a businessman walking through the streets in waist-high water boots. They also put out these walk ways that create small foot-high connections through the really flooded streets. The free walking tour was really good, especially the food recommendations. 

 

Right after the tour we took our guide's suggestion and walked to a small restaurant to try a local dish. It was like a small hot pocket but much flakier without pizza sauce and a thousand times more delicious. Caywood got the cheese one and I got one with anchovies. They were pretty small but delicious snacks non the less. We walked around the area for a while looking at the Murano glass, which was in pretty much every shop. There were tons of restaurants on the main streets, vendors, shops, bakeries, and places for gelato as expected in a tourist city. The best part was just looking down all the random streets and following the canals to the bridge. The buildings weren’t always the prettiest to look at but they had so much character. The streets weren’t the most attractive but most, minus the main drags, were empty and almost eerie at times. My favorite part was that you could take two turns off the main street and come to an area where you would not see a single person. We literally found a part of town that had a huge square, businesses that were open, and we were the only people walking through the streets. We then walked a couple of blocks and as we turned the corner, it was back to busy.

 

We found a small pasta place, Dal Moro’s Fresh Pasta to-go, which was hidden in a back street close to the water. Pretty much no signs on the outside and the only way we knew it was the place we were looking for was by looking inside. There was barely enough room for 6 people to stand and eat comfortably in this place. It was that small. There were at least 4 guys cooking in a kitchen no bigger than the standing area and the noodles they were making were amazing. On the door was a sign, “these fresh noodle MUST be eaten immediately while still hot,” and so we did. We pretty much called it a night after the noodles and got some rest for the next day. 

 

I woke up early, around 8am to catch the high tide at its peak. Some of the pictures are before-and-afters to show you how high the water got. While I was walking around being a tourist I got to see a father dropping off his kids at school. Normally this would not be a memorable event but this father arrived on a boat and pretty much threw his kids over the canal wall to get them on the street. The kids were definitely used to this routine and it seems like a normal procedure since not one passerby even flinched at the tossing of the children. 

 

We started the next day with our planned trip around the city. We walked down the main streets and checked out the souvenir shops. While on our free walking tour, we were recommended a local panini place where you could get a little sandwich for 1 euro and a glass of wine for 70 cents. It was a great little place with standing room only. They had a good variety of little sandwiches the size of a White Castle slider. We had a couple sandwiches and some drinks and it was a perfect little lunch. We then got lost a couple times in the various streets and got to see the local side of the city. There were so many passages and alleys to get lost in. Each one had more character than the previous. We saw more churches and plazas as recommended by our city guide sources, Google and Touristeye. We got a great view of the Grand Canal and the coast line from the Punta della Dogana di Mare. It was a day full of tourist activities. 

 

We started off last day with a quick visit to the train station to book some tickets and walked around the area filled with souvenir stands. We ended up going back to the little sandwich shop for lunch again, the worker even remembered me, and we tried some of the other varieties they had. Again, delicious! Our plan was to take one of the boat buses from the train station all the way down the Grand Canal to the last stop. It was one of the best things we did in Venice, minus the food. We sat right in the front of the boat for the best view. It was amazing how all the boats got along with each other despite there being any type of traffic signs or signals. There were a couple of moments where there was some confusion but it was smooth sailing for the most part. Seeing Venice as we floated down the Grand Canal was a totally different perspective, I am so happy we got to do this. 

 

One of the other must-do things was the gondola ride that Venice is known for. The prices were very steep: 80 euros for 30 min. We did the gondola ride in Vegas, I know not the same, but unlike in Venice, the gondolier in Vegas actually sang. That was a little disappointing plus the weather was being dodgy so we decided to do the 2 euro gondola ride. Our tour guide pointed out a couple of spots where you can take an authentic gondola across the canal, where they don’t have bridges, for a small fare. It wasn't the true romantic gondola but we can say that we rode one in Venice. 

 

I think our dinner that day was the best. Caywood found a place where you pay for your drinks and then you get an appetizer style buffet for free. They had amazing pasta, salad, breads, and all kinds of spreads. I was actually a little upset for a minute because a couple of times when I would sit down with a full plate and then they would bring something new out. I tried so many different things and loved every single one, almost. I was so full I had a hard time leaving that place but it was well worth the agony.

 

Overall, Venice was everything I expected, beside the food since I had no real expectation there. The place is just one of a kind. There are many other places that have canals that run every which way but only in Venice does it feel like you are really surrounded by water. There are no cars on the island but you can pretty much walk from one side to the other in 45 minutes. The streets are a little confusing but are very well labeled and most people were pretty willing to help. I would really love to come back to Venice and just hang out. There are some other islands that are nearby that I would like to visit. There are no public bathrooms but we had some good luck with just asking small restaurants. Free WiFi was difficult to find but most places were willing to give you the password if you asked.