My trip to Venice was unique from all of the previous because it was a class trip. On Thursday morning, all 34 of my class members and I got up at 5:30 AM to eat a quick breakfast and head for the ferry to Lucerne. It was still dark out.
Following the short ferry ride, all 35 of us got on a few trains which eventually led us to Venice. The train station was a beautiful structure that resembled a museum more than a train station. A much different initial vibe from that of Budapest!
We all waited around for the professor to buy us our "Venice Cards" for about 20 minutes, and then were off of the water taxi's which would bring us to our hotel. We were all a bit unnerved at the grunts that were coming from the boat that were accompanied by loud bangs and the like. Though I kept gasping, I soon realized that these noises were okay as I read the relaxed looks that the Venetians displayed. This gave me the idea that perhaps they were normal.
After 20 0r so minutes of that, we reached our stop. We were all so excited to see the beautiful buildings and the gondola's! The 35 of us were split equally into two hotels that were 3 buildings apart. Both of them were located right on the water, 2 minutes from the oldest and most historic pat of Venice. I don't know how JWU managed that, but A+ to the hotel selection committee.
My roommates were Christina, Elsa and Jeanne for the weekend. Somehow Jeanne and I lucked out again with the room selection. Our hotel was over-looking the harbor and was absolutely breath-taking. We quickly freshened up and headed out to map out the city. Again, we realized how close we are to everything.
That night, almost the entire class went out to eat at a restaurant that wasn't far from our hotels. It was a typical Italian joint. Pasta, Pizza...that's about it. Unfortunately, everything was sooo expensive! The cheapest pasta dish I could fund that sounded semi-appealing was 15 Euro- that's almost 20 USD! When we got our food, we all commented on the portion sizes. There wasn't even a lot of food, especially for that large of a price. I forged through it and about 10 minutes in, I started feeling sick. Later that night, we all had planned on going out, but I felt too sick, so i went to bed.
Bridge next to hotel
After a great night sleep I woke up bright and early at 7:30 to get ready for our tour of Venice. My first surprise of the hotel was the lovely shower. The water pressure was just marvelous and there were big towels that wrapped around me almost twice- a nice touch compared to the towel I have been carrying around on my other adventures. All 4 of us girls got ready and walked a few doors down to St.Marks Square.
We learned a lot about Venice, a lot of information that I will not be dispensing in this blog. Some thing that I will tell you that I found particularly interesting are:
1. Venice floods about 1 foot almost 200 days out of the year due the the tide and the way the wind mixes with it. As a result of this, a large portion of the city has things that look like benches but are really to make boardwalks when there is a flood.
2. The church (St.Marks) is actually where the remains of St.Mark reside. He was snuck onto the island amidst old beef and cabbage so when the people checking at their version of customs in those days didn't look too far into the chest that he was being transported in. This is depicted in a glass mosaic on the outside of the church.
3. Venice is built on trees. It is supposed to sink 1/2 an inch every 100 years. One year it accidentally sunk 12 inches!
4. There is not a single car on any of the islands. Everything is done with boats and old-fashioned pull-carts- even the garbage!
The canals of Venice are really only 2-5 feet deep and they don't need to be cleaned because the tide does most of it naturally.
5. Everything was beautiful and picturesque
Our tour ended at the Charles Bridge where we were left to shop and galavant throughout Venice. I bought a pretty necklace and attempted to buy some food that wouldn't make me sick. The sun was shining and it was gorgeous! Christina, Tom and I decided that it was crucial that we head back to the hotel, put on our sun dresses and lounge along the sea side! We plopped ourselves strategically at the entrance to a major canal, the one in which the ambulance boats and taxi's went through. Some of them were quite attractive and charming.
I am a little bit behind on the blogging, so I am going to just tell you that the rest of the trip was beautiful- 73 and sunny!
A few highlights:
- The wine fountain (2 liters of wine for 4 Euro, bring your own bottle)
- Sitting around the streets of Venice with everyone because there is no such thing as a nightlife in Venice
-Being without a lover in a city devoted to lovers...that was a little depressing
-The tour we took of the Danielli (a beautiful, historic, very expensive hotel next to ours-the same view that I had from my hotel cost 2,300 Euro at this hotel!)
- The ghost tour we took on the last night- Venice is the most haunted city in Europe (so she said)
-When the the people in my train car all put in our ipods and synchronized our songs and danced while other people looked on with questioning gazes.
-Sun bathing both days
-Gondola Ride
Bridge of Sighs (with dumb advertisements on it!)
-Walking on the Bridge of Sighs
-Gelatto
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