Three days in Venice is nowhere near enough

You see it in movies, you read about it, you see photos, but still nothing prepares you for the wonders of Venezia (Venice). It is absolutely amazing. Part of you thinks that maybe it's not actually real, and actually I'm still not sure if it is.

There's something completely surreal about wandering around streets where there are no cars, no scooters, no bicycles, no ambulances, no police cars. The roads are canals and the emergency services, taxis, buses and general transport are all via boat. It's an amazing place - the most unique place we have ever seen, and probably ever will see, again.

The reason we haven't written sooner is twofold - firstly, we've been so enthralled with Venice that we haven't been able to stop long enough to bear going inside as opposed to roaming around endlessly, getting ourselves lost and finding where we are again, and secondly because internet cafes were 7 euros an hour as opposed to the 2 euros an hour we've become accustomed to.

We stayed in an apartment, which was surprisingly cheaper than a hotel room, and it was so good to be able to cook real food again (especially considering Venice is the most expensive city in Italy). Our first day we walked around for a bit, found Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge, then went to the supermarket and bought up big on beer, wine, and groceries. You can't imagine how good it is to cook again after eating out at least once a day for more than a month - all we made was pasta with tomato sauce, chilli and basil and it was one of our best meals of the holiday! That's probably an exaggeration, but it really was such a relief that we couldn't get enough of it.

The following morning, after three weeks of croissants and sweet crap for breakfast, we had scrambled eggs, proscuitto and toast, followed by yoghurt and all bran and it rocked. We also made our own coffee, which, sadly, was better than the majority of the coffee we've had all over Europe (another realisation - coffee in Australia is actually better than in Italy).

That day we pretty much wandered all day with our mouths hanging open in amazement. We started by booking our train to Vienna, then we went to the ghetto which was the place that the Venetian Jews were forced to live before they were herded to their deaths at concentration camps. It was just a square, but it was kind of moving as well - there were plaques and you could kind of picture what it would have been like to live in a trapped community. At some stage we went back to our apartment and had leftover pasta for lunch (yum), then we set out again with the intention of getting purposely lost. We tried to get to some public gardens and then there was a huge thunderstorm and it pissed down with rain. We sheltered under an awning for a while waiting for it to stop, then eventually gave up and tried to walk out anyway. Finding that the rain was much heavier than we'd thought, we stopped under a canopy until the sun came out and the rain almost stopped and we ventured out again. As if all this wasn't enough, we were then pelted by huge pellets of hail, at which time we were luckily in front of a cafe, so we went in for a beer. Here we stayed for an hour or more talking to a fellow Australian who was also stranded there until the rain cleared up. By then the rain seemed to be gone for good so we headed back to our apartment, stopping on the way to buy some fish for dinner. Predictably, while we were in the supermarket it again started pissing down, but knowing we were close to home we decided to brave it anyway. Bunches of locals were lining the streets under awnings and laughing at us as we ran up the street in the pouring rain getting completely drenched, but we made it to our apartment for nice hot showers and a fantastic dinner of roast potatoes, salmon with lemon butter sauce and rocket and cherry tomato salad. Sound good? It was fantastic and it cost us about 5 euros.

We had originally intended to hit the town that night, but the rain persisted and we were so comfortable that we just stayed in and had a quiet one.

The next day (yesterday) we got up early and rushed down to San Marco Square (the biggest tourist area in Venice - a huge square with beautiful architecture and a massive church surrounding it). I was dubious about the lack of tourists but there was hardly anyone there and the morning sun was so beautiful, so we took shitloads of photos and eventually headed very slowly back to our apartment for breakfast, photographing all the way. We had another great breakfast of friend eggs on toast and cereal, then spent hours on the water bus to go to Lido, an island off Venice. Unfortunately Lido was a bit poo, with the promised beaches being rather crap. We salvaged the trip by having relatively good pizzas for lunch (our first paid meal in Venice), then we got back on the boat and went back to the mainland, walked through the gardens we'd missed the day before, then went back to the apartment for a bit of a rest.

After our big lunch we skipped dinner and finally went out to catch a bit of the Venice nightlife. We went to a swanky bar first where we were conducted to a table by a blonde woman who looked more like a hooker than a waitress and bought overpriced drinks and waited for half an hour for the bill before we pissed off as quickly as possible in search of a jazz bar George had spied two days before. Not accustomed to seeing Venice at night, we got lost for a while before finally finding the bar, which turned out to be closed on Wednesdays, and then gave up and went back to the apartment. Unfortunately I'd somehow hurt my back so was not altogether displeased to end the night with an Averna (Italian liquer, $50 a bottle in Adelaide, €9.90 in Venice).

Today was to be our first long haul journey, 8 hours to Vienna, and it was surprisingly bearable, especially when you consider that we were sharing our 6 person cabin with 4 loud Americans. Apart from being a bit loud, they turned out to be totally decent people (amazing enough). We spend the first half of the journey comparing our various cultural practices, which was surprisingly interesting, and then they shared their junk food with us, and then we discovered the drinks trolley served beer, and then we shared our pre-purchased bottle of red with them, and by the time we pulled into Wien we were thoroughly jolly and well aquainted.

We then got a cab to our hotel, dumped our crap and here we are filling you in before we go our for a Viennese dinner. We're now staying here for four days rather than going to Salzburg for two and here for two, so from now we have a minimum of three days in each place, which is quite comforting. Sunday we go to the Spanish Riding School; I can't wait!

We've come to the conclusion that one month is quite long enough for travelling: homesickness has settled in - we're missing Jedi (our dog), our house, our friends and family and I'd just about kill to ride a horse right now. I know the rest of the holiday is going to disappear so fast and I don't want to wish it away, but we've realised how good Australia is, particularly Adelaide (yes, laugh at your will, but try to deny we have it good). We've had no food that is as good or better than good Adelaide food and we crave a bit of order after risking our lives on Italian streets for the last week or two. We may well find that in Vienna and Germany: we'll see.

On that note, we should probably find some dinner. This has become rather long, but I didn't want to leave anything of Venice out.

Conclusion on Italy: if you've got a week or two, skip Rome unless you have a hankering to see the ancient Roman stuff - it is fascinating, but you have a shitload of tourists to contend with, a lot of grime and filth, crazy drivers and quite rude serving staff. Florence is better, but still with the crazy tourist shit. A great base for seeing Tuscany, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world in our opinion. So do that too. And do a Tuscany bike tour, it rocks, even if you're afraid of riding bikes (you'll get over it) and riding through vineyards and olive groves is well worth the physical effort (which is kind of essential in Italy anyway with all the olive oil in everything). Also Venice is an absolute must. Yes, it's expensive, but staying in an apartment makes it worthwhile and you'll never see a more amazing place in your life. It's just incredible. We took more photos there than we've taken just about anywhere!

Speaking of which, we're in the process of uploading photos from Barcelona to Venice into individual albums, so check out the link in the last post. I hope it works - we've had issues finding places that allow it, but there are plenty to peruse if you're keen. I hope you enjoy - sorry about the extreme length of this post.

And from Vienna - prost!!