I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks since Alexander's family and I went to Venezia for three days and three nights! It was amazingly gorgeous and we were very lucky with beautful weather. The trip was in celebration of Alex's mother's 50th birthday, felicidades Rosa! We stayed in a quaint hotel on a bustlsing passageway in the main area of Venice. Here's a quick shot of the hotel, nestled in between a few restaurants and other small hotels...
The only downside to our wonderfully situated hotel was the tease of wi-fi! As most of us are used to unlimited free internet in the states, the wi-fi in our hotel was 5€ per hour! There was no way we were paying that...so we went to McDonalds of course!
On that same note, I found that really, NOTHING is free in Europe (especially Venice)....we were required to pay a "city tax" of three euros per person, per night that we were there. I understand that they are struggling financially, but it seems counter-productive to charge tourists that you want to return to your country again. I'm sure that most of the money that we spent went to the actual vendors and restaurant owners, but maybe the government should look at their tax policies? I'm no expert, but it sort of bothered all of us to pay those extra few euros.
For three days, we picked a few beautiful areas to walk towards, such as St.Mark's square. We mostly explored the inside of restaurants and stores. The souveniers and food were amazing the first day, but walking around for the next two days, we realized that it was all mostly the same. Of course there was a range of quality, but seeing the exact same purses and various glass products were exactly the same! Also, the owners of the stores were mostly Asian, which was sort of surprising. We did find out (the hard way) that Asian-owned restaurants and cafes were far from authentic, as you will see from some of my photos.
Speaking of food, I grew up going to a wonderful Itlalian restaurant near my home where my sisters and I would always order Fetticini Alfredo (and a bowl of giant black pearl olives :) ) and so naturally, while in Italy, I was on the look out for my favorite childhood dish. On the last night, we chose a restaurant that had been in the same family for 3 generations (and had a fetticini alfredo special!). And while I had to wait about 10 minutes more than the others, it was without a doubt the best fetticini alfredo I have ever tasted! I was beyond satisfied.
Also on the last night, Alexander and I wanted to explore the night-life of Venice and asked a local vendor if he knew of a local bar or club we could walk to. He shrugged and shook his head "no", but we figured he just didn't understand our English, so we walked around and eventually found some kids our age and asked them, receiving the same answer. We were very surprised...in a city that demands a tax for each night you stay, you would think that they would use every possible way to make money, including through crazy tourists! We concluded that they didn't want the trouble, noise or mess, but we still found kids and some adults partying on the streets and especially the bridges, so we joined! Overall, it was a fun experience, but a pub or two would have been nice...
Here are "a few" pictures so you can get an idea of our trip and my Swedish family! I will post about Sweden in a few days :)
Thanks for reading! Look out for my next post in a few days...we are headed to Stockholm on Saturday, so I will do a "halfway-through-my-trip" post before then.
Also, for those of you that are interested, I will be writing about the Genesee Valley Hunt for the Genesee Sun! I will keep you informed :)
Let me know about your travels and life-backpacks!
Sara
On that same note, I found that really, NOTHING is free in Europe (especially Venice)....we were required to pay a "city tax" of three euros per person, per night that we were there. I understand that they are struggling financially, but it seems counter-productive to charge tourists that you want to return to your country again. I'm sure that most of the money that we spent went to the actual vendors and restaurant owners, but maybe the government should look at their tax policies? I'm no expert, but it sort of bothered all of us to pay those extra few euros.
For three days, we picked a few beautiful areas to walk towards, such as St.Mark's square. We mostly explored the inside of restaurants and stores. The souveniers and food were amazing the first day, but walking around for the next two days, we realized that it was all mostly the same. Of course there was a range of quality, but seeing the exact same purses and various glass products were exactly the same! Also, the owners of the stores were mostly Asian, which was sort of surprising. We did find out (the hard way) that Asian-owned restaurants and cafes were far from authentic, as you will see from some of my photos.
