Our flight from Paris to Rome was scheduled to leave at 9:30 am so Colleen and I figured that if we left our hostel by 7:00 am we’d have plenty of time to get there. Oh, how wrong we were! Apparently the airport was an hour and a half away from Paris. So, not knowing this, we planned to take the metro at 7 to the spot where a shuttle would take us to the airport. Well, part of the metro was shut down and we had to take the time to figure out a new way of how to get to the shuttle station. Once we finally got there, we had missed our shuttle and the next one wasn’t leaving for another 30 minutes, which would’ve made us late. The only way we were going to make our flight was to take a cab.
Well, this cab took us an hour and 20 minutes to get to the airport, and cost us a whopping 147 euros. We were running around the airport trying to find an ATM to get money out for the cab. When we finally paid and were on our way, it was 9:00 am. Turns out, we weren’t even in the right terminal and had to spring across the parking lot to terminal 2. By the time we got there it was about 9:05 or so. The plane wasn’t actually leaving until 9:30 so we were hoping we’d still be able to make it. Well, we would’ve made it had we not missed the time to check our bags. We were 15 minutes late to check them, so the lady at customer service called her supervisor to see if we could still put them on the plane. No luck. We had to pay 100 euros each to change our flight to the next one…at 8:45 pm! Colleen and I waited out the 12 lonesome hours in this tiny airport by watching movies on her laptop. Even that didn’t make the time go by any faster.
8:45 finally rolled around and we boarded the plane and landed in Rome on schedule. We had no idea what time the last train left the train station to Orvieto, so we took a shuttle to the train station, on which I was a blubbering mess because of how terrible the trip had turned out. It was about 11:00-11:30 pm by this point. Much to our dismay, the next train to Orvieto would be leaving at 5:58 am. We had absolutely no money because of our cab fee and had no idea what to do. We couldn’t get a hotel or hostel, but apparently the airport closes at 2:00 am for cleaning, so we couldn’t stay there either. Colleen and I decided to wait it out until we got kicked out, and when that happened, we would just sit outside.
It was freezing and miserable. We were running on 3 hours of sleep in 48 hours. By the time it was 2:15, no one had kicked us out yet, but we hadn’t seen a cop in a while and didn’t want to risk it. We decided to hide out downstairs on the bottom level to get out of the wind and try to find some shelter. We found a tiny little pizza slice-sized corner where we stashed our suitcases and backpacks, and posted up for the night. We were too scared to fall asleep so we just sat there reading, listening to music and watching movies. As easy as it sounds, it was hardly that.
Luckily, we did end up seeing a policeman/security guard who definitely saw us too, but he never said anything. We also made friends with a few janitors, so that comforted us. FINALLY it was 5:00 am so we got a croissant, bought our tickets, and boarded the train to Orvieto. The two of us were delirious by this point. We got to Orvieto, but the little trolley that takes you up the hill to the actual city of Orvieto wasn’t open yet. Right then a bus pulled up and we were able to take it up the hill, pretty close to our apartment. As soon as we got home we got something to eat and went to sleep until 5:30 pm when my Dad called, asking if we were okay.
Thank God nothing bad had happened to us and we got home safely. So many things could’ve gone wrong, but I am thanking my lucky (if you can call them that) stars that not many things did. I guess everyone who goes to Europe needs to come home with some horror story of their foreign travels...
PARIS
Our hostel in Paris was amazing! It was so modern and fun. There was a restaurant/bar downstairs, and the entire staff was really nice and helpful. It was a youth hostel so we met a lot of nice people our age. Once again, we didn’t get there until later, so it was too late to do any sightseeing. We attempted to go out to what we had heard was the big club area called Bastille Square, but the cab driver we had didn’t know where it was! We ended up just going to a really random bar but quickly giving up and heading home.
Thursday we tried to go to The Louvre museum to see the Mona Lisa, but were too late to buy tickets. Instead, we went to see the Arc de Triomphe, Champs de Elysees, and the Notre Dame! We spent a while just walking around at each of the places and taking in all our surroundings. While we were at the Arc de Triomphe, we got a glorious peek at the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night! It was so beautiful. That day was St. Patrick’s Day so we really wanted to go out and celebrate. Once again, however, we didn’t go to any clubs even though we were all dressed up, and ended up coming home.
