21 Adventerous Days in Europe on a
Rick Steves Tour
Europe Bound!
Before deciding to go on this tour Venice was not a city I was planning on visiting, but I am so glad that I had the chance to see it. Previous to our travel to Europe I heard so many things about Venice ranging from "its overrated" to "it's Disneyland for adults." I came in not knowing what to expect. What I learned is that Venice is a city to be enjoyed. You go to Venice to have an experience that you can’t have anywhere else.
There were two wow moments for me today. The first was riding in the gondola on the canals, hearing the music, and passing the quiet streets. It was magical. The second was sitting at the table in St. Mark’s Square soaking up every last bit of Venice that I could.
Italy
Venice
May 13, 2013
Tour Day 9
Wow Moment
Food
We had lunch at a street café and it was delicious. I had a pizza with ham, artichoke, olives and mushrooms- perfect combo. Mike had bolognese. We also shared bruschetta.
For dinner we did the cicchetti crawl and sampled many dishes from stuffed squid to fresh meat and cheese.
Travel Tip
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If you’re traveling on a budget plan when to splurge. Today was a bit of a splurge day, but with no regrets. I think when traveling there are many opportunities to save money even when things seem expensive. But some things there is just no getting around it- but that doesn’t mean you don’t do it.
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When I was researching before our travel I knew I wanted to do a gondola ride and I knew I wanted to sit at a café in St. Mark’s Square. Although both of those things are expensive we knew they were coming and budgeted for them. For the gondola ride we paired up with several tour buddies and saved a bit. When we sat at the café in St. Mark’s Square we ordered some of the cheapest things we could. Although I love food, I wasn’t there for the food, I wanted the atmosphere so I just got something cheap.
Our day started with a guided tour by a local Venetian named Elizabetta. She was beautiful with light blue eyes and dark curly hair. Elizabetta gave us a tour of Venice both past and present. She discussed the problems Venetians face such as water levels, garbage disposal, and attrition. There are a lot of elements that make Island life quite difficult. Additionally, she took us to a mask making demonstration which was fun and light hearted.
Within St. Mark's are several domes which are covered with mosaics and little gold pieces. Between 11:30-12:30 they turn on dozens of lights which cause the whole interior to light up- it was magnificent. As we continued our audio tour we saw the original horses that were stolen and other unique things like a mosaic of Jesus’ family tree.
Towards the end of the tour Elizabetta brought us to St. Mark's Basilica. She let us loose to stay as long or little as we preferred. Mike and I decided to stay for a while and do a Rick Steves' audio guide.
Later in the evening we joined some of the tour members for a cicchetti crawl. A cicchetti crawl is something Venetians do before dinner where they visit many restaurants and sample a bunch of little foods. We ended up going to four different places and it was a lot of fun. We got a little daring and even tried a squid in squid ink.
The night just kept getting better as we met as a group for a gondola ride. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it seemed somewhat clichéd. My preconceived notions were turned on their head. As a group there were about 4 gondolas and in one of them were a guitarist and a singer. The singer had an operatic voice that warmed my whole soul. We slowly sailed through the quiet canals passing peaceful alleys. We went under bridges and witnessed the quite life in Venice- couples sitting and kissing and drinking wine on a balcony. As the lights reflected off the water I once again wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
For the rest of the evening we enjoyed the night life of St. Mark’s Square. We picked a table and enjoyed the dueling orchestras, the people, and the setting. It was the perfect ending to our Venetian experience.
