Saturday 23rd July
I awoke. I think Mexican Andre had arrived back quite late last night so I packed carefully and quietly and then headed down to breakfast. I was moving from my Flixbus adventures (RIP) back to trains (yay!). Therefore, after breakfast, I caught the metro into town and to the train station, Roma Termini. At the station, I saw some people I recognised! The tall Australian family from the Colosseum! How strange. I was disappointed though, the father wasn’t wearing his Vivos haha, oh well. The station was packed and crowded full of people. Backpackers were on all sides with the whole colourful spectrum of rucksacks and as soon as the platform for the Venice train was announced we all seemed to move off together as one body.

The train was packed as a result. Some people clearly hadn’t booked seats and so there were plenty of people standing for the entire journey, from Rome to Venice. I personally had a window seat around a table with a Spanish family (booking ahead mwahaha). They got off at Florence though and a Dutch family replaced them. I saw the countryside flew by as before. I saw yellow Tuscany once again, with small columns of smoke in the distance from all the wildfires. The temperature must have been close to 40 degrees once again but luckily the train had air conditioning as it plunged north. We crossed into the Po valley and immediately the countryside became verdant and green all of a sudden! There were rippling fields and trees everywhere. It was such a distinct change it was weird! The train stayed pretty much full until we arrived at Venice, where all of a sudden the landscape turned quite industrial! There were large shipping marinas, skeletal ships in the process of being built and chimneys thrust up into the air, the tallest things around the otherwise flat floodplain.
I got off at Venezia Mestre. This is not Venezia proper, but instead the city on Terra Firma and not on the lagoon. The train went on to the city on the lagoon but the hostel prices were extortionate there. Instead, I was staying at a chain hostel called ao hostels. Lower case. I actually initially checked into the hotel, not the hostel which was slightly embarrassing. When I did check in to the correct place, then I had to climb eight floors (sixteen flights of stairs!) to get to my room. Yeah, this was practically a skyscraper. Or probably just a very large building in all honesty. I think there were ten floors in total! There was an elevator, but the queue for it was quite large, hence my decision for the stairs.
I collapsed onto my bed. I felt this hostel was a bit like RyanAir. It seemed cheap on the outside, but then charged extra for anything! Therefore, I declined sheets and a towel (for like an extra ten euros each) because I had my travel towel and my sleeping bag liner. Streets ahead, coined and minted. I met Danish Daniel as well. Nice guy, cool guy. He was heading out as I was settling in though.
After a small while, I followed Danish Daniel and caught the bus into Venice proper. That was fun. Leading into Venice is this massive land bridge. It has trains and bus lanes and motorways… It is like the arteries providing the life blood to Venice. A constant flow of people coming in and a constant flow of people out. I had to buy my bus ticket on an app, that was nerve wracking. Also, sidenote, my data was running out. Giffgaff worked on the continent, but I was using so much data to navigate, talk to friends, book new places… I think I easily using about a Gigabyte of data a day, or even more. So yeah, I had to buy some more data.
Anyhow, I arrived in Venice proper and it was amazing. Amazing! Canals! Wow, who would have thought of building a bleeding city on a series of islands?? Like, Genoa was built on a mountainside, Rome was built on top of ruins and Venice was built on top of water! It was just so spectacular. You always hear about Venice and you know that it is a city of canals, but you don’t really get it until you see it for yourself! Also, it helped for visualising the world of Locke Lamora – a fantasy book I recently read where the guy took the idea of the city from Venice and just amped it up to one hundred.



Grinning, I headed to find myself some food. I managed, finding myself pizza once again. I do love pizza, unsurprisingly! As I sat beside a canal, enjoying my pizza funghi, I heard football chanting from all around me. Does Venice have a football team? There was also a British hen party, celebrating across the plaza from me. The bride was wearing a shiny tiara with a pink trail, and the hen party seemed to be a pub crawl around Venice! An air of celebration and happiness was in the air really!
After dinner I decided to walk around Venice and to my surprise, it was not nearly as busy as I thought it was going to be. I think this might have been due to the fact that Venice have banned cruise ships from coming into the lagoon and also an effect of the pandemic with the tourism and travel industries not having fully bounced back yet. But yeah, I walked around Venice and there was something just so magical about it. The buildings all looked slightly shabby, but it was shabby in that charming way, like Remus Lupin. Every building was made from red bricks and plaster it seems whilst the canal water was a wonderful green. The roofs were tiled and everywhere I looked it was a sense of unique beauty. Nowhere else in the world would you see buildings like these!