Friday was our major tourist day. First we went back to The Louvre since we knew they closed somewhat early, but the lady at the ticket counter told us that people under the age of 26 get in free after 6:00 pm on Fridays! Score! So after we left, we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, we had been there for 30 minutes before it started raining on us. We took shelter in a nearby pub and got crème brulee! It is one of my favorite desserts, so I had been so excited to try an authentic French one. It was delicious! After hanging out there for a while, we went back to The Louvre and were able to see the Mona Lisa. It is REALLY small. That’s really all I have to say about it because honestly, it wasn’t that exciting. I don’t know what all the fuss is about! After The Louvre, we made a quick stop by the Moulin Rouge to take some pictures. That night we decided to hang out at the hostel’s bar because we had a super early flight on Saturday morning to come home. Not that it mattered, because we ended up missing our flight. It was the worst experience ever, but for now, I’ll end this post as: to be continued…
Ciao!
Thursday we tried to go to The Louvre museum to see the Mona Lisa, but were too late to buy tickets. Instead, we went to see the Arc de Triomphe, Champs de Elysees, and the Notre Dame! We spent a while just walking around at each of the places and taking in all our surroundings. While we were at the Arc de Triomphe, we got a glorious peek at the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night! It was so beautiful. That day was St. Patrick’s Day so we really wanted to go out and celebrate. Once again, however, we didn’t go to any clubs even though we were all dressed up, and ended up coming home.
Friday was our major tourist day. First we went back to The Louvre since we knew they closed somewhat early, but the lady at the ticket counter told us that people under the age of 26 get in free after 6:00 pm on Fridays! Score! So after we left, we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, we had been there for 30 minutes before it started raining on us. We took shelter in a nearby pub and got crème brulee! It is one of my favorite desserts, so I had been so excited to try an authentic French one. It was delicious! After hanging out there for a while, we went back to The Louvre and were able to see the Mona Lisa. It is REALLY small. That’s really all I have to say about it because honestly, it wasn’t that exciting. I don’t know what all the fuss is about! After The Louvre, we made a quick stop by the Moulin Rouge to take some pictures. That night we decided to hang out at the hostel’s bar because we had a super early flight on Saturday morning to come home. Not that it mattered, because we ended up missing our flight. It was the worst experience ever, but for now, I’ll end this post as: to be continued…
Ciao!
London
LONDON
Once we landed at our airport, we realized we were not actually in London yet, but a city nearby called Gatwick. We had to take a shuttle for 40 minutes to London, and then navigate our way through the Underground metro system and find our way to Golders Green, where our hotel was. It was dark by the time we got to our hotel but we were determined to not waste any time. We quickly called a cab and went to Leicester Square (the huge party square) to try to find a place to go that night. We ended up getting a really cool, young cab driver named Peynum who told us all the good places to go out. Of course, as soon as we got out of the cab we were harassed by club “promoters” who were trying to get us to go to their clubs. Since we didn’t actually know where to go, we ended up listening to this random guy and went to a place called Storm. What a mistake. It was terrible. Needless to say, we ended our night somewhat early and went back to the hotel.
On Sunday we visited the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Tower of London. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside of Westminster (closed on Sundays) and didn’t want to pay 20 pounds to get into the Tower of London. We just enjoyed ourselves and walked around all day exploring. Westminster is HUGE! I did not realize how massive it was until I was standing next to it. The London Bridge was definitely my favorite part of that day, though. It was so pretty and somewhat warm that day which made strolling across the bridge very relaxing. That night we decided to stay in so we could catch up on some much needed sleep.
On Monday we went to a famous pub for lunch called “Dirty Dick’s” and got cheeseburgers and a beer. My Dad would be so proud of me because I actually drank a dark ale, instead of a light beer! Shout out to you Dad! Monday night was our favorite night in London. We went to a club at the top of a building called “The Penthouse” which was actually the club Peynum had told us to go to in the first place. At first it wasn’t too crowded because it was a Monday night, but by the end of the night it was a ton of fun. The bouncers loved that we were from America (and especially that I was from California) and eventually let us into the VIP section! We had so much fun just dancing and goofing off. We ended up meeting two really nice boys named James and Lawrence. We hung out and danced with them until the wee hours of the morning.
