Europe 2016 — Venice, Italy
Day 9, 24 September 2016
Departing Zermatt was unfortunate but necessary. We had seen the Matterhorn so there wasn’t anything else we could do with Yuki’s parents like hiking, biking or parasailing. We got up extra early to take the Train from Zermatt to Brig, anticipating that the 7 minute change at Brig would not be enough time. It ended up being more than enough time and after arriving an hour early, there was also a train to Domodossola, Italy, that we were able to take. There wasn’t, however, a train from Domodossola to Milano so we had to wait an hour in Domodossola instead of Brig. This wasn’t too bad because we ate another lunch of hard boiled eggs on rice and walked around the street market just outside the station.
Our initial impression of Italy was that it seemed to be a lot like Paris, only rougher with stone sidewalks and cobblestone streets. It was busy like Paris and there was clearly a wide disparity in wealth from beggars upwards unlike Switzerland which felt empty, organized, clean, and safe.
The train to Milano was very scenic. I drafted up some blog posts but also admired the beautiful scenery. Not far from Domodossola are some turquoise blue lakes and romanesque architecture with clay tile roofs that look like they could be easily centuries old. This got me exited for the next two weeks of seeing old architecture. The view became steadily less interesting as we approached more urban areas and soon we were in Milano.
Milano station was where be found out that the Italians are poor at scheduling. The train stations have large digital display boards with the departure and arrival of all the trains but they look exactly like the old school letter flipping boards. The departure platform for a train might not be displayed until 15–20 minutes before departure and that creates a mad scramble of people who were all waiting around the display board craning their necks up like weird penguins. The people swarm towards the platform, not unlike an unbalanced crowed of birds because they are all pulling along baggage. This occurs ever 5–10 minutes. When one train of people leaves, another arrives to refill the crowd around the departure board.
The train to Venice wasn’t all that interesting because it was mostly through urban areas that are noticeably modern but still in the same romanesque style of plaster brick walls and red tiled roofs. It’s actually a little like Asia; you can tell that the buildings are modern but they’re rundown and stained. To pass the time, I played the one Ipad game I’d bought for the trip, Dragonfall.
We arrived in Venice around 5pm and had a 30 minute, 2km walk to the hotel. Yuki had google mapped the route the night before and taken screen shots so that we could get there. I’m sure that it took us much longer to get to the hotel as every time we cross a canal we had to lift our suitcases over little pedestrian bridges. Between canals, we scooted down narrow alley ways that widened and narrowed like a child’s drawing who couldn’t draw straight.
Eventually we got to the hotel, tired and hungry. Checking in was straight forward and we were taken to our room around the corner that was a king bed and a folding bunk bed. Yuki and I were dejected to find out that we had booked another common room for the four of us. On our last trip to South Korea with her parents we’d been careful to book our own separate room whenever possible. For some reason, while planning this trip we forgot about that and ended up booking everything but Paris as a single room with four beds to save costs. We regretted this decision and were suddenly filled with low morale. Note to self: always book a separate room no matter the cost, It’s worth the brain cells and reduced stress.
This hotel in Venice only had wifi in the lobby and even there it was pretty crappy. I tried finding a highly rated restaurant on google maps but google doesn’t have most of the restaurants in Venice and what I found didn’t exist so we ate at the hotel’s restaurant.
The food was okay but not to our liking. We all had seafood dishes but there was very little seafood in each dish, it was mostly lobster or shrimp shell. The good part of the meal was that we got 35% off for being a guest at the hotel so the meal was pretty cheap.
Day 10, 25 September 2016
Where the hotel lacked in dinner food it more than made up for at breakfast. We had an excellent self-serve buffet breakfast at the hotel that had cereal, breads, and fresh fruit. It was my favourite breakfast thus far and I finished early to take a quick walk around the end of the island we were staying at. The light had looked good for photographs but I was a little late and didn’t see anything worth photographing. On the way back to the hotel I did pass an American model and a film crew that I think they were doing a commercial.
We planned for one day in Venice to walk around as Yuki had been informed, there’s enough to do spend one day in Venice but two days would be excessive. This is because there are so many alleys, plazas, and bridges that they all blend together.
Our first stop was to get to the Plaza S. Marco. This is the most famous and the largest in Venice. We took lots of pictures and then went into the Basilica S. Marco. At the door Yuki was asked to wear a scarf because her skirt was above her knees. Other tourists were given thin blankets to cover up but beyond the lady at the door checking people none of the tourists seemed to actually bothered keeping themselves “decent”. Yuki thought it was going to be free but it was 5 Euro/person. It was worthwhile though, because at the top we got a view of the plaza from the roof. When 11 o’clock rolled around we got to watch the clock animate and brass figurines hit the bells to ring them.
