We had just two and half days in Venice due to our flight being late out of Croatia and we didn’t want to stay long in such an expensive city. It’s one of those places you have to see at least once in your life. You can say that you saw the canals, got lost in the city and ate a ton of pasta.
Our main focus for Venice was food. The weather was extremely hot while we were there so we tried to go out for a few hours and then rush back into AC at our air bnb. A lot of the restaurants are extremely expensive and vying for an eager tourist. We’ve learned that in most cases if there is a person outside the restaurant trying to heard you inside or their menus have pictures with a British flag, it is usually overpriced and unauthentic. Go to the places where you can’t understand the menu and they don’t need to coerce you in.
Several of the pasta dishes we had were extremely simple, but so delicious. Gnocchi, tortellini, buccatini, taglitelle, all words we couldn’t pronounce, but wow could we eat. We also found the second best gelato in Europe called, “Suso.” The perfect topping to ice cream ratio in every bite, we were in heaven.
Scott had already been to Venice so a lot of the wow factor had worn off for him, but I was in love with the place. It was so romantic and quaint. Everything that you would imagine it to be, it was. Probably the most picturesque place we’ve been. I loved staring at all the buildings wondering how they built such an amazing little town. Our place was located within one of the smaller canals so it was quiet, and honestly perfect.
The one sad part about Venice is that climate change is taking it’s toll on the city of water. Many of the building directly on the canals no longer use their bottom story because it is flooded or rotted out. On our last day when it rained and stormed most of the day, we could easily tell that it floods often and is a scary reality that the citizens of Venice have to live with every day.
We did a lot of walking in Venice, it’s either that or taking a water taxi everywhere since they don’t have any cars. Water taxis are usually pretty expensive and we have two legs that can get us anywhere for free so we took that option. We tried to use Google maps and most of the time it was pretty accurate, but Venice is comprised of hundreds of small winding streets and alleyways so it is VERY easy to get lost or take a wrong turn (we did a few times because of my navigation). After some coercion I was even able to get Scott to go on a gondola ride. At the time of our ride the grand canal was closed, which I was actually thankful for in the end because it was quiet and very picturesque. I really enjoyed everything about Venice minus our last day…
The very last day we were there we had to get the airport via bus. This is were Venice got a whole lot more expensive for us… As you get on the bus you pay the driver for the ticket and that’s that. Well we got onto the bus with a massive amount of people and the driver had to assist someone so we got on and intended to pay at the end because we got pushed to the back. On the second to last stop before the airport, men collecting the tickets got on to the bus and demanded our ticket. We tried to explain our situation but the language barrier did not help. Ultimately, the gruff men said we needed to give them all our credentials and pay our fine later for not getting tickets or pay right then and there. We chose the “then and there” option because we didn’t want to give them our passports and all our information. Walking away from that situation $150 poorer. Unfortunate, but live and learn!
Our next stop is Sorrento and the Amalfi coast, another one of Scott’s favorites! Bring on the pasta!
Adventures of Scooter and Hales 