Because we had been out so late the night before, we got a very late start on Tuesday. We did get to see Abbey Road, Westminster at night, and ride the metro all around London. The three of us had a blast at Abbey Road (the famous crosswalk on the cover of the Beatles album). At first we couldn’t find it, thinking it was on a small road. Boy, were we wrong. Abbey Road is so busy! Not with tourists, but with cars flying by. It took us so long to take a few pictures walking across the crosswalk because we had to wait for a break in the traffic. Eventually a nice American family showed up and offered to take a picture of all of us and we finally got our perfect picture. They also took a video of us singing “Hey Jude” while crossing. We looked like such tourists, but we didn’t care because we were having so much fun!
That night we didn’t want to go out because we wanted to wake up early to see Buckingham Palace before catching our train to Paris, but we had been dying to go to the Icebar London. We went for a 45 minute session at this Icebar. Just as you'd imagine, everything is made out of ice! The walls, seats, floors, bar, even cups! It was a really cool experience.
Wednesday morning we took the Underground, or “The Tube” as the locals call it, to Buckingham Palace. We were taking a bunch of pictures outside of the palace when a group of about 14 people riding horses started trotting down the road. Well, right in from of the palace doesn’t look like a road, but apparently it is, and can you guess who was right in the way? We were, of course. We were all so confused about which direction the horse people were trying to go that at one point the main lady yelled to Colleen, “Get out of the way! You’re gonna get MASHED”! We were all dying of laughter for a good 10 minutes. After taking a few more pictures, we got on our train that brought us from London to Paris.
"Get out of the way! You're gonna get MASHED"!
London turned out being my favorite city I've been to so far. It was also a plus that everyone spoke English and were able to understand us :) I'm contemplating finding a job there and moving!
Once we landed at our airport, we realized we were not actually in London yet, but a city nearby called Gatwick. We had to take a shuttle for 40 minutes to London, and then navigate our way through the Underground metro system and find our way to Golders Green, where our hotel was. It was dark by the time we got to our hotel but we were determined to not waste any time. We quickly called a cab and went to Leicester Square (the huge party square) to try to find a place to go that night. We ended up getting a really cool, young cab driver named Peynum who told us all the good places to go out. Of course, as soon as we got out of the cab we were harassed by club “promoters” who were trying to get us to go to their clubs. Since we didn’t actually know where to go, we ended up listening to this random guy and went to a place called Storm. What a mistake. It was terrible. Needless to say, we ended our night somewhat early and went back to the hotel.
On Sunday we visited the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Bridge, and the Tower of London. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside of Westminster (closed on Sundays) and didn’t want to pay 20 pounds to get into the Tower of London. We just enjoyed ourselves and walked around all day exploring. Westminster is HUGE! I did not realize how massive it was until I was standing next to it. The London Bridge was definitely my favorite part of that day, though. It was so pretty and somewhat warm that day which made strolling across the bridge very relaxing. That night we decided to stay in so we could catch up on some much needed sleep.
On Monday we went to a famous pub for lunch called “Dirty Dick’s” and got cheeseburgers and a beer. My Dad would be so proud of me because I actually drank a dark ale, instead of a light beer! Shout out to you Dad! Monday night was our favorite night in London. We went to a club at the top of a building called “The Penthouse” which was actually the club Peynum had told us to go to in the first place. At first it wasn’t too crowded because it was a Monday night, but by the end of the night it was a ton of fun. The bouncers loved that we were from America (and especially that I was from California) and eventually let us into the VIP section! We had so much fun just dancing and goofing off. We ended up meeting two really nice boys named James and Lawrence. We hung out and danced with them until the wee hours of the morning.
Because we had been out so late the night before, we got a very late start on Tuesday. We did get to see Abbey Road, Westminster at night, and ride the metro all around London. The three of us had a blast at Abbey Road (the famous crosswalk on the cover of the Beatles album). At first we couldn’t find it, thinking it was on a small road. Boy, were we wrong. Abbey Road is so busy! Not with tourists, but with cars flying by. It took us so long to take a few pictures walking across the crosswalk because we had to wait for a break in the traffic. Eventually a nice American family showed up and offered to take a picture of all of us and we finally got our perfect picture. They also took a video of us singing “Hey Jude” while crossing. We looked like such tourists, but we didn’t care because we were having so much fun!