I slowly wandered through the city, not caring for where I was going. The water taxis cost like €40 by the way, hence why I was walking. The sun was slowly making its way down and I wanted to check out the sunset. Therefore, after wandering, lost, for a while I jumped on Google maps and found my way to the Giudecca Canal, a large shipping route and water highway. Since the sun was setting, all the rose tinted lampposts were lit up and they glowed in the evening sun. The waves were slapping against the street and slopping over the top, creating puddles on the pavement. There was a large buccaneer ship anchored beside the street, the words Jolly Roger painted across the back. Waiters in black were abroad the ship and a wedding procession was making its way down the street, the bride and groom making a squiggly path to avoid all the puddles. I sat myself down on a stone bench with a lady at the other end and watched the boats on the canal, the wedding procession and the sunset. There was a happy sense of calm in that moment, with a wedding celebration on the buccaneer ship close by and the gentle, rhythmic sound of the water close by. There was a soft breeze with a taste of salt on the air.

The lady on the bench was evidently doing the same, enjoying the evening like me. She surprised me by speaking to me all of a sudden (I think I jumped unexpectedly!), asking me if I would like to go see the sun sinking below the horizon (since it had just slipped behind the buildings). Yep, she literally just turned to me, a complete stranger, and struck up a conversation. I absolutely admire the confidence she had. Travelling and meeting people must be incredibly easy if you’re that confident and easy-going! Agreeing, I set off with her towards the docks. Her name was Lena and she was from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was currently a translator and was doing a working holiday. She had this wonderfully bubbly and chatty personality with only the slightest hint of an accent. She was leaving Venice in a couple days to head to an Airbnb in Cinque Terre. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate to work in such an stunning environment. To hike the Cinque Terre has been added to my “Must Do” list, by the way. I missed it, going straight from Genoa to Florence.


We got to the end of the street and then on further to the end of the docks where we saw the sunset. On the way, we chatted. That was fun, talking to a complete stranger, getting their life story. It is amazing how many people from different backgrounds end up travelling all for different reasons to end up at the same place in space-time experiencing the same thing. After snapping a picture of the sunset (basic, I know), we turned around and started heading back, probably intending to say goodbye and probably never see each other again. However, I had organised with Danish Daniel to go to a jazz club this evening and when I mentioned this to her, Lena’s eyes literally lit up and she told me that she had once been a jazz singer and she asked if she could she come along! Happy with the company, we headed into town to find the jazz club.
The club, labelled the imaginative name of “Venice Jazz Club”, was a tiny little door set down a side street with a canal running right close by. It wasn’t advertised at all, no sign hanging outside. I loved it straight away. It seemed like a hidden secret of Venice that we had discovered! It was dark inside, lit only by mood lighting and blue LEDs, and we were lucky to get the last table, Danish Daniel arriving a couple of minutes after us. The show was about to start!
The AC was broken once more, and so by the time our drinks arrived, there were beads of water sliding down the side of the glasses and sweat was visible on the band. Fans wafted the still air around and the heavy atmosphere added to the energetic music the band struck up and didn’t let up for two hours. My head bobbed along with the music and a smile was plastered on my face. The band consisted of:
- The piano man (and additionally the front man since he was the only one to able to speak English). I think he also owned the place. He kept doing Call-and-Responses and was an extraordinarily good pianist. He tucked himself right up under the piano, the piano stool leaning forward on the front two legs and his left leg jigging up and down at double speed it seemed. Sweat dripped from his brow and he kept a handkerchief close by which became more and more frequently used.
- There was a Zach Braff lookalike on the double bass. His head moved with the beat and he looked like he was just vibin’ for the couple hours, a faint sheen in the hot conditions.
- A charming, white bearded old drummer who just smiled at everyone everywhere and was happily supporting the band. I swear he also looked like an actor I had seen before, but I couldn’t put a name to the face…
- My lab demonstrator, Paul (not Cruickshank, the other Paul) in a straw hat was on the guitar. It was so uncannily like him, I did a proper double take when I first saw him!

