Europe Day 9 – Venice
Europe Day 9 – Venice
Today we got stuck in a lot of traffic; and according to our guide Shell, it’s because the Germans slow down to look at an accident rather than just keep driving on by. We spent much of the day on the bus which was a real disappointment. The traffic was bad today because it was a public holiday and everybody was out and about. This also distracted from our time in Venice itself because the lines to the attractions where long and the streets were crowded.
In Venice, I was able to enjoy an hour Gondola ride, but the operator of the Gondola (Gondolare) didn’t speak and English and wasn’t too pleasant. Nevertheless, I had bought a bottle of Pinot Grigio earlier in the day that I shared with the four others on the Gondola ride. Drifting through the canals of the city, allowed me to see many of the buildings. Even though many people seem to think Venice is such a pretty city, I would have to disagree. The water has eaten away at the buildings and wood. There are parts of the city that small pretty bad, and it is apparently worse when the city floods every year. So, I wasn’t too impressed by the city. I think it’s more of a girls’ city because there are a lot of shops selling very high priced and elegant clothing and other apparel. Because Venice was crowded the lines were too long for me to get to go into any of the landmark monuments. I was quite disappointed that traffic and the crowded city prevented me from getting to see much of the city other than the countless counterfeit handbag merchants that would setup shop on the sidewalks of the city.
Nevertheless, I did get to enjoy a wonderful opportunity to experience an authentic Italian dinner in Venice. This was very fun. Dinner started off with some antipasti and brusheta, and then followed with some rice and pasta. Of course there was both red and white wine on the table. But the most from part of the dinner was the fact that two guys came out into the area, one playing the accordion while the other sang some Italian songs. Some of the songs were familiar and the fifty some people there joined in singing and clapping along to make the environment just a fun and exciting place. The other table, as usual, had a bit too much to drink and managed to break a wine glass during all the commotion. The dinner was very nice and a lot of fun even though the food wasn’t all that good, the experience was worth it.
After dinner, I spent some more time walking around and looking at the outside of monuments. I got up on the wall surrounding one of the monuments and the police motioned for me to get down, but I managed to get a picture up there before I had to stop having fun. Now it was time to find our hotel for the night and check in. I thought it would be a good idea to head to bed early because spending so much time on a bus in close contact with others; I was beginning to feel a little bit of a cold coming on.