That night we didn’t want to go out because we wanted to wake up early to see Buckingham Palace before catching our train to Paris, but we had been dying to go to the Icebar London. We went for a 45 minute session at this Icebar. Just as you'd imagine, everything is made out of ice! The walls, seats, floors, bar, even cups! It was a really cool experience.
Wednesday morning we took the Underground, or “The Tube” as the locals call it, to Buckingham Palace. We were taking a bunch of pictures outside of the palace when a group of about 14 people riding horses started trotting down the road. Well, right in from of the palace doesn’t look like a road, but apparently it is, and can you guess who was right in the way? We were, of course. We were all so confused about which direction the horse people were trying to go that at one point the main lady yelled to Colleen, “Get out of the way! You’re gonna get MASHED”! We were all dying of laughter for a good 10 minutes. After taking a few more pictures, we got on our train that brought us from London to Paris.
"Get out of the way! You're gonna get MASHED"!
London turned out being my favorite city I've been to so far. It was also a plus that everyone spoke English and were able to understand us :) I'm contemplating finding a job there and moving!
Spring Break!
ROMA
The past week was our spring break. Colleen, her friend Brittany from home, and I traveled to Rome, London, and Paris. This week was full of some very high highs and one extreme low. But before I get ahead of myself, let me fill you in on each place separately.
On Thursday night after classes, Colleen and I took the train from Orvieto to Rome and met up with Brittany at the hotel we were staying at. Colleen and Brittany were so excited to reunite- they SCREAMED when they first saw each other! We all knew spring break was going to be great from that moment on. Since Brittany had just flown in from the U.S. we didn’t do much the first night except go see the Colosseum (which was very close to where we were staying), indulge ourselves with some gelato, and ended the night by going to a cute, but empty, bar.
The next day was when we did the major sightseeing including the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and walking around the shopping district. That night we were planning on going to a club called Mood, but it was closed so we made a last minute decision to try out another club called Gilda. Wow. This place was insane! First, the bouncer who let us in turned out to be from Redondo Beach- what a small world. Once we were inside we went straight to the dance floor and danced the night away. It was so much fun because they were playing a ton of American music that we loved and were able to dance to. We had so much fun that we were the last people in the club! I’m dead serious. The bouncers came up to us and told us to get out because it was a few minutes past 5:00 am and that’s when the club closed. As soon as we got home we took a little nap and woke early to catch our flight to London. That night in Rome was one of my favorite nights of Spring Break. I can’t wait to go back to Gilda.
The bouncers we met at Gilda!
At the Trevi Fountain
The past week was our spring break. Colleen, her friend Brittany from home, and I traveled to Rome, London, and Paris. This week was full of some very high highs and one extreme low. But before I get ahead of myself, let me fill you in on each place separately.
On Thursday night after classes, Colleen and I took the train from Orvieto to Rome and met up with Brittany at the hotel we were staying at. Colleen and Brittany were so excited to reunite- they SCREAMED when they first saw each other! We all knew spring break was going to be great from that moment on. Since Brittany had just flown in from the U.S. we didn’t do much the first night except go see the Colosseum (which was very close to where we were staying), indulge ourselves with some gelato, and ended the night by going to a cute, but empty, bar.
The next day was when we did the major sightseeing including the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and walking around the shopping district. That night we were planning on going to a club called Mood, but it was closed so we made a last minute decision to try out another club called Gilda. Wow. This place was insane! First, the bouncer who let us in turned out to be from Redondo Beach- what a small world. Once we were inside we went straight to the dance floor and danced the night away. It was so much fun because they were playing a ton of American music that we loved and were able to dance to. We had so much fun that we were the last people in the club! I’m dead serious. The bouncers came up to us and told us to get out because it was a few minutes past 5:00 am and that’s when the club closed. As soon as we got home we took a little nap and woke early to catch our flight to London. That night in Rome was one of my favorite nights of Spring Break. I can’t wait to go back to Gilda.
The bouncers we met at Gilda!
