Usually high hopes lead to a major let down but we can honesty say that Venice exceeded even our super raised expectations. Venice is beyond enchanting with winding alley ways and curving canals, making the entire city a mysterious maze. Jade green water in the place of roads gives the entire place an unreal "pinch me" effect. UPS and ambulance boats whizzing by seem bizarre. The insanity of a place where front doors open directly onto deep water is completely eliminated by the magical charm. We love Venice, and we must admit we were more be'ers than do'ers here, but the vibe seems as if that's what this place is for. We never got over the unexpected beauty of the old, rather decrepit, buildings with bottoms covered in barnacles and dark algae and foundations totally burried under the opaque green canals. We strolled around observing and browsing the last of the quaint little Venitian stores, wishing we had the space and the money to buy souvenirs for everyone at home.
Afternoon rolled around and we decided we should head to Milan and see what the fuss was all about. In true penny pinching backpacker style we decided to skip the high speed train leaving in 15 minutes for 10€ and wait 2 hours for the slow janky free train. This gave us time to sit on the step of the train station beside the Grand Canal and watch the swarms of people of all nationalities arriving and departing, and the boats and gondolas drifting by.
The janky train was super janky (got to love the italian train system) but we arrived in Milan and hopped on a bus to our budget hotel, RossoVino (obviously we wanted to stay somewhere called Hotel Red Wine) which was nice and not far from the city center. Our tiny Chinese roommate, Shen, talked about the woes of being away from home for 10 days "such a long trip!" she sighed. Try 13 weeks Shen! We simultaneously thought to ourselves how woe'less our 13 weeks had been and felt happy and fulfilled.
Hungry and tired left us feeling stressed about still not booking a flight home. We had missed the time for Milans famous appertivo scence, but we thought it was worth venturing out to try and find some anyway. Shen had offered us her laptop, so we felt like we had to take advantage and book our flights tonight. We strolled down the road and came across a bar where the appertivos looked like a wedding buffet. Um, yes please! 5euro cocktail and all the food we could eat! They were closing up but said they would leave it out for us for a while, so we ordered mojitos and bloody marys and snacked away. They brought us out a plate of miscelaneous meats which had carnviore jenny one happy camper. Full and satisfied, we set off back to our hostel. With the help of Shens computer we managed to book the best flight to New York we could...from there the rest will fall into place. It was an instant lift off of our shoulders. Yet, the reality set in we were going home. And so the mixed feelings begin as we wrap up our European tour....
Afternoon rolled around and we decided we should head to Milan and see what the fuss was all about. In true penny pinching backpacker style we decided to skip the high speed train leaving in 15 minutes for 10€ and wait 2 hours for the slow janky free train. This gave us time to sit on the step of the train station beside the Grand Canal and watch the swarms of people of all nationalities arriving and departing, and the boats and gondolas drifting by.
The janky train was super janky (got to love the italian train system) but we arrived in Milan and hopped on a bus to our budget hotel, RossoVino (obviously we wanted to stay somewhere called Hotel Red Wine) which was nice and not far from the city center. Our tiny Chinese roommate, Shen, talked about the woes of being away from home for 10 days "such a long trip!" she sighed. Try 13 weeks Shen! We simultaneously thought to ourselves how woe'less our 13 weeks had been and felt happy and fulfilled.
Hungry and tired left us feeling stressed about still not booking a flight home. We had missed the time for Milans famous appertivo scence, but we thought it was worth venturing out to try and find some anyway. Shen had offered us her laptop, so we felt like we had to take advantage and book our flights tonight. We strolled down the road and came across a bar where the appertivos looked like a wedding buffet. Um, yes please! 5euro cocktail and all the food we could eat! They were closing up but said they would leave it out for us for a while, so we ordered mojitos and bloody marys and snacked away. They brought us out a plate of miscelaneous meats which had carnviore jenny one happy camper. Full and satisfied, we set off back to our hostel. With the help of Shens computer we managed to book the best flight to New York we could...from there the rest will fall into place. It was an instant lift off of our shoulders. Yet, the reality set in we were going home. And so the mixed feelings begin as we wrap up our European tour....
Parking garage?
Hate to say goodbye
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