Erin: Day 13: Venice, Italy to Rome, Italy

Today is October 16 and it’s currently 3:06pm Italy time (I’m saying Italy because we only just left Rome about 20 minutes ago.)  We’re on the Trenitalia Eurostar train heading first to Florence and then to Rome.  This train heads on to Naples but we won’t be going that far.  At least not today!

I’m very, very excited to get to Rome.  Rome for me has been one of those places that I have always wanted to see because of the ancient history and the beauty of the buildings there.  I mean, it’s only been in movies and in books that I’ve read about the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Palladium, the Spanish Steps, Vatican City, etc.  Now… I get to experience those things in full color… 3D if you will!

This morning was pretty uneventful but in the best way possible.  I went to bed around 7:00AM, just as the sun was rising, and asked for my wake up call to happen at 10:30am…  Enough time for me to get ready and still feel rested enough.  I woke up on my own around 10:15am, jumped on my computer to do some e-mail and client work and then I got ready.  Check out, as with most other hotels, was at noon so I made sure all was ready to go before that.
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Erin: Day 12: Venice, Italy

Good Morning Venice…  That’s what I said as I awoke and opened up the floor to ceiling windows in our room.  It was a beautiful day, the sun was gorgeous and the wind was warm and balmy…  It was fabulous.

Good morning Venice!  View from our hotel room at the Hilton.

View of Venice from Guidecca, where our hotel is located.

We decided to stay in and do a bit of work this morning but to be honest, it was tough!  We did about an hour of work before throwing on some clothes, grabbing our stuff and heading out into the glorius sunshine.  We decided to grab the 12:40 shuttle over to Venice so we hung out on the dock for a bit before the shuttle boat showed up, right on time.  I have a video of that which I will post later on.

Landing in Venice, we didn’t really have an agenda.  We knew that we wanted to see San Marco’s Piazza and the San Marco Basilica but otherwise, we had no other real “plans”…  So, we first stopped to get some gelato which was a great idea.  It was delicious!  We then walked to San Marco’s Piazza, stopping to take in the sights every once in awhile.

Typical canal in Venice.

Standing near the channel looking toward San Marco (on left).

How nice would it be to have an apartment there?

The Grand Canal… When I think Venice, I think of this.

Beautiful…

The gondolas waiting for customers… 80 Euro for a half hour!

We opted not to get a gondola ride because it is so expensive.  I mean, I’m all for spending the money on something if it means never getting to do it again but I’d rather wait and do a gondola ride with my sweetie so that we can enjoy the romance of it together.  There’s just something about sharing a gondola with your sister that just doesn’t offer the same appeal…

San Marco’s Piazza was a lot like Grand Place for me in Brussels, Belgium.  You walk in and it’s breathtaking.  I’m telling you now, the photos do not do it justice in any way, shape or form.  This place is magnificent and the architecture is so beautiful.

Our first glance at San Marco.

The gorgeous Basilica in San Marco’s Piazza.

Hello Venice!

Side story for you here about those boots on my feet in photo above…  All day today, walking around Venice in my Uggs, people stared at my feet.  At first, I thought it was my imagination but then Trina said to me, “Do you see everyone staring at your feet?” and I was like, “YES! I thought I was imaging it!”  So, my quest is to find out of maybe Uggs are either (a) “over” as a fashion trend in Italy, (b) people who live here just don’t see them often or (c) because the sun was out, wearing Uggs seemed weird? :)  Anyone from Italy have some insight for me?

In any case, we did some funny jigs and some Flip videos here…  It was the gelato and the sun I am sure - it turned us into giddy, silly school girls and we were having a blast!  There were some kids playing with the pigeons that we watched for awhile and then a bird got caught in a girl’s sweater sleeve which was pretty funny.  They were screaming and laughing as people stood in a circle watching them try and extract the bird from the sleeve without squishing it…  Funny stuff!

Lots and lots of birds in San Marco.

The Basilica and tons o’ touristas.

Me on the balcony of the Basilica with San Marco in behind.

The view of the channel from San Marco.

Sipping some wine at lunch.