Speaking of food, I grew up going to a wonderful Itlalian restaurant near my home where my sisters and I would always order Fetticini Alfredo (and a bowl of giant black pearl olives :) ) and so naturally, while in Italy, I was on the look out for my favorite childhood dish. On the last night, we chose a restaurant that had been in the same family for 3 generations (and had a fetticini alfredo special!). And while I had to wait about 10 minutes more than the others, it was without a doubt the best fetticini alfredo I have ever tasted! I was beyond satisfied.
Also on the last night, Alexander and I wanted to explore the night-life of Venice and asked a local vendor if he knew of a local bar or club we could walk to. He shrugged and shook his head "no", but we figured he just didn't understand our English, so we walked around and eventually found some kids our age and asked them, receiving the same answer. We were very surprised...in a city that demands a tax for each night you stay, you would think that they would use every possible way to make money, including through crazy tourists! We concluded that they didn't want the trouble, noise or mess, but we still found kids and some adults partying on the streets and especially the bridges, so we joined! Overall, it was a fun experience, but a pub or two would have been nice...
Here are "a few" pictures so you can get an idea of our trip and my Swedish family! I will post about Sweden in a few days :)
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| Landing in Venice! |
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| Bella and Rosa waiting for the bus |
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| Rosa and Håkon |
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| photoshoot... |
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| arrgh |
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| finally in Venice! |
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| Alexander likes to take weird pictures of me... |
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| gorgeous view from the new bridge |
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| more view... |
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| me! |
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| Alexander and I |
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| Gondolas! |
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| 1st meal in Venice |
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| Giant beers! I had to use two hands...haha |
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| pretending.. |
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| tiny Rosa! (can you believe she just turned 50??) |
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| Håkonnnn |
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| It was no Mama Mia's... |
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| Gelato! <3 |
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| can you see the tail? |
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| the water can go up to the second doorway! |
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| lots of these stores...maybe too many |
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| little wakways used by citizens to avoid tourists! haha I think.. |
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| dinner! |
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| my tiny pitcher of sparkling wine! too cute |
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| me and my fooood (carbonara) |
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| Irish Coffee! |
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| it was ridiculously hot out! we gave her a euro or two.. |
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| amazing little cafe |
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| we had to pay 5 euros to sit here..urgh |
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| vendors! |
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| our wonderful driver! he spoke in spanish the whole time for us :) |
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| awesome. |
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| he was really cute...I think Alex got jealous |
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| These windows reminded me of indian archtecture, very pretty. |
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| really authentic restaurant, family lived above it and had three guest books full of great reviews! |
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| my lunch :) |
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| gnocchi! |
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| it saaid "American Snack Bar", but it was all gelato and italian snacks haha |
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| St. Marks Square! |
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| we went inside, it was gorgeous but you had to pay to go anywhere else than the main room...ooh Venice |
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| We tried. |
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| holding hands <3 |
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| yumm...snacks |
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| smoothies! |
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| we were very tired after an entire day of walking.. |
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| I don't remember her name, but she was the mot friendly venetian that I met! (she was from the country of course..) |
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| "Folder Pizza!" |
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| The "new bridge" I previously mentioned |
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| not very clear water... |
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| fruit and veggie boat! |
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| our purchase :) |
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| Alex trying to be artistic.. |
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| No cameras allowed inside...fun though! I bought a lucky penny |
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| hahah |
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| my wonderful boyfriend :) |
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| a postcard! |
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| ...nothing is free in Venice |
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| Solomon! (Jared) |
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| the crew |
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| GIANT calzone at the Asian owned restaurant... |
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| ...very disappointed. |
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| love him. |
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| love her :) |
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| my Fettucini Alfredo! lovvved it |
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| My first Tiramisu-Amazing. |
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| model status. |
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| aaand just a few airplane photos, free wi-fi onboard! |
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| He can sleep anywhere! |
Also, for those of you that are interested, I will be writing about the Genesee Valley Hunt for the Genesee Sun! I will keep you informed :)
Let me know about your travels and life-backpacks!
Sara
