We departed Dubai at 0950 to start our almost 6hour (crappy!) trip to Venice. The flight was packed, lots of family traveling to Europe for vacation, taking advantage of the summer season in the continent. I had to painstakingly go through another thing I hate while on a plane ride (the first one is the fact that I have a slight case of claustrophobia and being in a capsule for more than 2 hours makes me all jittery), children on board. I hate children on a plane, screaming and crying children… actually am just not very good with children in general. Not the type to go goo goo and gaa gaa when I see a kid, in fact I think I hated myself when I was still a kid. Anyhow, the flight was packed with children and it was the flight from hell for me.
We arrived at Venice and were met by our agent. She said she was expecting to see an Italian passenger for my name was very Italian. Anyway, we had to walk about 5mins to the water taxi port and took the water taxi ride to our hotel for about 20mins. I had my first taste of Venice right there, too many HUNKS and I mean “oohh lala-tanned-and-toned-hunks on their boats” (hello sailors!!!! :p) LOL We stopped at a petrol station to put petrol on our boat and it was a thrilling experience for me to do while on the water. We arrived at Bauer hotel, a supposedly 4 star hotel which has a 2 star façade – the case mostly for Venetian hotels. It’s an old city and the old architecture somehow fits the whole ambiance of the city itself. The hotel was horrendously expensive though so I must admit that I was actually expecting something more out of it. It was old and the room was creepy with an oversized matrimonial bed and a dingy wallpaper which makes it look like a dozen of ghosts will be crawling up your bed in the middle of the night to scare the bejesus out of you. Let’s just say I was unable to sleep well that night for the fear of seeing an apparition of an Italian lady singing O Sole Mio.
Hello Sailors! :p
Bauer Hotel
After freshening up we explored the city and I must say that it has easily become one of my favorite cities in Italy. Little do I know that after this whole trip, Italy will become my favorite European country. We went to the famous St. Mark’s Square which was packed with tourists. We didn’t spend much time on there since we’re going to have a city tour the next day anyway. We wandered around and tried to find a good deal on Murano-made necklaces for my aunt and a ref magnet for me to add to my collection. We had dinner at an overpriced restaurant and paid EUR49.50 for 2 pizzas, 2 softdrinks and 1 bottle of water. Italy won’t be Italy if we don’t have a taste of gelatos so we bought a cone for each one of us and wandered on the cobbled streets of Venice some more. We saw a hotel and a restaurant named Noemi – Hotel Noemi and Ristorante Noemi. My name is indeed Italian. :p
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- Ristorante Noemi
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- Hotel Noemi
My legs were already killing me so I sat on the stairs in front of St. Mark’s Square while my aunts were still looking for stores to shop for souvenirs. There were a lot of cafes around with a live orchestra playing and the scenery was just very relaxing and very…. Venetian? Out of nowhere, an Italian guy who looks like Viggo Mortensen sat beside me and started a conversation:
Italian guy: are you enjoying your gelato?
Mie: (startled) yeah…
Italian guy: Where are you from?
Mie: Philippines
Italian guy: Kamusta ka?
Mie: (- half-smiled -)
Italian guy: your shirt is beautiful.
Mie: thanks!
Italian guy: nobody wears shirts like that here and your shoes are good too.
Mie: yeah ok.
Italian guy: are you traveling alone?
Mie: No, with my family. In fact they’re already behind you.
Italian guy: do you want to have dinner with me?
Mie: No thanks.
Italian guy: ok. Nice to meet you.
An Italian man asking random people for a date, weirdo alert! After that intrusion, St. Mark’s Square was finally lit. It was really really and I mean really nice at night. It is hands-down, the best square I have ever been into. If you’re in Venice, you should really see St. Mark’s square at night. It’s a must.
St Mark’s Square at night
We headed back to our hotel with our feet aching. There are no other modes of transportation in Venice except your feet, so go figure. :p slept like a baby for 7 hours.
