Valentine's Day in Venice: The first part of a long weekend vacay to Italy

My first trip outside of the United Kingdom occurred on Thursday, 14 February. My friend Veronica and I planned our trip back in December, but that still didn't prepare me for the excitement and anxiety I felt the night before departure. We wanted to get as much out of our trip as possible, so I booked my departing flight for 8:20 in the morning. (Veronica is currently studying abroad in Dublin, so she booked her flight from there.) Of course, I don't live right at the airport, so I then had to plan my transportation there. So that, combined with the whole "gotta be at the airport two hours before your flight" deal, put my wake-up time for 4 AM. Which was cool. Since I couldn't fall asleep until midnight.  But it was fine because I was so excited, I didn't even mind my 4:20 AM taxi ride to the bus stop where I was to catch the National Express Coach service to Gatwick Airport. Oh, except for it was literally just a bench situated in the middle of nowhere, and, in my paranoia of wanting to be on time, I had arrived a full 40 minutes before my coach was due. So, I bundled up, bracing myself against the wind and slight drizzle, and waited out the time until my coach. After the 30-minute coach ride, I arrived at Gatwick, where I made it through security smoothly. After killing another about two hours or so in the various waiting areas, it was finally time to depart!

I have never flown EasyJet before, but I found the experience fine (unlike other friends of mine who have flown them and hated it). The one thing I found interesting is that EasyJet planes, upon arrival to your destination, do NOT pull up to a gate. You disembark from the plane on the runway, and, in the case of Venice, caught a shuttle to the proper airport. Security into the country was a breeze! Upon arrival, all that was required to get through customs was a flash of the passport. No one even came to a full stop in front of the guards; they just flashed the passport and walked through. Crazy! I went to where the luggage was, which is where I met up with Veronica.

We had to take a picture to commemorate the moment!

After briefly catching up, we came to the realization that we didn't know how to leave the airport. Thankfully, most people speak at least a little bit of English, so we went up to the bus ticket booth and asked the lady which route would take us to our hostel. I handed her the hostel reservation, which had the address, and, in her broken English, she promptly informed me that our hostel was NOT in Venice! Well, that sent us into a brief panic. However, after she consulted her co-worker, she informed us which bus number to take in order to get to the hostel (which, as we later learned, was RIGHT outside Venice proper, on the mainland, hence her announcement of our hostel "not being in Venice".

The bus dropped us off in front of the train station, which was just a five minute walk to our hostel. After encountering a not-to-friendly desk attendant at the hostel front desk, we took the cracker-box of an elevator to our room. The room was pleasant, and a good size. We had our own private bath (to share with the other two girls in our room), but at least it wasn't a hall bath. My only issue with the bathroom was the lack of a toilet seat, but we soon discovered that that was more of a trend instead of a single issue with the hostel.

We hurried out of the hostel and to the train station, where we caught a ride into the grouping of islands that is Venice. It was only a nine minute ride, so smooth travel in that regards. Upon stepping out of the train station, we saw this:

The colors, the canal, all of it was just so cool! And a bit surreal. We waiting on a nearby bridge for Veronica's friend, Jonathan. Veronica had met Jonathan last summer when they both worked together in a restaurant in Washington, D.C. Jonathan is currently working at a hotel in Garmish, Germany, which caters to American military and their families. When Veronica and I asked people to join us on our trip, he decided to come as well, but on a train. He asked around his work, and three of his co-workers joined him for the trip to Venice: Terri, Kristin, and Debra. So for Valentine's Day, Jonathan had five Valentines. Aww!

He even bought us all roses...so sweet!

We wandered Venice for the rest of the afternoon, riding the water bus. We found the Piazza San Marco, which has a gorgeous Basilica located within it. 

First arriving in the Piazza. According to Wikipedia, it is one of the few great urban spaces in all of Europe where the sound of human voices prevails over traffic noise.

St. Mark's Basilica

The girls then discussed how they wanted to take a gondola ride. I was beyond thrilled, since that was the one thing I really wanted to do in Venice. Because we were now with a group of six (as opposed to when we planned the trip, it was going to be just Veronica and me), the prices for the gondola ride were much more affordable. We paid 20 euros a piece, and stepped into the gondola for a tour through a residential area of Venice. Our gondolier was really nice, and pointed out the former homes of famous characters, such as Vivaldi and Cassanova. It was a delightful little ride, and I'm very happy we got to go.

It then got dark and, after a decent dinner and some yummy gelato, we headed back to our hostel for some much needed rest.

The next morning, we woke early and departed by 9 AM, for the girls were travelling home on the train by 1:30 PM, and we really didn't need to sleep in. We took the train back into Venice, and caught the water bus to the market. We stopped in a little cafe for breakfast but, thanks to my lovely Celiac disease, I couldn't eat with them. Instead, I headed to a small butcher's shop around the corner, where I purchased a lovely block of cheese for 3.20 euro. The cheese was mild, but pleasant, and it lasted throughout the day. We wandered through the market, everyone making small purchases here and there. We then stumbled upon the same spot we had been the night before. But in the daytime, it was gorgeous!

After the girls left, we continued just wandering around, taking the water bus to wherever it went. We happened upon many churches, all of which were filled with beautiful artwork and design. Once it turned dark, though, it was too cold to be out and about, so we set up base in a nice little cafe that had free wifi. With four hours to kill before our midnight train to Rome, we ate dinner and drank some lovely (cheap) wine. From there, we made our way to the train station and, bidding Venice farewell, we situated ourselves in our cabin (which was NOT a sleeping cabin, but a regular one with upright seats) and attempted to sleep.

Alright, that is all I can manage today. I will attempt to write about my time in Rome within the next few days. Talk to y'all soon!