I left my friend Patrina in Rome
on my way to Venice!!!! However, before I get to that, I decided to make a
quick stop en route in Florence. In this instance it was mostly so that I could
stop by the famed Uffizi Gallery which I have always wanted to visit. As such I
ended up only spending around 5 hours or so in Florence. After leaving the train station
in Florence,I took a wrong turn at first, but that actually turned out well as
I got to see a little more of Florence than I probably would have otherwise.
 |
| View of the Arno- Florence |
Eventually I found my way to the Uffizi where a loooong line for entrance
greeted me. Unfortunately I left it a little too late and when I tried to book
online, all the appointments for that day had been filled already. As a side note, while I waited in line, this
old gypsy beggar woman called me ‘dracula’ as an epithiet because I didn’t put
anything in her cup. Oh please lady, move right along. I really dislike when
those asking for help, begin to act like they’re entitled to what you have. Now
a British traveller came to my rescue of sorts. She claimed that some members
of her tour party were ill and they were trying to get rid of the extra
tickets. She was indeed with a group of elderly touristy looking persons. So I took
a risk and did something I NEVER do. I trusted that this elderly lady was not
trying to scam me and ran with it. The amount I would have saved on the ticket
by waiting in line for the discount would not have been worth the extra hour or
so more I would have had to spend in line. It turns out the lady was a good egg
and so there I was in the gallery.
I enjoyed touring the Uffizi, which houses such works as Boticelli's "Primavera" and " Birth of Venus". I am glad I made the effort
to stop off in Florence for just those few hours to see it. There were no
pictures allowed though, so I don’t have any to share with you unfortunately.I had lunch at a little café and
walked around a little bit. By chance, I ended up by Florence’s duomo. Then it was time to make my
way back to the station and on to Venice finally!
 |
| Florence's Duomo |
Venice
Finally in Venice! Now on Venice’s
main island, once you pass the train station, there is basically no way to get
around except by walking or waterborne transport. So I took my first vaparetto
(waterbus) and headed down the Grand Canal to my hostel. The location of my
hostel was really, really good; especially for the price. Furthermore in
comparison to other places I had been looking at on Venice island ( which at
first had seemed prohibitive) and even on the mainland itself, it was
definitely a good deal. I had all but given up hope of finding somewhere to
stay on the island until I happened across this place. It was right near the
famous Rialto bridge as promised; I could get there on foot in about 2-3
minutes. I checked into the hostel and decided to have a nap before going out
to walk a bit. Even better, it seemed like no one else would be in the room
with me (in a four-bed room) that night. Score again! I was even able to purvey
an extra blanket from one of the unoccupied beds! Feeling refreshed, I decided
to try to make it down to the famed St. Mark’s square (San Marco).
It was much easier to get to from where I was than I thought, or that my Google directions had lead me to believe. In fact, following Google directions is pretty hard because of the way the streets and canals are set up. Also, once I got to the Rialto, there were signs all over (some even in spray paint) that guided me to the square. This first time took me a little while (especially since I kept stopping every now and again), but I think I could get there in about 15 minutes from where I was staying.
Staying on the island itself allowed me to soak up some of
the atmosphere of Venice at night. All the day-trippers are gone, and the
majority of the visitors trek back to hotels on the mainland. It’s much more
laid back at night. In addition, Venice is not the kinda town that keeps going
in the wee hours. By 10 pm things have definitely slowed down, and by midnight
everything comes to a grinding halt almost. Seeing San Marco at night, one would never believe the
absolute zoo it can become when all the cruise ships come in (like they did on
the Saturday).
Several of the more elite establishments (such as Caffe Florian-frequent
haunt of Lord Byron, Charles Dickens etc etc) actually had mini- orchestras
giving concerts to their patrons. If you stood just behind where the tables and
chairs ended in the square, or anywhere off to the side, then you could enjoy
for free.That was very pleasant. At any given time, at least two orchestras
were playing. So if the one you were listening took a break, it was simply a
matter of wandering over to the next one.
 |
| The Famous Caffe Florian - Established 1720 |
The next day I decided to re-trace some of my steps of the
night before, for the daylight experience. I must say, I've never enjoyed
wandering aimlessly about a city so much before. You guys know that I like to
have (even a vague)a plan. But I had no plan; no itinerary, not even a map
(which is very unusual for me)..annnnnd it was great, just great. That ended
I think Venice is definitely up there on favourite places I’ve visited in the world thus far. It really does have a charm to it that you can’t help but feel.
