Venice is the most beautiful place I have ever been to! When we stepped out of the train station the Grand Canal was right in front of us and absolutely breathtaking! We arrived in Venice around 8 at night and started our journey of trying to find our hidden hostel. Me, Cam, Amanda, Megan, and Jess went on an hour and half adventure and finally found the headquarters of the hostel where then we were directed to a totally different location where our hostel really was (another 20 minute walk away) Megan and I had crazy biceps by the time we found our room because we had to carry our luggage over all the bridges.
When we got to our apartment/room it was like a scene out of a movie. As we walked up the steps we wondered who are 6th roommate would be. As soon as Amanda opened the door a beautiful tan shirtless Brazilian boy stood unpacking his things. After picking Amanda's jaw off the ground we walked in and introduced ourselves. Gabriel was really cool and just traveling for a couple months by himself. He was very "lonely". We went to bed early that night so we could be well rested and explore Venice wholeheartedly the next day. When we woke up we dropped our stuff off at the office and started to walk to St. Mark's Square. The shopping in Venice was amazing until we realized that all the shops were almost identical. I got to buy a Murano ring and a wine bottle stopper also made of Murano glass. The girls and I stopped on Sandwich Row and had the best sandwich I ever had with eggplant and zucchini.
Venice was full of windy streets that we just explored all day. We followed the Grand Canal and made it to the Rialto Bridge which is one of the biggest bridges in Venice. The views from it were absolutely amazing. Check out my facebook pictures for yourself! After the Bridge we walked along the water and decided it was time to rest. We found a sunny hidden area by the water and rested and took lots of cute pictures. An Italian woman walked by us and asked if she could take pictures of us (we must have been a sight). After catching some sun we decided it was time for a gondola ride. That is when we met 21 year old Sebastian who was gorgeous and super nice. He taught us about his Venetian family legacy and becoming a gondolier. On our boat ride we got to see where Brad and Angelina were staying at the time. He also pointed out where all the VIP gondoliers go to escape the Paparazzi because Johnny Depp was also in town shooting a movie. The ride was fun and quite cold but an amazing experience.
Oh gosh how could I forget about Brek and the amazing place next door to it. If you ever visit Venice go to Brek and to the place next door. We had the most amazing, cheap pasta/pizza/and gelatto! Two nights in a row we ate here because it was so delicious. Both nights the girls and I spent drinking wine and having long talks. Perfect way to end our Venetian vacation.
Venice was filled with lots of laughs, tons of walking, and amazing food. We wanted to spend as much time in Venice as possible so we decided to take the night train to Rome. We probably should have researched it a little more but it ended up working out. When we got to the train station we were able to buy our tickets after some confusion. We waited in the train station pissing off an old guy trying to sleep who would sporadically scream at us in Italian because we were giggling too much. It was an hour and half into our waiting that we all realized we were at the wrong train station to catch the one to Rome. So as panic struck in Amanda and I ran to get help which was no where to be found. I had to talk to the cleaners in Spanish in order to find out that we had to get on any of the trains and get off at the next station to transfer. Amanda and I also had to run throughout the terminal to stamp the tickets before we all got 100 euro fines. It was a swell time! But we did make it to where we had to be THANK GOD! and now for the night train stories and Rome...