After leaving San Marco, we headed in behind the church to search out a Trattoria.  We found a great little restaurant that was serving pizza so we had some wine, mussels and pizza.  It was delicious!  It was so nice sitting in this little courtyard with my sister…  We were taking in the music, getting drunk off the food (haha, not the wine!), sipping on great tasting wine and watching the people wander by.  It was slightly off the tourist path but still a little touristy… :)  A great combination.

Yummy (and super large) pizza!

A canal on our way back to the hotel.

A large boat on the water in front of our hotel.

Venice at dusk.

The streetlights came on as we waited for the shuttle.

And we got back at night… Sun sets fast here on the sea!

The rest of the afternoon (after eating) was spent shopping… I bought three pieces of jewelry - a necklace and ring made of Murano glass (native to Italy) and another necklace with Swarovski crystals in it.  I’ll take some photos once I wear them and post back here!  It was nice to just wander and look around…  We also, throughout the day, snuck in two more gelatos…  The stuff is addicting!  Oh, back to the jewelry shop we were in… He gave me his contact details after talking about what I do for a living and he wants some information about how I could help him use the internet to market his business online.  I told him I’d work for jewelry… ;)  haha… I won’t really but it was fun to chat business amongst two weeks of tourist-talk.

So, we’re back at the hotel and I’m getting some work done.  We head to Rome tomorrow and then Florence and Pisa before heading north to Switzerland.  Then, it’s Paris and home…  I’m both super excited but also sad… It means that our time here is coming to an end quickly and I’ve really enjoyed this global travel.  If I could do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat and it’s made me realize, even more so, that travel is something I am super passionate about and have no plans to stop any time soon.

Ciao!

Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, Trina Lamarche, Venice, Italy, European adventure, Europe, backpacking, virtual assistant, virtual assistance

Erin: Day 11: Munich, Germany to Venice, Italy

Technically, this is still day 10…  Yes, another sleepless night in Europe (that’s two now – what can I say, I’m a true nocturnal being!) found me slugging away at work until the wee hours of the morning.  Around 4:45am, I decided that it was time to shower and pack up my backpack to prepare for the next leg of the journey – Italy.

After having gone through the a.m. ritual, I checked us out of the hotel and we made our way to the metro.  I’m always surprised at how the skill of navigating through these metro stations, regardless of the city, comes so naturally to me.  A few times through and a few glances at the map allows me to whip through stations like the locals do – which definitely adds a nice layer to the “don’t look like a tourist” package.

We made our way to Mariensplatz and then Haupbahnhof by way of the U line and then the S line and arrived at the train station in record time…  Well, okay, this is a lie.  I don’t really know what record time would be from the hotel to the train station but at the time we went, it seemed to go really, really fast.  Buying our ticket was as easy as ever as I had checked the timetable the night before at www.bahn.de (not sure if this is for all rails but it has seemed to be accurate for every city connection we’ve needed along the way so I’ll continue using it!) and knew there was a train leaving at 7:30am from Munich.

A stop at Starbucks was next and in definite order…  There is something about working through the night that just finds you desiring a Starbucks more than anything else in this world but there is some irony here.  After being up for so long, I almost can’t stomach coffee.  It’s like I hit a wall where my body is yelling, “NO MORE CAFFEINE!”  But, I digress…  I still had a Starbucks (well, most of it – it now sits in the train’s little cubby hole trash compartment!) and sang inside of the coffee shop at 6:30am to a crowd of people who were grumpy and thought my over-cheerfulness was NOT FUN!

Before we got on the train, we stopped in at a little market to grab some snacks for the way.  Seven hours by train can seem long and we didn’t want to get thirsty or hungry along the way because it’s a long time to wait to fulfill those needs.  The loot we scored was: two giant bottles of Evian (needed after hitting the caffeine wall), three mini cans of Pringles in a variety of flavours and some gummy keys…. haha, I know, I know… Breakfast of champions right?  Well, we probably won’t crack into it before noon… Probably…

So, the train was right on time which was perfect because I was anxious to grab a seat and get settled in for some napping time and it’s funny just how easy it is to sleep anywhere when you’re tired enough…  I learned this through previous travels when I would have airline delays and have to spend the night in airports (oh yes, I’ve done this at least six or seven times) and find anything I could to sleep on.

