Fiy3ro

masks, masks, everywhere

In our last episode, our heroes (Mom and I) were spending some quality time, and gathering miles in the beautiful city of Milan. Even though we spent 3 days there, I thought there were plenty of things to see, but we covered the basics. Hopped online and looked for train tickets to Venice. Back home we found one for 33 euro/person, but being the lucky people we are (after all we spun around 3 times on the bull’s balls in the Vittorio Emanuelle Gallery’s floor – if you’re ever there, you can’t miss it – people are forming a queue to take a spin) we found a train at half price – true, the trip took an hour more but we weren’t complaining – that time was spent reading (Why do men have nipples)!

We reached the much awaited train station of Mestre and began looking for a ticket machine, to purchase the bus ticket. Well, no such luck. Everywhere you looked, only train tickets were for sale. We had to take the bus to the tram station, then the tram to the hotel. So, we hop on a bus and ask the bus driver about tickets – we had to buy them from him for double the price *insert slight increase in blood pressure*. When we buy the tickets I ask to questions: 1.”Is the tram station far from here?” “Yeeeeeeeeeees” 2.”Will this ticket be available on the tram?” “Yeeeeeeeees”. OK. Off we were. Well, well, well….the tram station was rougly 400 metres from the train station *blood pressure slowly rising*, AND the ticket was not valid for the tram – a kind lady informed us about this when we got on the tram, and we had to go for about 12 stations *blood pressure reaching critical level*. At this time I’ve had enough and start venting to poor Mom, who tried to calm me down. Eventually I just zipped it, and boiled in my anger. We got to the hotel just fine and after a short room change we were settled in. In the evening we were just too exhausted so turned in.

a "street" in Murano

The next day it was time to see Venice. We bought the bus tickets from the cigarette shop (tabaccheria – the place where you find transportation tickets all around Italy) and reached the lagoon. I must admit, at first I wasn’t impressed with Venice – it was super crowded, too many vaporettos, too many people, so I thought “hmmm….here’s my mission to become the first person ever to dislike Venice”. This thought remained with me until we got on the vaporetto to go to San Marco’s Square. During this trip, my mission began to crumble – I loved the architecture, loved the sailing, everything.

The Square was PACKED. You barely had time to click on your camera to get a decent picture without dozens of people in the background. We watched the armies of gondolas sail on the narrow canals of the famous city, saw the great bridges, ate chilled fruit salad (and paid extra since we ate them inside the cafe). The best Venetian experience for me was on Thursday. That day we decided to see the city by night. So, we went shopping – groceries and such, then around 6ish we went to the lagoon. The entire city seemed to change, as if calming down. We visited the island of Murano, place of the famous glass artworks, went to Accademia Bridge, where you can see the famous Santa Maria della Salute church (this view is most frequently used in movies too), admired the love padlocks attached to the railings, and after that we had pizza at a small pizzeria. This was the best pizza ever – not only because it was delicious, but because Mom and I had a heart to heart talk, me sharing with her many of my fears and dreams. She, being the awesomest Mom ever accepted me as I am, and there is no greater gift than that. For this Mom, I thank you from all my heart, and know that I will always love you

Mom and I on Accademia Bridge...in the background, the sunlit church of Santa Maria delle Salute

Venice by night is magical. It definitely has that romantic vibe to it – the narrow streets are full of mystery, there were classical music concerts in San Marco’s Square, not even a quarter of the daytime’s tourist population, there was a slight breeze, full moon – the works! Simply magical!

Friday was spent visiting the Lido (where I bought a pair of jeans and a shirt ), then back to the main island for some more sight seeing and present shopping. By the time we were ready to leave, I was sad to go. Venice has grown on me. I’m not saying I would be back very very soon, but if chance presents itself, I would definitely grab it.

On Saturday, fully packed, we braced ourselves for the last leg of journey – Rome. We made it in good time to the airport, however the check in process was a nightmare – there was no organization whatsoever. There were 4 gates open, for 3 flights – to Rome, Berlin and Paris. In the end, they managed to bring some order, and we barely had time to board the plane and we were off.

Next episode – Rome and what I learned from this trip!