Spring Break Part 7 (Days 21,22,23,24)

Day 21 and 22

There was little that could comfort our departure from the beautiful Varenna on Lake Como, Italy. Of all places, however, Venice fit the bill. The last stop of our journey, Venice was a highly anticipated stop for both Steph and I after hearing mixed reviews throughout our Italian quest. As we stepped off the train, we saw canals instead of roads and boats instead of cars (and the obnoxious Italian Vespas). Walking from the train station towards the grand canal, we saw tourism like never before. Hoards of people with open-wide eyes and maps in their hands, we fit right in. It seemed as though Venice was the mecca for all the street vendors trying to sell flying saucer toys, squishy desk toys, watches, and purses.

Skipping by the barrage of tourist-aimed activity, however, we discovered a town beyond anything we ever expected. Sure, the town was full of stores either too expensive to even enter or catering to tourist interests, but the town had an inexplicable beauty. Canals sat idly under forgotten bridges in every corner of town. Winding roads ended at canals full of striped-shirt gondoliers. Decadent houses long past their prime lined the moss-covered edges of the beautiful canals. It was easy to see why this city was so popular. Despite its tourist overtaking, the town retained an undeniable beauty that couldn't be matched by anywhere else. It was a different beauty than the Cinque Terre and Como. It was an ugly beauty. And we loved it.

Expecting the worst from Venice, we were very surprised. We were told that it was an over-priced city. Yet we got pizza for dinner for a total of 6 euros, pizza for lunch for a total of 5 euros, and McDonalds for dinner for a total of 10 euros. We even found some of the BEST gelato for only 2 euro 2 flavor double-scoop. Needless to say, if Venice was expensive, we surely didn't notice.

We had nothing planned for Venice other than walk around and explore. We had officially ran out of money and were required to create our own entertainment. This, unfortunately, eliminated the potential for a two-person gondola ride that was priced at nearly 100 euros. Staying true to their nature, however, my parents saved the day with a last second donation of funds that would allow us to go on the gondola if we so chose.

After much debate, however, we decided against it. It wasn't quite as romantic as it looks. The gondoliers are crude, cigarette-smoking, old men that try to swindle you out of money as you walk by their docked gondolas. The gondolas are dated, with worn, grimy velvet, decaying on the seats of where the customers sit. It reminded me a lot of the horses that pull carriages through Central Park. In theory, very romantic. In reality, however, kind of gross and smelly. The money, however, was put to good use, allowing us to survive one more day and then the way back home. Did I mention that on the last day in Como we had to skip lunch and dinner and not eat because we didn't have enough money for it? Needless to say, the money couldn't have come at a better time and was much appreciated.

We still got a feel for Venice gondolas, however, as we took a cheap ferry-esque boat from one side of Venice to the other via the Grand Canal, passing under the Rialto Bridge. Better yet, we payed .50 euros each to have a gondolier take us across the Grand Canal (a task many Venetians require considering only 3 bridges cross the canal). The 1 minute trip was the best money spent the entire trip and was a easily a highlight of our stay in Venice.

Both days spent in Venice were fabulous. We loved everything about it and did not want to leave. Especially for what we had in store.


Day 23

At 2:00 p.m. of our final day in Italy, we took a bus from Venice to the Venice Treviso airport, an hour long trip without air conditioning in the blistering hot Italian sun. Upon arriving, we did nothing but sit and wait. We were there at 3:00 p.m. and our flight left at 10:30. We got pretty bored. Time passed so slowly. Or so we thought.

At about 8:00, it was time for me to jump into action. After buying countless souvenirs, we did not have enough room for all of our stuff. We had come with only 2 backpacks stuffed to the brim with stuff, including clothes in space-bags. But we now had a bag FULL of souvenirs. If you do the math correctly, that left us with 3 bags worth of stuff. Quiz time. Do you think we paid to check our third bag (considering RyanAir strictly allows only one piece of carry-on luggage)? No. Of course not. That would have cost money! So, at 8:00, I went to put on every piece of clothing I had brought for the 3 weeks: Too many socks to count, 10 layers around the waist (including a swimsuit, athletic shorts, khaki shorts and more all stuffed under already-pretty thin fitting jeans), and 8 layers on the top half. I looked, and felt, like the Michelin Man. Steph did the same.

Security must have thought we were idiots as we waddled through security and to our gate, but we were happy. We beat the system and it made us proud. Unfortunately though, there were people who checked your amount of carry-on luggage prior to boarding the plane at your gate, so Steph and I were required to keep our layers on until we landed in Liverpool at midnight. 4 hours in that many clothes got pretty rough pretty quick.

Once in Liverpool, though, we got to take off the layers and relax. Relax all night. From 12:00 to 8:00 a.m. NOW time passed slowly. To our luck, the airport was freezing cold, and had nowhere cozy to stay. Steph and I moved from place to place as she tried to sleep and I remained awake. After finding refuge in the Euro-per-10 minute leather massage chairs, we bunkered in for a long night below a statue of John Lennon.


Day 24

As morning finally broke, and the first buses to Lime Street Train Station arrived, it was all a monotonous journey. Hop on bus, get on train, show conductor pass, get off train, get on next train, show conductor pass, get off train, get on next train, show conductor pass, get off train, get on bus, hop off at Cranbrook Avenue. A one block walk and we were home. It was the middle of the afternoon and we were ready to sleep, something we hadn't done in about 30 hours at this point. But Manchester United was playing. So there was a quick change into our jerseys and off to the pub to watch our favorite team and get some of the horrible English food we have grown to find comforting. We were home.