Posted on

Venice – Day 1 (Burano, Torcello and Murano)

Since I arrived so late last night I decided to lay in bed and catch up on a few things. Then I ate some of the complimentary breakfast and realized that here in Italy no one knows what a café mocha is either! So I asked for a cappuccino and hot chocolate and mixed an approximation myself. I strolled down to the boat pickup point and made my way to Burano, an island about an hour north by boat from Venice known for its lace making and brightly colored rainbow buildings. It’s a really cool place, and not very big, so I wandered around for a couple hours enjoying all of the colors then hopped back on the boat to Torcello. Torcello is another island just north of Burano with a super old Catholic cathedral on it and that’s about it. Still, because it’s so quiet I can imagine this island as a nice retreat for locals trying to get out of the city for a day picnic. Then I got on the ferry to Murano which is known for glass blowing and glass making. It was around 5pm by the time I got there so most of the shops that gave demonstrations were closed, but I’ve seen enough demonstrations at Ren Faire and in Japan and other places. I found a cute little glass black cat that I bought, and wandered over to another really old church to take a look. Afterwards I headed back to the main islands and wandered the market streets and Grand Canal and walked over the Rialto Bridge before stopping for some pasta at a restaurant overlooking the canal. Then I swung by Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute and made the short walk to my hotel.

I’m really digging Venice, it’s so laid back and the people are nice. There are no cars here, just boats, including police and ambulances which was interesting to see. The tourist areas are crazy, but otherwise it’s quiet and easy to get around once you know your way around.

Posted on

Paris – Day 3 then off to Venice

I packed up my bags to store at the hotel, checked out, and took a taxi to the catacombs. I was there a bit early so I sat down at a café for some caffeine. It’s funny, in the U.K area and Barcelona everyone had café mocha, it was like a staple drink, but in France no one has any idea what you’re talking about so I had to use a translation app to get the waiter to understand what I was asking for. He got it, and it was a good cup. After snacks I went outside to meet the tour guide who took us down to the catacombs including areas closed off to the general public. Our tour guide Leye was awesome, he knew a lot about the catacombs and why they existed and how they got the 6 million skeletons into about 106 miles of underground tunnels. It was a bit morbid, but I like creepy stuff like that. After the tour I went back to the hotel and picked up my luggage, then got to the airport early. Easyjet apparently doesn’t let you check in early though, so I got a salad at the airport restaurant and waited about an hour. After checking in I went to our gate, then to another gate, then back to the first gate, then shifted over one lane to another gate. I thought for sure my checked bag was going to get lost, but everything arrived safely.

With the delays it was after 9pm though by the time we landed, so instead of playing with public transportation I took a taxi to my hotel…or….at least I thought I could. It wasn’t until after I put the hotel into Google maps that I realized there are no roads that go through Venice. Also, the public transportation buses would have been easier and WAY cheaper to take since they all go to the docks anyway. I mean, I knew there were canals and boats were used but I didn’t realize there were NO roads connecting the islands. Oops, that’s what I get for doing zero research on these places. Once the taxi dropped me off at the boat area I got a one day ferry ticket and asked around trying to figure out how to get to my hotel. I asked 3 people and got 3 answers, so decided I should stick with the ticket person’s advice and take the #1 boat. I think that was the most roundabout way of getting to the hotel, but it was a nice night and a pretty ride so I didn’t mind too much. FYI, Google Maps is useless in Venice. For some reason they don’t have the walking paths all plotted out so it’ll direct you to a point then just put this magical arching dashed line like “Good luck bitch you better fly!” Fortunately bridges are plentiful so I figured it out, but it was past 11pm by the time I got to my room. Ready to go island hopping tomorrow!

Posted on

Paris – Day 2

I woke up to it being super foggy outside, which normally isn’t a problem except today was Eiffel Tower day. I made my way to the tower by foot, passing some cool museums and random old gardens and buildings…and can I take a moment to just say the French are completely, totally EXTRA? Like, they don’t just put in a building, they decorate it with statues and gold and intricate iron bars and there is no building here old or new that’s just a plain glass/metal square. Every building here is interesting and unique in some way. Granted, I didn’t go outside the downtown area to where all the big buildings and businesses are so maybe it’s more modern there, but here everything is so cool and over the top. I love it! The people? Eh, not so much sometimes. The French like to keep up appearances but also weirdly don’t give a shit about others and will bump you right into a wall or shove you into oncoming traffic or smack you with their bag as they throw it over their shoulder or stand in the narrowest part of a hallway taking up the most room and will NOT shift even slightly to let people through even if they have plenty of room just two steps forward. As a result, the other French people just plow right through them, and this is seriously a locals thing not a tourists thing, so you really need to pay attention. They all seem to exist in their own little bubble and no one else matters, yet they want everyone to notice them and be impressed on a grander scale. Based on what I’m learning about their history, it seems it’s always been this way. 😂 Can’t say I’ve encountered a culture quite like this before.

Anywho, the trip up to the Eiffel Tower summit went smoothly even though with the fog you couldn’t see too far. Hoping the fog would burn off before I left, I ate the most expensive microwave veggie lasagna I ever had at the 1st floor restaurant (no, seriously, it was like a Lean Cuisine lasagna they charged about $20 American for. How are these places getting good ratings? Am I being dumb and missing the good food? I know it must be here, lol!) then walked around a bit when the sun finally came out. I headed back down to ground level and walked around the exterior, too. Afterwards, I went to Arc de Triomphe and hung out there watching the mass chaos of cars and being impressed that somehow magically there were no accidents, barely any honked horns either! It was getting late so I started to meander back to the Eiffel Tower. I stopped in a pretty park area for a bit, then went to a restaurant next door that actually wasn’t too bad. I watched the light show at Eiffel Tower around 7pm, then walked around and watched it again at 8pm. It’s actually really cool if you get a chance to go. I much preferred the Tower area at night rather than during the day, personally. By that time my feet were aching so I took a taxi back to the hotel to relax.