I am sure you are dying to hear about the rest of my Italian tour. Right? Well after we left Florence, we arrived in Venice by train. I can’t stress enough to buy your train tickets early if possible. It’s so much cheaper. The train took about 3 hours to get there and I slept the whole way. I love to travel but it can be exhausting.
We found the taxi stand when we exited the train station to take it to our AirBnB apartment. The taxi driver wouldn’t take us to the apartment because it was too close. Looking back on it, she didn’t want to take us for whatever reason and it was NOT close. It was close in an automobile, but not on foot. We ended up walking because we took her word. And walked. And walked. That was the only regret I had on the trip. I should have listened to my intuition. There weren’t any sidewalks which made it dangerous since we had to walk in the street. The wheels on my luggage were completely ruined from the long ass walk. I had to throw it away when I got home. What’s the use of luggage with busted wheels?
We made it to our apartment around 3pm. The apartment was nice. The decor was contemporary mixed with old (but new) accents. The bedroom was floor to ceiling an IKEA catalog. But the bathroom and parts of the living room looked like it came straight out of the 70s. The mixture was bizarre but everything was new and clean. Besides, I wasn’t trying to entertain so I could really care less about how it looked. It was budget friendly, nice, clean, in a great location and close to public transportation. In fact, the bus stop was right in front of the building.
My friend who is also a Doctoral student stayed up the night before working on a paper so she was not trying to go out and opted to sleep. I on the other hand explored the city solo.
I ended up meeting a guy from Senegal and chatted with him for a long while. I got to brush up on my French which was fun. He was cool and taught me how to ride the bus for free. I wouldn’t suggest anyone try it. I’m sure it wasn’t legal.
I always meet random dudes and have cool dates when I travel. Why can’t I get this kind of love at home? Is my travel aura different from my permanent residence aura? I need answers, Sway!
Can I just say knowing French saved me several times in Italy. My friend is fluent in Spanish and that was more helpful than my French. Many Italians know English but because we stayed in a more residential part we did encounter those that did not.
Another tidbit is that you have to pay at some of the public restrooms. I learned quickly that the locals don’t pay. They sneak in behind a paying customer. It was hilarious.
Stay tuned for the rest of my Italian adventures.
