Venice day 1

Entry 8:

I am in Venice now but before I get to that, let me rewind and pick up where I left off yesterday. Last night after writing I went on a date with Anna and Drew (we all got dressed up) to get the infamous Florentine steak. It was HUGE!! We all shared one that was approx 1.5 kilo and came with a salad. We also ordered drunkhard pasta which was basically pasta cooked in red wine with garlic and spicey peppers. It was nice but quite strong. The three of shared a bottle of wine and we had a really nice night.

At 5:30 am Anna left (tear! I really like her and hopefully will see her when/if I go to New Zealand on exchange) and then I got up at about 8 to catch my train out. I finished my book last night The Birth of Venus which took place in Renaissance Florence and I gave it to Anna to read since she had finished her book. At first I didn't want to part with it. I mean, I had offered it to her but I get these funny attachments to things even though I want to be generous with them and I know that even though I really liked the book it would be nicer to give it to her to read. And i was going to push myself to part with it because that was how i wanted to feel but a funny thing happened, as the book wrapped up I felt a certain sense of closure and genuinely wanted to give it to her to read because it was so good. It was almost like i was leaving a part of me with her for the next part of her travels :)

I had bought another book by the same author when I was at uffizi (i jumped on the opportunity to buy an english book - not easy to find in a non english country) and low and behold when I opened it to start it here in Venice, it is another period novel, this time taking place in Venice- go figure!

So i headed out of the hosetl in Florence and hopped a 2 hour train to Venice. On the advice of other travellers I bought a 12 hour water bus pass and decided to spend my first afternoon to see Murano and Burano. I also decided not to buy a map here since hostels often seem to supply their own and the tourist shops charge 2.50 euro. Besides, Lonely Planet warns that regardless of your direction savvy-ness, you will get lost since there are no proper addresses here. Maybe that's why I've been warned not to send any mail from here because Italian post is not so good. Anyways, so I managed to find my way to the hostel based on the directions that were given on the website and I checked in to an EMPTY hostel run by a chinese girl. Well that's not so good for making new friends... or getting advice on the city for that matter either. And they have no maps... Hmmm not what I had hoped for but I will make the best of it. After all the location is great and the price was good. So I pretty quickly resigned myself to 48 hours actually travelling on my own and since I generally enjoy my own company and have a brand new book I am about to crack into, its all good.

So headed out of the hostel to retrace my steps back to the waterbus stop and figure out what routes I needed to take to get t Murano. Murano is a Venetia island which has gained a name through its beautiful hand made glass. SoI ventured around that island and used the 3 or 4 waterbus stops to gain a sense of my orientation. I wandered in and out of stores looking at the glass until everything began to look the same. Too bad I don't have an extra 1000 euro or so because there were some amazing glass bowls and vases and sculptures for sale on this little island.

Next I headed to Faro stop to take the bus to Burano. The sky was beginning to turn from the blue with sun to grey and overcast so I was debating whether to go or not. Its also kinda hard to tell if the grey is rain clouds or ash clouds rolling in so that can be confusing. I decided to go for it even though I was a little tired too. So I caught the waterbus to Burano, another of the Venetian Islands which is famous for its brightly colored houses and lace (very expensive for the real stuff). I didn't stick around Burano for too long, probably about an hour. I bought a delicious pastry from a shop and got my few photos but as Murano had, all the shops started to look the same. Clearly this is an economy run largely on tourism sales.

From there I headed back to the main area of Venice as the weather continued to turn colder. I got off on a different stop and negotiated my way through the winding streets and little bridges back to the area of Rialto where my hostel is. The good thing is that there are signs for different areas so that's at least some help to find your way around. I tried to avoid temptation of going into more shops as the sky was beginning t open up and walking around main venice is my plan for tomorrow (hopefully no rain!)

I got back to the hostel with my dinner (i had found a grocery store in Murano where i took the opportunity to try and get some cheaper food for dinner) So i've had some dinner and done a little reading. I met the only other girl from my 5 bedroom room, a girl named Chony from Argentina. We chatted a little bit and I think we are going to walk around Venice together tomorrow. I have also had a bit more time to talk to the hostess. Her name is Ling and she's from china. She's 25 and married and has a 4 year old daughter who is back in China with her parents. She's hoping to go back soon but has been here with her husband (he's 2 hours away) making and saving money. She pretty much runs the hostel of its owners who live in Florence. She says tomorrow a lot more people are supposed to check in. Tonight hopefully it will be a good quiet sleep as most nights I don't get more than about 5 hours of sleep.

My first impression of Venice was actually that I maybe shouldn't have booked 2 nights here and should go to Paris earlier. It was an interesting first reaction I must admit. I'm not in love with this city yet- probably the least of the 3 I've been to. Not sure how much that has to do with current hostel because I can feel the feeling appeasing as I continue to speak to Chony and Ling. Strange... I guess i am a person who enjoys having other people around more than I realized.

Anyways, it looks like it will rain storm tonight which will hopefully finish by morning so we can have a beautiful dry day tomorrow. Right now Ryan Air has no canceled flights so that is promising for my flight to Paris on friday night.

Enjoy the sunshine