At the Trevi Fountain
Milan & Venice
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
2 weekends ago we took an overnight field trip to Milan...during FASHION WEEK!!!! We got to see a ton of fashion shows, models and stunning clothes. While we were walking around during the day, we passed teh Giorgio Armani store with tons of paparazzi outside of it. When we asked who was in there, they said "it's him, it's him!" So either Giorgio or Armani was in the store, but we didn't feel like waiting to see him and continued on our way. Colleen, Drew, Alec and I stopped for drinks at a cute cafe facing the cathedral and the main fashion tent. It was a great view. Later that day we went to a dress museum, famous for the designer's embroidery. There were about 20 dresses on display and at one point the designer himself walked in! (I didn't catch his name though). We weren't allowed to go out that night so we weren't able to experience Milan nightlife- we were all VERY upset about that. The next morning we walked through a really cool modern art museum, with tons of things to see. Some exhibits were interactive and we were able to take things from them and bring them home with us. I have to say the best part of the museum was the hat exhibit. It took up an entire story and was dedicated to hats in film. They had different rooms showing clips from movies of all the famous characters (Italian, American, French, etc.) wearing hats. It was really neat! After that museum we left for Orvieto.
A bunch of classmates and I went to Venice for the Italian Carnevale celebration. Carnevale is explained as a mix between Mardi Gras and Halloween, and is apparently the BEST in Venice, so of course, we had to go! Well. Getting to Venice that night after our classes was quite a disastor. Our train was running 10 minutes late, so when we had to switch trains in Bologna we literally has 30 seconds to sprint across the station to our new one. And of course, it had to be the furthest one away. I don't know how, but we made it just in time.
Because Carnevale in Venice is the best of the best, hotel room prices are jacked way up for the weekend. We had all decided to get 2 three person rooms but fit 6 people into each of them. We figured since it was a hotel, it would be crowded and not difficult to sneak people in. Well, we were wrong. As half of us waited in the freezing rain for the others to come get us one by one, we realized the hotel was VERY small. There was no way we'd all get to sneak in, especially since it was about 11:30pm and there wasn't anyone else in the lobby to distract the concierge. Drew, Alec, Colleen and I were on the verge of frostbite, so we decided to go into the lobby and tell the front desk we were staying at a different hotel and were coming to get our other friends. He freaked out on us and wouldn't even let us go upstairs. We had to sit in the lobby without speaking and wait for our friends to come get us. That's when we realized we were not going to have any luck sneaking in, at least not that night. Luckily, I had brought my handy-dandy "Let's Go Italy" book with me that had a bunch of hotels and hostels phone numbers in it for the major cities in Italy. We called a hostel and got a room for the four of us for 40 euros a night.
While we were walking around Venice trying to locate this hostel, it started to rain even harder. We looed like fools with no umbrellas and our suitcases trying to stay dry. After about 45 minutes of searching, the man from the hostel came and met up with us and brought us back to the hostel. Thank God he did, because there is no way we would have ever found it. It was impossible to get to. But finally we were inside our room and beginning to dry off. We asked the man if we could stay that night (Thursday) and Friday night, but he said Friday was booked. So when we woke up the next morning, I whipped out my handy-dandy book and we started calling around for a place to stay. Eventually we got a 4 person room at a hotel for 30 euros a night. Score!
We made our way to the hotel, dropped our things off, and went around to sightsee. Venice was absolutely beautiful! The famous Rialto bridge was packed with tourists, as well as the water buses. We went to the Piazza della San Marco to get masks and watch the opera performances on the stage set up there. One thing we weren't expecting was the costumes. Sure, we knew people would be dressed up like Halloween, but these costumes were insane! They were elaborate dresses from the 1800s with masks, hair done up, and tons of makeup. Most of them were so pretty, but there were a few really creepy ones.
For lunch we let ourselves splurge a little and had a sit down meal. My four cheese Gnocchi dish was AMAZING. Words cannot describe. Colleen's shrimp fettucini plate was equally good. Then to top it off Colleen and I split a slice of Tiramasu. It was the best I've ever had, and I'm sure nothing else will ever top it. After that meal we headed back to our hotel to get ready to go out that night.
Our hotel neighbor was a woman by herself, who was sleeping at 4 in the afternoon! We were talking and laughing while getting ready and she decided that she would come to our room and let herself in, yell at us that we were "not the only guests in this hotel" and that we needed to "SHUT UP"! Umm, excuse me, but it was 4pm! We weren't even being overly loud. She put a huge damper on our evening since we had to whisper in our own room just so she could take a nap. Ugh.