Now, it’s 10:07am…  Our train left at 7:30am.  I’ve been going between being awake and napping but more being awake than anything.  So, I decided that writing was in order so I pulled out the trusty laptop (I packed it separate) and now here I am.  I am not taking photos or videos even though this is the most majestic train ride we’ve had – full of snowy mountain caps, deep valleys, train bridges and little villages everywhere.  This my friend is what it’s like to travel through the European mountainous areas and it’s really, really nice.

I don’t feel like being a tourist in this moment.  I want to feel like I don’t need to be slinging around my camera, snapping up photos every two seconds.  I just want to relax, enjoy and be in this European adventure of  mine.  I started today off like that in terms of not rushing through getting ready but rather just taking my time, having a long hot shower and basking in the sunshine that is this trip.

Now as I prepare to enter Italy, I can’t be more excited.  Seeing Venice and Rome have been two dreams of mine and I can’t believe they are going to finally materialize into something real and true.  I only hope they don’t disappoint.

I’m back!  We’ve switched trains and are now on a Trenitalia and I LOVE THIS TRAIN!  Our last train was cramped and so uncomfortable and it was a six hour train ride.  Now, we’re on this deluxe train with four seats all facing each other and a table in the center.  I’m charging my battery in the outlet provided, got my laptop setup on the table and I’m writing this!  The scenery around me is a little less mountainous from earlier – it was insanely gorgeous but as I mentioned, no photographs as my camera’s battery died.  However, Trina did take a couple!

We’re deep into Italy now and we’re about an hour or so from Venice.  I’ve already stripped off my scarf and my sweater and replaced it with a cute dress, leggings and my Uggs.  I’m ready for Italy baby!  The weather is gorgeous and there is not a cloud in sight.  We couldn’t be luckier!  I’m anxious to see our hotel – we’re staying at the Hilton Molino Stucky which is a brand new hotel that just opened on the Guidecca.  It’s actually a converted flour mill and warehouse.  And… the best part… it is only accessible by shuttle BOAT or GONDOLA!

So, I don’t have much else to write now except YAY!  We’re in Italy and this is one place I’ve been DYING to get to ever since we started this journey.  Two nights in Venice and two nights in Rome.  It should be so interesting to absorb ourselves into the history that makes up these two cities.  We’re blessed… Very, very blessed.

Finishing off this blog post…  It’s later in the night now and we’ve had a wonderful first night in Venice.  Very uneventful but we needed it.  We landed right outside of Santa Lucia, the main train station for the island of Venice, and were immediately met with the gorgeous views of buildings and canals…  An amazing first glance at Venice.  We didn’t want to do the “touristy” thing quite yet so we began the trek to our hotel.

This is the first thing you see out of Santa Lucia’s train station in Venice, Italy.

Staring across from Venice at the Guidecca, where our hotel is located (not in this photo)

Due to our hotel being on a separate island called the Guidecca, we had to walk across Venice and then take a hotel shuttle BOAT to get there.  We’re staying (forgive me if I said this earlier) at the Hilton Molino Stucky.

Gorgeous hotel and highly, highly recommended.  Our hotel is a converted flour mill and in our room, we have traditional wooden beam ceilings, views of the canal and the channel and these magnificent doors / windows that open up to let the fresh sea air into our room.

Our hotel room in Venice, Italy.

Trina hanging out one window and the view from our room!

The beautiful window / doors in our hotel room.

The room itself is done up like you would come to expect of a Hilton except this one has a hundred times more charm.  This place looks and feels like a museum that you might wander through except we get to sleep here for two nights!  Tonight was work as per usual and cappucinos and tomorrow, we’ll wander down and see some of the sights but keep the day light, airy and relaxing.  Lord knows we need it!

The view from the front step of our hotel.  This is looking toward Venice.

Venice, Italy

A cruise ship leaves the harbor.  Taken from the sky deck at the Hilton in Venice, Italy.

Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, The Traveling VA, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, Trina Lamarche, Venice, Italy, Munich, Germany, Haupbanhof, Santa Lucia, Hilton Molino Stucky, Hilton hotel