Ahh
Venice... After an excruciating 12 hour journey in the most
uncomfortable bus in the world we arrived at the best camp site
Europe had to offer! (it may not be the case but if you compared it
to the others this place was amazing!). We arrived a little later
than expected as our driver – Pete the Slovakian who we love –
got lost and added a fabulous 2 hours to our already long journey...
But we did get the chance to have a quick stop over in Verona – to
see the famous balcony of Romeo and Juliet.
Regardless we were so
happy to finally be off the bus and as you can imagine we were a
little flat when we arrived but this was short lived.. The campsite
had 6 other contiki groups staying and the bar and nightclub that was
located here was pumping. To lift everyones spirits the site managers
put on a contiki Olympics – it wasn't too out of control and was
hilarious fun with events such as sumo suit wrestling, tug-of-war,
best abs, boat racing and (unfortunately) a wet t-shirt
competition,,, Neither Dan or I competed (thank god) and it was a
good night... We had a full day in Venice to look forward to tomorrow
so there were not too many shenanigans had.
We
arrived in Venice early and it was everything I had expected.. We
started the tour with a lace making demonstrating (Dan loved this so
much I couldn't pull him away from the traditional venetian lace
shop.... ok.... lots of sarcasm inserted here LOL... I don't know why
they both to take 34 young people to a lace shop but anyhow....) The
group then ventured to a glass blowing demo – now this was
incredible, the master glass blower made a vase and horse in seconds
and they were stunning... The SCOTs (the team – Serious Couples on
Tour) set off together for a serious day put in Venice. We had a
quick stop over at MacDonald's (its terrible I know but the fries
were to die for!) which was conveniently located at the base of the
magnificent St Mark's Basilica. The line to get in was enormous but
out tour leader let us in on a little secret, if you go and check
your bag you get a card that allows you to skip the line – which we
did checking in an bag with an empty water bottle and in seconds were
in the most amazing church! The interior is completely covered with
mosaics and when the sun filters in – it lights up in the most
amazing golden glow – this is a trip highlight for me – I loved
it so so much! You are not allowed to take photos but Dan had a few
sneaky moves up his sleeve so that we could share the beauty...
We
then headed through the streets to get to Rialto Bridge. No cars are
allowed in Venice therefore the only way you can get around is by
foot or Gondola. Its an incredible place, the streets had no order
and it is almost as if you are walking through a labyrinth... We did
not get lost surprisingly... There are so many little walking
bridges, amazing streets lined with fabulous Italian restaurants and
cafes and so so many high end fashion stores...
We
stopped off at what looked to be a fairly inexpensive restaurant
however we almost died when we received the bill – Dans coke was
4.10 Euro ($8 AU), our two pizzas cost 23 Euro ($46 AU) and we were
also charged for the bread that was put on the table. Heidi asked for
an anti pesto plate and almost died when they charged her a whopping
33 Euro ($66) for a little bit of ham, salami, tomato and cheese –
so the meal cost the six off us 103 Euro – we didn't tip a euro
cent, it was delicious but frightening for those on a budget! After
that excitement we spent the afternoon wandering through the
beautiful streets and sat by the water watching the gondolas creep by
– We love Venice!!!! To finish up the amazing day we had a gondola
ride with the team whilst enjoying delicious Italian Champagne..
The
6 of us were arranged in such a way that ensured we wouldn't rock the
boat so I was sat up the front and Dan next to Jeff in the lovers
seats at the back, it didn't bother us too much that we weren't
together, it was still very romantic...
Tomorrow we are off again to
Florence however had a short stop over at the famous leaning tower of
Pisa!