As it was Sunday, there was a service in the main hall. There was a choir and a lot of singing that sounded wonderful in the cavernous space. This Basilica was more interesting than Norte Dame because it also had a museum where we could get up close to some of the artwork. The entire interior of the cathedral is covered in little tiles, most of which is backgrounded in gold. Though the museum signs have english, it didn’t make a lot of sense so after a while we stopped reading them and instead stood in the main hall to listen to the music of the mass.
Around the corner from the Plaza S. Marco we found a small gelato store and got two scoops on a cone. The Gelato here was incredible and significantly tastier, smoother and better than Canada. This shouldn’t have be a surprise, given that gelato originated in Italy, but it wasn’t something that I had expected before taking my first lick.
Wandering on, we crossed the famous Rialto bridge and then had lunch at an outdoor cafe beside the canal. The food was pretty good. Yuki had lasagna and I had a spinach salad with dried fruits, bacon, and a really interesting cheese. We also ordered Spritz Apoele, a popular drink in Italy that everyone seemed to be drinking. It wasn’t my favourite but it wasn’t bad either.
After lunch we headed towards the train station to get tickets for the next day’s train, stopping for more gelato on the way. We were very grateful to have the help of a young woman with the ticket machine and decided to also get most of our other tickets for the trip because we had her to guide us through the process. This girl was really helpful and turned what could have been a very frustrating and difficult situation into an understandable time.
For future reference, its best to book train tickets at least two days in advance. The prices are cheaper by a significant amount and the train isn’t full yet. The day before or the day of, tickets are more expensive and seating is difficult to find.
From the train station we walked back to the hotel and had a brief rest. When we were hungry, we went out and walked the streets again in search of a good restaurant. The cafe restaurant we choose had a good proportion of food and lost of seafood in the dish but the ambience wasn’t as nice. Still, I enjoyed the meal and the 1/2 bottle of white wine I ordered. Yuki had to help me finish it.
Day 11, 26 September 2016
We had another great breakfast at the hotel and then left early for the train station to ensure that our slowness did not make us late. Leaving Venice was a lot easier than arriving. On the way back to the hotel the day before I’d found a route that had ramps over the bridges so we were able to return to the train station with half of the bridges turned into ramps and fewer canals to carry our bags over than before.
We arrived 40 minutes early and waited for the train platform. Annoyingly, the car numbers on the side of the train were different from the TV screens on the platform so we and several others got on the wrong car. We were able to get off and onto the right car with a little stress and hassle and were happy to be settle into our seats for the journey back to Milano.
The train was 30 minutes late because of some police incident so we only had around 15 minutes to change trains in Milano. When we got on the train, Yuki’s bag was open, an unsuccessful attempt at a pickpocket, and somehow papers from Yuki’s Dad’s inside breast pocket ended up on the table. I think there were two girls that opened Yuki’s bag while we were getting on the train and when we got to our seats, instead of sitting down to get out of everyone’s way Yuki’s Dad stepped right in the middle of the crowd and those two girls took the papers out but then left them on the table because they weren’t valuable.
We double checked our valuables a nothing was gone so that was good. The rest of the train ride to Levanto was mostly uneventful. We chatted with an Australian couple and anguished over not having any food so we were quite hungry when we arrived in Levanto around 5pm. We talked with the tourist office and got a map to walk to the hotel. It turns out that the hotel is run by a travel agency that also manages a B&B and a few apartments. For unknown reasons they upgraded us from a studio hotel to a one bedroom apartment with the ocean view. This was a huge boost to our morale and made us very happy.
The apartment was on the third floor and had a balcony with a view of the beach and the ocean. It was particularly nice to sit out and watch the sunset. The apartment also gave Yuki and I a private room and there was a much needed laundry machine that we used daily during our stay.
Internet was interesting, they gave us a portable modem with a little battery. I suspect that it ran on data and could, conceivably, be taken out to the beach or where ever but we left it plugged in beside the bed.
I’d asked the lady from the travel agency for a good restaurant and she recommended the one across the street so we went there for dinner. It was without a doubt the best meal so far. I had 5 grilled shrimp, Yuki had seafood ravioli and Yuki’s dad had the best mixed seafood calamari ever. To top it off, I had a great 1/2 bottle of white wine and Yuki got a very sweet white wine that her dad finished in two swings. We should have gotten more of that wine because we weren’t able to find it again.
