ITALY: VENEZIA (VENICE)

Austria to Italy was by far my most favorite scenic drive of the whole trip. We transitioned from a gorgeous backdrop of the Austrian Alps to a charming Italian landscape of vineyards overlooked by stone castles.

Had my first (of many) Italian sandwich and cappuccino at our rest stop. Italian sandwiches were good but took some time for me to get used to. Most times it is just meat, cheese and hard crusty bread. No mayo, no mustard and hardly any veggies. I will say this though, cappuccino in Italia is the best. They are serious about this; from gas stations to restaurants, they are all just perfect.

Ordering at gas stations were pretty interesting. First you pay and are given a receipt. Then you take the receipt to the counter and hand it to one of the staff and they will get your order for you. However, in some cases if you order a cappuccino the coffee bar is separate from where you get your food. You would think there would be an organized line for pick-up, but most times there isn't - I learned this the hard way. You need to be aggressive and just step in there with your receipt in hand. Kind of like getting a drink at the bar. Our Trip Manager warned us about this confusion.

The gas station restroom was free so that was a plus. The way the convenience stores are setup was kind of like a maze so you are forced to be tempted by goodies you don't need on the way to the checkout. Thought this was pretty clever. It definitely worked with us a few times.

I was so excited to finally speak "some" Italian - it was the only language I had been practicing before the trip. So excited that I found myself speaking Italian for the rest of the trip even though we weren't in Italy anymore.

Venezia (Venice) is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon of the Adriatic sea. We caught a ferry to the island of San Marco, known for St. Mark's Square, the Campanile bell tower and Caffe Florian - one of the oldest coffee houses along with Café Procope in Paris. I'm a big coffee junkie and I've been wanting to go to Venice ever since I visited the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The weather was a bit overcast but warm.

Some say that Venezia is sinking but it actually has a lot to do with the sea level and tides. In the picture below, you can see the Piazza is flooded and there are even makeshift foot bridges that people are walking on. I came back to this same square a several hours later and it was dry.

The group split up for a little while to go to the restroom, etc. Met back together to go on our Walking Tour. Our Guide was a feisty Italian woman (I wish I remembered her name). In Italia, it is illegal to be a tour guide if you are not Italian. You also need to have a History degree. Makes sense. I like this concept.

Worked our way through a labyrinth of alleyways, bridges and canals.

This building, with its spiral staircase, would have been the home of someone wealthy - perhaps a Merchant. Very beautiful and well preserved. Our Guide reminded us (and others around us) to please keep our voices down because people still do live in the area. A majority of Venice's population lives on other islands. They commute daily via ferries or boats to work on the island of San Marco where many tourists visit.

Reached the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge. We were told by our Guide that when we are at this bridge we should mind our belongings because this is where a lot of pick-pocketing takes place.

After our Walking Tour we had some free time to go shopping and get lost (and we did both). Bought my first pair of Italian designer jeans.

#europe #photo #contiki #italy #venice