I like the title I chose better.
So since I let the cat out of the bag about 30 years before I meant to, I guess I should inform you, dear reader, that I took this trip alone. Like literally alone. Mary couldn't go since the finances do not work out in anyone's favor: travel alone was over 100 euro since Venezia is quite far from Perugia. Also, Venice is notoriously expensive because it is a tourist trap. And everyone else that I know had already gone to Venice.
Whatever. I wasn't going to tell mom for at least 30 years. I got away with it until my train problems on the way back. I would have gotten away with it too, if she ever read her texts.
But, I digress. I went to them by myself. I wasn't going to miss one of the places that I really wanted to see just because no one could come with me. No way.
SO I had a really good time. Traveling by myself was scary, but rewarding. Plus I got to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, which is nice.
This is where the actual blog starts:
Verona is awesome. It was one of my favorite cities that I've visited so far.
The Arena is stunningly well preserved.
Unfortunately they are fixing the stage inside since they still use it for performances and such, so a lot of the arena was closed down. It was still cool though, and slightly less crowded than the more famous equivalent in Roma.
In one of the main piazzas, there is a whale bone hanging precariously over an entrance. It will only fall when someone who has never told a lie walks under it. Naturally, it fell when I walked under.
Lol jk that was a lie. It's still there.
Now, tourist and English major combined makes for a nerd trip: Juliet's house. Full of tourists and probably not even her real house (definitely not...), it was still cool to see. I wrote on the wall leading in, which is supposed to give everlasting love.
The balcony was added in the 1920's for tourists, but that doesn't stop people (except me) from spending 7 or 8 euros to go stand on it.
There is also a statue there of Juliet. Allegedly it's good luck if you touch her breast. Like people would stand there and take pictures of them doing so.
Two things: I don't know why anyone asks Juliet for help when in love. Please watch this video to see why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwnFE_NpMsE
Juliet is probably the WORST example of luck in love. Why don't people ask some of the happier girls like the ones in the comedies? Kate from Taming of the Shrew comes to mind (ironically I passed through Padua on my way to Venice...) since I maintain that she's gonna be an awesome wife. But still.
Second thing: I would rather have seen Hamlet's house. R+J is not one of my favorite plays, and Hamlet was the freakin' prince of Denmark. I think his house would be sweet. But La Casa di Giulietta was cool. Romeo's house is around there too, but it's not very well marked and there's like a plaque. That's it.
After wandering around Verona for a while, I came across a taste of home:
Someone tried to get me to adopt an adorable orange kitty. I immediately texted my mother to tell her of this momentous occasion.
After that, I hopped on a two hour train to Venice. Here was my first view:
Now, Venice is confusing as all get out. You can't cross the canal as you would a road (obvvv) and their transportation system is made up of boats. No cars here. I asked some people how to get to my hostel. One pizza man drew me this:
With such great skill, he should teach art. I shouldn't knock him too much. I found my hostel using the handy little napkin map.
So after having dinner at the hostel and unpacking, a group of us went out with a guide from the staff. We went to one bar and, in honor of the unification of Italy, got these:
Cool! It looks like the Italian flag! That's cute... UNTIL THEY LIGHT IT ON FIRE AND YOU DRINK IT WHILE IT'S ON FIRE.
Strawberry, Sambucca, Absinthe. Someone was like "well obviously they light it on fire, it has Sambucca in it." No, not obvious. Why would I know that? Or why wouldn't the bartender be like "Oh by the way we light this shot on fire."
I ended up meeting with some of my friends from school who happened to be in Venice at the same time.
After returning very late, I got up early to start the full day of Venice. Some people from my hostel wanted to travel together, so we all wandered. I found traveling with others to be quite annoying after my solo-stint in Verona, but it was all right.
Here's some of the stuff we saw:
We even went to Murano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, to see the glass blowing. I think that that stuff is so cool!
I also uploaded some videos of him in action:
Only one of them made it by the time this was published. Check back for the other one later!
Venice was awesome, but a bit overrated. I wasn't sold on it while I was there. When I was home, however, I felt like I was still on the water and I missed it already.
OH. OH. Getting home was a huge ordeal. I hadn't planned on what time I was leaving Venice. I wrote down all the train times that went from Venice to Florence to Perugia. There was one every 2 hours so I wasn't worried.
EXCEPT WHEN I GOT THERE AT 1:20 EVERY ONE WAS SOLD OUT. I could have taken an overnight train, but I was like... No.
After whimpering to the ticket lady and nearly pulling out waterworks, she got me a standing room only ticket on a train from Bologna. So I had to go to Bologna and wait there for an hour and a half (their station is mostly outdoors too so it was cold) only to not have a seat on the next train. The train was packed. Like the entire aisle was full.
Fortunately people got off at the stop half an hour in, so I ganked their seats, which is allowed. What annoyed me was that when I was trying to get to Florence I asked the lady if I could just stand on the train. She said no. On my train from Venice to Bologna there were people standing because there were no seats. Wtf.
Either way, I got home safely and at Midnight, almost 6 hours after I had planned on getting home. It put a little damper on my trip, but it was still fun.
And Mom, I'm fine. Look. Nothing bad happened. Except I probs spent too much money, which is usual.
The semester is winding down too rapidly. I can't believe that I'll be going home in just over a month!
Here's the link to my album for the rest of my trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382882&id=697649967&l=b1e916b881
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