The night before I left for Venezia, I purposely planned not to plan. For those who know me pretty well, I'm just a natural born planner. I tend to plan dinners, parties, get togethers, and pretty much anything you can think of. But I came here to challenge myself and for new experiences. So for my first vacation, I wanted to see Carnevale in Venezia and experience it while it was going on. So I just booked my flight and my first night at a hostel a week before for my 5 day trip for myself. And for the rest of my trip, I would let fate decide. Traveling alone without any real agenda really gave me a sense of true freedom.
After arriving to Venezia, I didn’t even buy a map to find my hostel, Instead, I just put the directions on my Ipod and hoped to find it. Even though it said in bold letters on the website, “It is very easy to get lost in Venezia, so you should take a water taxi.” But that’s just something I couldn’t afford so I just copied down the directions and hoped for the best. I could see how easily it is to get lost in Venezia because some of their small street intersections are literally smaller than the width of my shoulder to shoulder. But I ended up finding the place fairly quickly. The workers at the hostel were really welcoming and nice. However, I felt that there were too many Americans so that annoyed me a little bit, but I didn’t let it get to me. Besides, they shared their alcohol with me so that was very nice of them. Then I met two Brazilian girls at the hostel and decided to just hang out with them the whole time. We all went out to a big plaza which was pretty much full and of all American tourists and rave music… So the Brazilian girls and I weren’t feeling the scene at all so decided to just go to San Marco Square where they had other events going on. When we got there, it was just a giant stage with a play going on and it was kind’ve lame. So we left there and found this street vendor selling “hot dogs” which was pretty much Italian sausage and amazing bread, so we all ordered them. They were also selling bottles of wine for 5 Euros and I couldn’t pass that up, so I got one of those too. As we got to talk, I found out that they were both really into photography and that one has done a little bit of professional work. So we just wandered the streets of Venezia with bottles of wine and hot dogs enjoying each other’s company and conversing about photography. That was probably the most fun I’ve had interacting with foreigners.
My second day in Venezia was also an adventure. I went to San Marco for the opening ceremony of Carnevale which was very short and not really worth it. I think everyone felt the same way because as it ended, everyone rushed for the narrow street exits and we were all jam packed like sardines. It was the largest and most packed I’ve seen a crowd in my life. I just fell limp so that the crowd can push me into the direction of the exit so it wasn’t that bad. It took me about an hour to move about a quarter mile. Anyways, through all that hoopla, I ended up separating from the Brazilian girls and we just went out separate ways. So, I went to find my next hostel and as I was a little hung over looking for my hostel in this other plaza, I hear a faint but sharp voice yelling my name. So I look around for god knows what and I end up seeing one of my classmates who spotted me. Completely by chance, they just happened to be eating lunch right next door to my hostel so after I checked into my hostel and hung out with them for a few hours roaming around Venezia. The day was beautiful and I saw soooo many people dressed up in full costumes and it was very breathtaking. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to take pictures and just enjoy the Carneval scene. So I split up with my classmates just before dinner and went back to my hostel. For dinner, I ate by myself in a local restaurant and had some amazing seafood pasta. This was the first time I’ve eaten by myself at a restaurant during prime time. It was a little different because I kept to myself and the only words I spoke were to my server. I really did enjoy the food very much and had fun doing some people watching in the restaurant. Even though Carnevale wasn’t everything I expected, Venezia was everything I hoped it would be. The seafood was amazing and the city was beautiful at night, especially when no tourists were out. I felt like I had the whole city to myself after 11pm and just took all the sights in. While roaming late at night, I happened to stumble across a restaurant with a piano that was inside, but the back of the piano was protruding form the wall so that people can hear outside. As I was walking by, I saw a lady who had just finished her dinner there playing the piano beautifully so I just stopped in the alley and listened to her play. I could tell she was a little tipsy because she was swaying a lot with the music and her face was a little red, but still played amazingly. It was really something else to see someone play with such passion and joy after having of what must have been a delicious dinner. Great way to end my last late night in Venezia.
The next day, I ended up taking a train to Verona the next morning which ended up being a beautiful day. I didn’t have a place to stay in Verona, so I found a Bed&Breakfast place I kind’ve researched before I got there. They asked for 40 Euros for a night, but I pretty much begged and told them I was a student so I got them to let me stay for 30 Euro. It was located in the heart of Verona, so I didn’t mind shelling out a few extra euros for it. And btw, it was the best place I’ve stayed at throughout my whole stay here in Europe. There were 2 bed which I pushed together to make giant bed, towels and toiletries were accommodated, there were juices and a little bit of food in the fridge, the heater was on all night, and the breakfast they gave me in the morning was delicious. I got to see Castelvecchio which was an amazing castle and museum for gothic to renaissance art. Then I got to see Teatro Roma, which was an amazing amphitheatre and I climbed to Verona’s Top of the World and was BEAUTIFUL. Definitely one of the most breathtaking views I’ve seen in my life, especially at sunset. Then I ended up wandering around and saw Juliet’s balcony and courtyard, yes the Romeo and Juliet balcony, supposedly that is. Then I ended up meeting up with one of my roommates to eat at a restaurant where only locals ate and was amazing. Veal filled ravioli and a Pork Shank with Potato Puree...yumsss. Probably the best meal I’ve had here in Europe so far. Then I went back to try and sleep early so that I could do a few more things in Verona. I woke up early and did a few churches and the archaeological museum and finished before 2pm. So by then I thought I was just about done in Verona, and time to move on to Padova.
I ended up taking a train at 2:30pm and met a random Italian student who lives around Padova and just talked to him with my broken Italian and he responded with this broken English, which was much better than my Italian… He was really fun to talk to and was even nice enough to let me use his laptop and internet on the train to look up what to see in Padova. Then when I arrived in Padova, I had no idea what to see except the on church that my random Italian acquaintance had suggested to me, which was the church of San Antonio. So I just bought a map outside the train station and made my way to that church. I ended up a bus station too far, but ended up in the most beautiful plaza I’ve seen in my life. I enjoyed it for a little while, but the sun was setting so I really needed to find that church before it closed. Then I ended up asking the locals and found the church. When I got to the church and went inside, I noticed the distinctive smell inscents. They were in the middle of mass so that was really fun to experience. It was probably the most decorative and elaborate church I’ve seen so far. Then as I was walking around thinking about what street I should sleep on, this random Chinese guy approached me and noticed I was a tourist also. So we began to talk and I told him I planned on sleeping on a bench tonight and he told me he knew of a youth hostel he was going to stay at. So we found the youth hostel and ended up staying there. While I was at the hostel I met a Romanian and a Brazilian guy, both of which who were very nice. We all exchanged traveling tips and got to know each other a little bit which was a great brief experience. Then the next day, I had to take a train back to Venezia and ended up going to a tiny island called Burano. It was probably the most colorful city I’ve seen in my whole life. I felt like a kid just got a box of Crayola crayons and just went at it with all the houses. Then I ended up eating at a really good restaurant with that random Chinese guy I met at in Padova and then headed back for the airport after sunset.
All in all, I’ve met a handful of amazing people and really enjoyed myself. This adventure was probably the most liberating thing I’ve experienced. I never stressed about trying to look for places or thinking of what to do next. Instead, I just embraced every sporadic moment and really learned a lot of little things, about myself and in general, from traveling on my own. What an adventure this was... Hopefully I'll have many more to come.
