Venezia - super late

The following is my documentation of Friday & Saturday in Venezia, during my last weekend in Italia. Enjoy!

22/6/07 - "The Blind Leading the Blind"

Our trips always prove to be interesting, yet this is the largest, non-organized by school trip. There were 16 of us: me, Erika, Ashley, Erika, Tiffany, Val, Carrie, Paul, Andrea, Adam, Jimmy, Jackie, Gina, Lauren K., Lauren D. and Nicole - all taking the same flight to Venezia, via Ryan Air. The cab arrived for the 6 girls at our apartment at 4:15am to bring us to Ciampino Airport in Roma. When we got to the airport it was very similar to that of T.F. Green, in the sense that it was much smaller than Fuimicino, which we had landed in on May 28. However, if you are traveling through Europe and want cheap flights, I highly recommend Ryan Air. We paid 70 euro each, roundtrip from Roma to Venezia and the flight was under an hour and such a comfortable ride...granted, we all fell asleep immediately as soon as our 7am flight took off. When we got to the airport we had to take an hour bus ride to the water taxis which would then transport us to Venice. Again, we took an extra long time to actually locate the bus which we needed to take, and Gina supplied us a great line, "this is like the blind leading the blind". We al fell asleep on the bus and for awhile, Paul and I joked around on the bus until we successfully fell asleep listening to our Ipods. When we got to the water taxis it was like nothing I had ever seen before. It's amazing to think how different Venezia's way of life is versus our American way of life. We finally got to San Marco and took in all of the sights, sounds, smells and pigeons (ugh, so many!) before we went with the other 10 to check into their hostel on the island. We are staying off the island because it is cheaper and more convenient to the airport. We ate lunch at a typical Italian restaurant, which I will miss immensely about Italia. The cuisine is delicious and I love eating with so many friends all in one spot. We did a but of shopping after lunch and then split up because we wanted to do some sightseeing. We went to Murano and Burano and saw glass being blown. It was amazing and I found a ring for myself which I ended up purchasing. It is baby blue glass with royal blue and gold paint on it. Just something to remember my trip to Venezia by. After that, we traveled by water taxi to Burano, where all of the buildings are painted in bright, Caribbean-esque colors. when we finally checked into the hostel, we were pleasantly surprised (and relieved!!) to find a full-blown campground complete with campers, tents, a clean and gorgeous heated, infinity-edged pool and jacuzzi, 3 restaurants, a mini mart, 2 bars and great nightlife. This was ashjock and by far the best hostel yet. If you ever know someone traveling to Venezia and doesn't mind staying on the mainland, let me know so I can refer them to this fantastic accomodation.

xo,
Kristen