Verona and Venice
Trip Start
Aug 10, 2008
1
7
14
Trip End
Aug 31, 2008
Venice,
Italy
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
our exhausting drive along the Cote d'Azur two days earlier, we decided
to give the freeway another chance. The tolls in France were
manageable, but after paying 13€ for 20km in Italy, we decided to head
for the side roads once more. The drive took us the better part of the
day, but we got to see some wonderful views and interesting little
towns.
Our first stop in Italy was Verona. We arrived early in
the evening, followed Rick Steves self-guided tour, and wandered the
old town until we ran out of light and energy. We hopped back in the
car and drove to our hotel in Padua.
In the morning, we caught
the train for Venice. What a zoo. Combine massive hoardes of people
with 35 degree heat and skin-drenching humidity and you've got quite
the advenure. We decided to once again, follow Rick's advice... we
lost the crowds and wandered the city. We avoided the touristy areas
completely and instead wandered the back lanes and bridges. Although I
found that Venice does not stink as I had been told, it was not a very
clean city. There was a lot of graffiti and the garbage was
overflowing its containers in more than one location. Still, the city
has a definite charm if you can get away from the insanity of the
crowds. More than once, our wandering led us to the "coast" were the
ocean breeze was a welcome relief. Unfortunately, our wandering also
ended up down several dead-end lanes but it was a small price to pay
for the solitude.
As the sun started to descend (and with it, the temperature), we
shifted our focus from sight-seeing to shopping (mostly window).
Venice is home to many big-name stores and it was fun to window-shop
and laugh at the exhorborant prices that apparently some people are
willing to pay. I did manage to stumble upon a Disney Store... but we
won't discuss what went on there. I am not coming home from Europe
with a big bag of Lion King souvenirs.
As the sun was setting, we found a cafeteria-style pasta restaurant
where I finally got to try canneloni. Pretty yummy, I must say. And
despite all that I've heard about Italian pizza, the 4-cheese pizza
that I had for lunch was also delicious. As the night started to cool,
our previously soaking wet clothing started to become unbearable so we
decided it was time to head back to the hotel for a much-needed shower.
