Venice 10-15 November

Canals, gondolas, prosecco, porcini mushrooms, pistachio croissants, more gelato, more gorgeous churches.

We left our Verona airbnb and headed to the train station to catch our train to Venice (Venecia). We spotted our train number and time on the big departure board and headed to the platform but when we got there it showed a different number and time difference of 3 minutes, though it still said Venecia so when a train pulled in and the doors were starting to close again, there was no time to think. We jumped on, holding the door open as we did. We saw a train conductor and stupidly showed him our ticket to check if we were on the right train and he said angrily, “Wrong train, go see the manager in cabin 3.” Sean thought we’d have to buy another ticket, but another conductor arrived and told us to get off at the next stop. “First of all, DO NOT TOUCH THE DOORS when they’re opening or closing,” he said angrily!

So we got off at the next station (even though we were already halfway to Venice) and caught our actual train. A woman on the train told us that what happened to us, happens all the time.

Venice appeared with another cloudless hot day (especially when you’re lugging trolley bags up steps and over bridges). We emerged from the station and there was the Grand Canal. Wow. We have of course seen it in numerous pics our whole lives. It was unreal to actually be there.

We started walking with our bags, skipping the water taxi because it was going to cost us $160 NZ. Our B&B hosts had warned us: “Don’t look at Google Maps, it will put you wrong. Follow our instructions.” But we couldn’t work out their instructions, so we did use Google Maps which was going fine until we reached a section of the canal with no bridge nearby, just gondolas. We had no coins or cash, and our luggage was too big and heavy anyway. We messaged our hosts that we’d be late and backtracked to their original instructions.

Our hosts called us and told us to head to the square and contact Massimo when we reached Pont Academy Bridge. Massimo met us and took us to the B&B. The whole journey from station to door took almost two hours.

At one point, I stopped at the bottom of yet another bridge staircase, and a group of teenagers surrounded me. I couldn’t move. I said “Excuse me,” and they mimicked me and laughed! (warning , lots of pics but more dialogue afterwards)

A note about the ribbon on the door, we saw that a bit and wondered what it meant. Apparently it signifies a joyful event like a birth: pink/blue for a baby, white for a wedding, and black for mourning

Random observations:

We found that Italians don’t get out of your way. They operate on the principle that “I’m here, I’m going where I want, and if you don’t move, I’ll run into you.” This applies to pedestrians and drivers alike. Drivers are impatient, though they’ll stop at pedestrian crossings because they have to but they don’t wait until you’re on the other side. The moment you’re out of their way, they go for it.

If you want to be served at a café counter, you need to be assertive. Bowl up and start saying what you want, or you won’t get served. If you wait politely for your turn, they’ll think you’re still deciding and serve the next person. It took us a while to learn this.

On the other hand, In restaurants, Italians expect you to sit down and wait for a waiter to come to you, not go to the counter and order. And don’t pay before you’ve eaten, even in a cafe. Get this wrong, and they get genuinely annoyed. (Austrians are the same way, though they don’t show the annoyance.) Like Sean says, we still have no “European street Smarts” but we’re getting there.

It seems Italians eat very little other than pizza, pasta, and bruschetta. Really.

Also we have not had one bad coffee in Europe, not once (typing this week 8 into the trip).

Not surprisingly, this is the most expensive place we’ve been yet.

Our B&B hosts left us stocked with food: milk, butter, jam and honey sachets, eggs, croissants, biscuits, a large jam tart, prosciutto, and mozzarella and every day while we were out, the housekeeper would come and remake the bed (no matter how well I’d thought I’d made it) and replenish the food, even if we’d only eaten a few biscuits from the bag, she’d bring a whole new bag! so we mostly ate at the bnb.

Each morning we were awakened by the sound of carts being wheeled down the alley, people speaking loudly, and little dogs barking. Happy noises. Of course, no vehicles.

They don’t have butter (well, a tiny bit), and all their milk is UHF (ultra-high temperature pasteurized, none in the fridge).

On our second day, we kept coming upon children making a racket, hitting pans with sticks and singing. It turned out they were celebrating St. Martin’s Day (All Saints Day).

Another thing we noticed everywhere: young people wearing wreaths on their heads, dressed beautifully, walking around with their friends and families.. They were celebrating having graduated from university.

There is Nutella everywhere. Nutella biscuits, Nutella bars, Nutella muffins, Nutella breadsticks. I learned that Nutella was invented in Alba, Italy by the Ferrero family in 1946. They also started Ferrero Rocher chocolates. The company is still family-owned, now in its third generation.

We bumped into another New Zealand couple—the only ones we’ve met on this trip so far. I overheard them talking and said “you sound like Kiwis” and they said “so do you” and we chatted for a bit. Also, Look! Bobux. Made in NZ

Just when you think you’re in some abandoned area or dead end, you turn a corner and there are lots of people.

Venice is very cool and of course unique and beautiful, but it is hanging on by a bare thread. It is deteriorating and sinking 1-2 mm per year and the population has decreased from 120,000 to 60,000 in the last 50 years. Some experts believe Venice could be a ghost town by 2030, with only tourists visiting by day.

Then there are the numerous pop-up souvenir stalls clustered together on all the main tourist routes, selling the same mass-produced trinkets. It makes Venice feel like a commercialized theme park rather than an authentic, living place. Sad.

However other cool things we saw:

Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) – Formerly Venice’s leader’s residence and the seat of Venetian government.

Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo – A small palazzo best known for its stunning external multi-arch spiral staircase, the Scala Contarini del Bovolo (literally, “of the snail”). Built in the 15th century.

Wagner’s Statue – I spotted a statue and said, “That looks like Wagner, the composer.” It was. Turns out he died in Venice.

Church Organs – I missed out on a few concerts in Europe because they were booked out, and you have to dress up to go to classical concerts here (I didn’t bring anything formal enough). But we happened to enter a few churches when the pipe organ happened to be playing. That was pretty special.