A Day in Venice

Venice

I can sum up my trip to Venice with this one realization it helped me to have: if choosing which flavor of gelato to try for the second time in one day is the most difficult decision I will have to make in that day, then my life is pretty freaking awesome.

I stayed 2 nights in Venice in a cabin at a campground on the mainland about 15 minutes by bus to the island. Arriving at around 6:30pm, I only really had time to buy my train ticket to my next destination (Nice), grab a slice of pizza for dinner, and find my campground.

I had two roommates at Camping Rialto the first night: a girl from western Australia who had an awesome name that I just can't remember, and Mario, an engineer who works for CERN, and with whom I explored the city the next day.

I won't bore you, dear readers, with details of how many streets we walked, how many bridges we crossed, and how many times we got lost. I will tell you, however, that Venice is a truly beautiful city. Visit it before it goes underwater forever.

For one of the first times ever, I was able to find one of the restaurants that my guidebook (the usually-trustworthy Let's Go: Europe) recommended - a gelato place called Gelato Nico that faced the waterfront and had delicious mango and delicious bacio (chocolate with hazelnut pieces) flavors. I know firsthand. We went there twice in one afternoon. For €1.30 for a good-sized scoop, we almost couldn't pass it up.

Before you ask, I did ride in a gondola. Don't get too excited, though - the gondola rides that Venice is so famous for cost between €80-100 for 40 minutes. However, Venice has traghetti, gondola ferries, that cross the Grand Canal at several points throughout the city. They cost only €0.50 for about 2 minutes of intense canal-crossing fun (there are no traffic laws in the waters of Venice) and proved to be a much better option in the long run.

For my bartending and/or alcohol consuming friends, I have a new drink to share with you when I return. Be excited.

As per my last several posts, I'm on the train to my next destination currently - this time Nice, in the south of France, where I will spend Zombie Jesus Day (Easter) on a beach. Well, I hope so, anyway.... I haven't checked the weather in a few days, and the weather between Venice and Genova (where the train is currently stopped) hasn't been great. It's a nice day to be stuck in aisle seats on a train, but doesn't instill much confidence for the next few days.

My plan was to leave Nice on Monday and go somewhere for a few nights before Barcelona on Wednesday, but I forgot that Monday is a public holiday in Europe. So, as usual, I'm going to wing it and see how it goes!