Once we were ready to go out we wanted to meet up with the rest of the group, so we took the water bus to their hotel, but they had already left. From there, a girl Allison talked on the phone with me for 30min directing us to where they were. When we finally got the bar they were all at, we were cold and not in very good moods. There is ONE club in Venice (this city is NOT known for their nightlife) and we went with a big group of people to it. Once we got there they were charging a 10 euro cover charge which me and Colleen did not want to pay.
By this point we just wanted to go home. Somewhere along the way we had lost Drew and Alec so we had to venture home on our own. Venice was pretty deserted at this time of night so when we would see people we would just ask them "Rialto?" and they would laugh and point to the direction we needed to go and say "keeeeeeeeeep going". After 45 minutes of walking we finally found the bridge. From there we knew how to actually get back to our hotel but it was so cold outside and we were in such bad moods. When a water taxi guy pulled up and asked if we needed a ride, we asked how much and he said 14 euros, so 7 each. In the situation we were in, it sounded like a good deal because the water bus was about 5 euros to take and we would have to wait in the cold for a long time until it came to get us. Colleen and I jumped in the taxi and 5 minutes later we were at our stop. I handed him a 20 and said "change". He looked at me and laughed. "I said 40 euros, not 14". WHAT?!?!?!?! Colleen and I freaked out on him saying that he definitely said 14, but he kept saying things like "no, I speak good English. This is my living, my work". I asked him to explain to me why a 5 minute ride was worth 40 euros, but he never gave us an explanation. I told him the 20 was all I had (I actually had 35 total, but I didn't want to give it to him). He said that it was ok and he would just walk us to our hotel, tell the concierge not to let us check out before he came back the next morning for the rest, or he could just call the police. Well after he said that, I gave him 15 more and showed him that it was literally all I had. He had 35, why would he need more? He snatched it out of my hand and told us to leave. We left early the next morning to catch our train home.
Carnevale is NOT like Mardi Gras. It is not a big party in the streets, it is just people dressed up in costumes who go to sleep at 10:00. It was nothing like what we were expecting, and got completely ripped off. All in all, it was not a successful trip. The only up side is that we got to see the beautiful city and ended up paying less than the other people despite our troubles the first night. I have also learned a VERY important lesson: always take public transportation over taxis.
Tomorrow is my last midterm and then Colleen and I are off to Rome, London, and Paris with her friend Brittany for Spring Break! I can't imagine all the fun we will have. Until then, Ciao!
A bunch of classmates and I went to Venice for the Italian Carnevale celebration. Carnevale is explained as a mix between Mardi Gras and Halloween, and is apparently the BEST in Venice, so of course, we had to go! Well. Getting to Venice that night after our classes was quite a disastor. Our train was running 10 minutes late, so when we had to switch trains in Bologna we literally has 30 seconds to sprint across the station to our new one. And of course, it had to be the furthest one away. I don't know how, but we made it just in time.
Because Carnevale in Venice is the best of the best, hotel room prices are jacked way up for the weekend. We had all decided to get 2 three person rooms but fit 6 people into each of them. We figured since it was a hotel, it would be crowded and not difficult to sneak people in. Well, we were wrong. As half of us waited in the freezing rain for the others to come get us one by one, we realized the hotel was VERY small. There was no way we'd all get to sneak in, especially since it was about 11:30pm and there wasn't anyone else in the lobby to distract the concierge. Drew, Alec, Colleen and I were on the verge of frostbite, so we decided to go into the lobby and tell the front desk we were staying at a different hotel and were coming to get our other friends. He freaked out on us and wouldn't even let us go upstairs. We had to sit in the lobby without speaking and wait for our friends to come get us. That's when we realized we were not going to have any luck sneaking in, at least not that night. Luckily, I had brought my handy-dandy "Let's Go Italy" book with me that had a bunch of hotels and hostels phone numbers in it for the major cities in Italy. We called a hostel and got a room for the four of us for 40 euros a night.
