Greetings from Italia!
Let’s catch you up on Venice 🙂
Saturday when we arrived, we checked into our hostel and were pleasantly surprised with how nice the atmosphere was there. We stayed at the Generator Hostel on Guidecca island, which meant that taking taxi boats across to the main island was somewhat of a pain, but nothing unmanageable. Venice was very beautiful – my expectations from pictures were far exceeded in real life. It was a huge change from Milan and had a lot of raw historical charm. We stayed in at the hostel that night and met some new friends at the bar, exchanging stories of travel and sharing some spritz.
Sunday we went on a walking tour in the morning with another guy staying in the hostel from Texas (hi!). The three of us followed our tour guide as she wove in and around the tiniest streets and beautiful grand squares. She was passionate about Venetian history and I feel that I learned a lot about their story and culture over the few hours we took. After that we got a bit lost looking for something to eat, but eventually found our way back to the safety of a gelato shop on the river.
After a much needed afternoon nap, we set back out for an early evening boat ride down the Canal Grande, under the Rialto bridge, past the beautiful Santa Maria church – the breeze from the ride making it possible to enjoy the heat. We got off at Piazza San Marco and strolled around the square admiring the architecture and view of the river. We made our way to a pub for some Venetian bar foods and a glass of prosecco, then hit a dessert shop for some tiramisu. It was dark by the time we headed home and the view of the grandly lit city from the boat was a nice send off.
See you soon!
Famished 