 |
| View of the Grand Canal from the Rialto |
 |
| Gondoliers on a canal |
 |
| The Campanile in St. Mark's |
I decided that I was going to
have a nice lunch that day. I ignored the protests of my inner budget watcher
and decided to live a little. I was in Venice after all right?! I had lunch at a little café along a canal, which is exactly
what I was looking for. Somewhere that I could have a Venetian experience and
not just a random restaurant. It wasn’t fancy, but very charming in its own
little way.So I had a mushroom risotto and a overpriced glass of wine, but the
ambiance was lovely.
 |
| cin cin! |
 |
| View from my lunch spot. |
Luckily, right near my lunch spot was a gelataria recommended Trip Advisor. So I popped in and had my gelato to cap off lunch as you are wont to do when in Italy J
That night I realized I once
again had the room to myself. I once again took a trek to St. Mark’s, taking
another route this time. I wandered around once again and too in some more of
the free concerts before heading back. The next morning, the plan was to roam a
little and get my souvenirs (which I had been scouting the best prices for on
the days before.) I managed to get some pretty good deals on the famous Murano
glass jewellery ( think Pandora bracelet charms) and a few other knick-knacks. The roaming was made a little more difficult by the heavy influx of people from cruise ships and it being Saturday. The streets were crawling with tourists. This made navigating the narrow streets more time-consuming.
 |
| Venice Lagoon |
 |
| The Bridge of sighs |
 |
| Gondolas!!! |
Then I had to hurry back to check out and catch my train to Milan!
Milan
I had been in contact with my
friend Agostino (Ago for short) who lives just outside Milan. I had met him
while I was studying in Bordeaux at the beginning of my MSc. He got in contact
with another Erasmus friend of ours, Eleonora, who actually lives in Milan. It
was decided that it would be best that we all stayed at Ele’s during my visit.
So after Ago met me at the train station, there we went. Here beginneth the
trials I had with my luggage. Since a particular instance during my stay in
Rome, my suitcase had been behaving a little funny; now in Milan it all but
gave out. Well re-visit this later.
That evening we met up with a
friend of Ago’s and decided to do “Happy hour” Milanese style. Now Milan’s
happy hour is one of the best things you've never heard of. None of that two
for one stuff. Pay 8-10 euros, get any drink on the menu (including all the
expensive cocktails) AND then there’s an all you can eat buffet.We then headed to where all the
young, hip (and possibly broke) people gather- a spot called Coloné. After a
while the cold started to set in a sitting on the ground drinking wasn’t as
much fun.
The next day was time for the
grand Milan tour. The Duomo is really something. I know I said the same about St.
Peter’s etc, but the Milan Duomo is really up there. When you walk in, the
height of the ceilings may make you gasp a bit. It really is quite incredible
considering that construction began in the 15th century!
 |
| Ago, Ele and I outside the Duomo |
We did all the main sights
including Milan Castle, the city centre and of course the Duomo. In terms of sights, there
actually isn’t that much to see in Milan to be honest. You could definitely get
it done in a day. Ele had gotten up really early that morning for volleyball
training so she headed back and Ago and I continued on. We had lunch in a cozy
little pizzeria and then walked around to see a few more things.That evening, we tried an initial repair of my luggage, but
that was in vain. Later that night, we stayed in and had
a Spaghetti Carbonara dinner and played Monopoly Bordeaux into the night.
 |
| Dinner! |
The next day I had to set off in
search of a solution to my very serious luggage problem. Due to this, I had to
shelve my plans to visit Lake Como that day. It was a pity since Lake Como was
one of the things that had made me decide to add Milan in the first place. Such
is life eh?
So the repair shops I found
online were not actually official Samsonite stores, but just repair men that
Samsonite approved to repair their products in Milan. Of course this would
mean a problem when it comes to stocking parts. I think you can see where this
is going already. The first repair shop I visited (that took me about half-hour
on foot) said he could do nothing for me and I would have to wait about 20 days
for him to order the part. Of course this was not a viable option. Let’s just
cut this story short and say that Ago and I were able to finally find one guy
across town who actually made an effort to help me. It was a temporary fix, but
all I needed was to get that bag rolling again. That was a relief, considering
that I still had roughly half of my trip to go still. That night we went out
for a final pizza. I really enjoyed being able to meet up with friends who I
had no idea if or when I would ever see again when we first parted. Even more
evidence for never say never!!
…and the next day I would begin my journey to
Prague! I took a train from Milan to
Zurich thereby crossing Switzerland in effect and getting a peek at the Alps. I
didn't have much time in Zurich to spin around in the station before it was
time for my overnight train to Prague. I had decided to reserve a couchette
space (basically a bunk in a six-bed cabin)
and though I wasn't as lucky as on the Mediterranean ferry, I was
alone for a good while before the other two passengers got on. Anyhoo Prague
itself will have to wait till the next post.
Stay Tuned!!
