All of a sudden there’s water on both sides of the
train. Tiny islands here and there in
the open water. I’m only a few minutes
from the last stop on the train, Venice!
I step out from the train station with an instant view of
the Grand Canal with a beautiful arching bridge and Venetian architecture in
every direction. I inhale the fresh,
crisp waterfront air as I slowly step down the sweeping steps of the train
station.
My hostel was just over the bridge in front of the station
and to the left on the Grand Canal. Of
course, like all routes in Venice, you have to walk a twisted route to get
there. The Grand Canal does not have a
sidewalk along its sides the whole way…. only on sections, so you have to walk away and zig zag back to the canal sometimes… But it’s kind of charming for
that reason.
I found my hostel and was super excited when I saw the view
from my dorm room, overlooking the Grand Canal!
I had the perfect view of a three way canal intersection that was
constantly bustling with boat traffic.
Directly across at the canal corner was a church, with a statue of the
Virgin facing towards the water, for the boat traffic to admire.
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| View from my room |
Unfortunately, not far from my window was a water bus stop
and water bus-boats make a lot of noise when they switch gears into reverse
when docking. The bus starts running at
5 AM every morning and the rumble of the boat engines would shake my bed at
times. But again, it’s part of the
charm!
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| My view of canal intersection |
I stowed my stuff away and headed out to explore and find
food and coffee. When I first started
walking, I realized as I made one turn and then another, that I could easily
get lost in this maze of ancient alley-ways.
The only landmarks are graffiti, architectural features, bridges, and
flower boxes.
I begin to wish I had sidewalk chalk so I could draw arrows
for myself to get back home. All I need
are some bread crumbs! I try to make my
route simple, but nothings simple in Venice.
I discover a fairly large square with a church and a couple
cafes. It’s bustling with children
playing and adults chatting over coffee and cigarettes. There are dogs running freely playing with
each other. It strikes me that Venice
is a pedestrian only city, so the dogs and children are safe to play as they
please. How pleasant to not have to
worry about cars?!
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| Churchyard square - Venetian gathering place |
I grab a seat at a café and enjoy my sandwich and
cappuccino. At the shop across from my
table, a small dog stands in the doorway watching the world go by while its
owner sits inside reading her newspaper.
Life feels simple and relaxed here.
I wished at that moment more than ever that I could speak Italian so I could get an
even richer Venetian experience.
After dinner, I decided I needed to try the Venetian spritz
drink I’d wanted to try ever since I saw Anthony Bourdain get blitz in
Venice on the Travel Channel. I take a turn down an alley and
see a crowd of smokers outside a bar… BINGO!
The bar has free potato chips set out as the appertivo. I get an explanation from the bartender in
mostly English about the two different spritzes I can have. Sweet or Bitter, Aperol or Campari. I go for the Aperol spritz first. It’s red and spritzy, garnished with an olive
and a slice of orange. Yum!
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| Me and my bitter spritz |
Next, I try the bitter spritz made with Campari. Well the bitter spritz tastes awful! Maybe if you like liquorice you would like
it. I held my nose and tried to gulp it
down. Ugh!
Of course, I got another sweet spritz to fix the flavor in
my mouth. Yum again! Cutest thing about this bar was the spittoon on
the floor by the bar for people to spit their olive pits into. It’s genius.
I held onto my first olive pit for a minute until I saw someone else
spit their pit into the brass spittoon.
How convenient?
After my spritzes, I decided I had accomplished enough for
my first night in Venice, so I wandered back to my hostel the long way… but I
found it. Walking the streets of Venice
at night is a beautiful and peaceful experience. Even getting lost in Venice is a pleasure!
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| Venice at night |
