vagabonds in Venice

Hopped an early morning flight to Venice….ahh, felt like jet setting! Leaving the city of canals and beer for the city of canals and wine. Except once we arrived we couldn’t afford even the cheapest accommodation on the island and the one Couch Surfer who actually wrote me back said he gets a few hundred requests a month in the summer time. We had one thing going for us…train station sandwiches with this view!

From jet setting to camping it is! A great place called Camping Plus Jolly has bungalow “tents” all set up for 9.50 euros/night, a total  of about 45 minutes from the city by the time you take the people mover and the bus. It helps if you are under the age of about 23 when you stay there, as there are massive groups of kids on packaged tours of Europe who descend every few days. For the price and the pool it’s worth telling a little white lie when asked how old you are.

First Italian pizza (asparagus)  - buenisimo!

There’s really one way to take on Venice and it’s to just start wandering. The island is small and circular so you can’t get too lost. A map would be senseless – the little streets that wind around and start and stop all over the place have no street names anyway. No cars, no trees. There is liquor and wine for sale absolutely everywhere but no bars. A million boats, a thousand shops, hundreds of restaurants and cafes, dozens of gelato places and one featured drink: spritz!

spritz: presecco, aperol, a little sparkling mineral water, a lot of deliciousness!

Definitely some daily habits you must pick up

The life aquatic

After walking through all the charming, colorful and unique little streets of this picturesque city (and no, it didn’t smell like sewage) it’s a liberating feeling to reach San Marco where everything opens wide up!

A few days later we said ciao to vibrant Venice and made our way to Rome!

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no ends to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." - Jawaharial Nehru