Europe . Italy . Venice: Ahhhh... getting lost in the streets of Venice

Sunday, September, 24th, 2006

We found out the first bus to our campground that we booked for our stay in Venice, Camping Alba D Oro, leaves the bus depot at 9:30am so we checked in and dropped off our bags. We then wandered around the city checking out the piazzas (squares that have cool statues, stores, etc). We found Campo San Margherita, a well known square that has a place called "Il Doge" which our travel guide told us is known for selling the best gelato in Venice so of course we had to try some. I had the classic lemon flavour and Tyler had strawberry, both were delicious. I´ve never had gelato before so I couldn´t compare how it tasted but it was so good, it made me hooked on gelato. In fact, we went back for seconds later that night (although we shared a Nutella flavoured one that time).

We strolled around the streets of Venice and had fun getting lost, I think even the compass was confused as it was no help at all. We took a special delight in seeing fellow travellers who had proper maps (ours was the free one from our campsite) and were still looking as lost as we were. The scenery in Venice was beautiful, we fell in love with it. And the water was a very nice green colour, it didn´t look dirty at all, although we were told it was because we weren´t there in the humid, summer weather. It didn´t smell at all either and it wasn´t crowded so we picked the perfect time to go there. All the places had tiny doors to get into (well, the houses anyway, not the stores) so they made me feel super tall. We spent most of the afternoon looking in various shops that we walked by. Tyler was drawn to the papier mache\wooden masks that were handcrafted and used for Carnivale or decoration. They were beautiful and came in any shape or creature that you can imagine. It would be awesome to come back during Carnivale.

I was smitten with all the jewellery stores. Venice is famous for its glass (Venetian glass) and excelled in making beautiful jewellerz out of its glass. If I was rich I would have gone crazy with buying everything, but I´m not rich so that ended the fantasy. I do love to look though.

We met some nice ladies from Alberta while waiting for our shuttle bus back to the campsite. They showed us the secret way of getting to the front of the line and getting a seat on the bus. Very helpful information.

-Disoriented Jenny-

FACTOID: Venice is known as "the most serene republic" (Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia). Sharing the title is the band: "The Most Serene Republic".