While we were walking around Venice trying to locate this hostel, it started to rain even harder. We looed like fools with no umbrellas and our suitcases trying to stay dry. After about 45 minutes of searching, the man from the hostel came and met up with us and brought us back to the hostel. Thank God he did, because there is no way we would have ever found it. It was impossible to get to. But finally we were inside our room and beginning to dry off. We asked the man if we could stay that night (Thursday) and Friday night, but he said Friday was booked. So when we woke up the next morning, I whipped out my handy-dandy book and we started calling around for a place to stay. Eventually we got a 4 person room at a hotel for 30 euros a night. Score!
We made our way to the hotel, dropped our things off, and went around to sightsee. Venice was absolutely beautiful! The famous Rialto bridge was packed with tourists, as well as the water buses. We went to the Piazza della San Marco to get masks and watch the opera performances on the stage set up there. One thing we weren't expecting was the costumes. Sure, we knew people would be dressed up like Halloween, but these costumes were insane! They were elaborate dresses from the 1800s with masks, hair done up, and tons of makeup. Most of them were so pretty, but there were a few really creepy ones.
For lunch we let ourselves splurge a little and had a sit down meal. My four cheese Gnocchi dish was AMAZING. Words cannot describe. Colleen's shrimp fettucini plate was equally good. Then to top it off Colleen and I split a slice of Tiramasu. It was the best I've ever had, and I'm sure nothing else will ever top it. After that meal we headed back to our hotel to get ready to go out that night.
Our hotel neighbor was a woman by herself, who was sleeping at 4 in the afternoon! We were talking and laughing while getting ready and she decided that she would come to our room and let herself in, yell at us that we were "not the only guests in this hotel" and that we needed to "SHUT UP"! Umm, excuse me, but it was 4pm! We weren't even being overly loud. She put a huge damper on our evening since we had to whisper in our own room just so she could take a nap. Ugh.
Once we were ready to go out we wanted to meet up with the rest of the group, so we took the water bus to their hotel, but they had already left. From there, a girl Allison talked on the phone with me for 30min directing us to where they were. When we finally got the bar they were all at, we were cold and not in very good moods. There is ONE club in Venice (this city is NOT known for their nightlife) and we went with a big group of people to it. Once we got there they were charging a 10 euro cover charge which me and Colleen did not want to pay.
By this point we just wanted to go home. Somewhere along the way we had lost Drew and Alec so we had to venture home on our own. Venice was pretty deserted at this time of night so when we would see people we would just ask them "Rialto?" and they would laugh and point to the direction we needed to go and say "keeeeeeeeeep going". After 45 minutes of walking we finally found the bridge. From there we knew how to actually get back to our hotel but it was so cold outside and we were in such bad moods. When a water taxi guy pulled up and asked if we needed a ride, we asked how much and he said 14 euros, so 7 each. In the situation we were in, it sounded like a good deal because the water bus was about 5 euros to take and we would have to wait in the cold for a long time until it came to get us. Colleen and I jumped in the taxi and 5 minutes later we were at our stop. I handed him a 20 and said "change". He looked at me and laughed. "I said 40 euros, not 14". WHAT?!?!?!?! Colleen and I freaked out on him saying that he definitely said 14, but he kept saying things like "no, I speak good English. This is my living, my work". I asked him to explain to me why a 5 minute ride was worth 40 euros, but he never gave us an explanation. I told him the 20 was all I had (I actually had 35 total, but I didn't want to give it to him). He said that it was ok and he would just walk us to our hotel, tell the concierge not to let us check out before he came back the next morning for the rest, or he could just call the police. Well after he said that, I gave him 15 more and showed him that it was literally all I had. He had 35, why would he need more? He snatched it out of my hand and told us to leave. We left early the next morning to catch our train home.
Carnevale is NOT like Mardi Gras. It is not a big party in the streets, it is just people dressed up in costumes who go to sleep at 10:00. It was nothing like what we were expecting, and got completely ripped off. All in all, it was not a successful trip. The only up side is that we got to see the beautiful city and ended up paying less than the other people despite our troubles the first night. I have also learned a VERY important lesson: always take public transportation over taxis.
Tomorrow is my last midterm and then Colleen and I are off to Rome, London, and Paris with her friend Brittany for Spring Break! I can't imagine all the fun we will have. Until then, Ciao!
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