Every song was jokingly introduced as an “original” but ended up being a famous one, like Caravan or Take Five. I think they did have some true originals, but it was a lot of covers. But yeah, just such a good concert, and lovely company. Lena I think wanted to get involved, she looked itchy to jump up and join them since this was her scene in Buenos Aires for quite a bit of her life.
Eventually, we left, after thanking the band, and Danish Daniel and I made our way back to the bus to get back to Terra Firma and our beds. The bus was crowded. Packed, people jamming in on every side. We had to have masks on so the already humid evening was made more suffocating with the masks on. I could feel the sweat trickling from my hairline down my back. Sorry for the vividness, but it was just so hot and Mediterranean and I had loved every second of the day! I stood for the entire journey home.

When Danish Daniel and I got back to our dorm, we met the other people filling out the beds in the room. There were two brothers from Exeter, Sam and Charlie. They were Chiefs fans, of course, and so were happy with how well the Chiefs had been doing this season. When I revealed that I supported Bath in the premiership, they kinda laughed and made some jokes. Makes sense, since Bath was dead last! There was another guy in the dorm too, but I didn’t catch his name. He, too, was British and had been travelling for the entire of his gap year before heading to university. We shall call him The Eager Fresher. I climbed into bed and fell asleep like a sack of Venetian bricks.
Sunday 24th July
I got breakfast just down the road from the hostel, croissants and coffee. This seems to be the default breakfast for every European, and I am not complaining at all, I love it!
I caught the bus into Venice again and headed to Parco Sarvognan where I sat and typed out the first little bit of the next entry for this blog. I felt so guilty, being so far behind! Seems I can’t travel and enjoy myself, whilst also maintaining the (detailed, verbose) blog… Whoops! I did that for an hour or so. There was no one here. It was so quiet, which I imagine is unusual for Venice. I honestly thought that Venice would be packed from wall to wall, everywhere in the city! Also, call me silly, but I was surprised that trees can even grow in Venice…


I then walked away from the touristy areas and into the Cannoregio sector. This was the “hip” area of Venice and the least touristy and most authentic – where the locals had all retreated to. I wandered the area with a crêpe in my hand (I may have gotten distracted by a crepe house…). There were the crumbling bricks of Venice all around me like the day before. I walked up and down streets, not caring where I was really going but just soaking up the atmosphere. I overheard an opera singer rehearsing and later, I sat at a café, reading and drinking coffee and listened to someone practice the piano from across the street canal. They were playing Clair de Lune and it just fit the atmosphere wonderfully. I took so many photos of buildings and sights I saw in the streets of Venice. Like, I could fill up this post with just photos of cool houses and architecture!


I slowly made my way through the streets of Venice, crossing innumerable bridges. Each of these were different. Some narrow, some wide. Some with steps, some without. Some long and some short and stumpy. I wanted to see some of the more unique things. As such, I made my way to Ponte Chiodo, a bridge without with no balustrades. Since it was leading to a house (yes, it’s sole purpose) coupled with the fact that it had no balustrades then members of the public weren’t actually allowed on it. Still, it was funny to see. But, uh, yeah… Didn’t actually get a photo of the bridge, I was too distracted by all the other sights around me!


There was a infamous bookshop close by so I headed there next, winding my ways through the backstreets. It was a bookshops called Libreria Acqua Alta. They had taken broken gondolas, bathtubs, rowboats and filled this building with them, and then subsequently filled the boats and bathtubs and shelves with books. Stacked to the ceiling! Both second hand books, and new books! And in every language seemingly. It was like a book lovers paradise. It seemed like an idea plucked from the imagination and so to see it first hand was amazing! Like, have you seen bathtubs filled with old comics? Rowboats, mounted on the wall, stacked with German literature? Gondolas resting on the floor, supported by books and filled with books? I spent so much time there. Apparently there was a resident cat, but I did not see it. The place was crowded though. It was allegedly one of these “hidden gems” of Venice, but it was still full of people and you had to squeeze past people. I think it might be one of the best bookshops I have ever visited, just for the atmosphere more than anything else! If you want a list of my favourite bookshops I have ever discovered, by the way, text me.




I found the perfect copy of Anna Karenina whilst I was here. This is a book I have been wanting to read for ages, but I have never quite found a nice enough copy that I wanted, until now. The problem is, it was in Italian! Alas, another time.
After a brief stop for lunch, I then made my way to the Basilica di San Marco – the big famous one in Venice. The plaza in front was the lowest point in Venice and as such, the first place which is flooded. There was a big plaza out in front but the cathedral itself was covered in scaffolding, workmen scurrying over it in fluorescent jackets. There was no opportunity to go inside since I hadn’t booked any tickets. But that is fine with me, I had seen plenty of cathedrals so far and I will see more before long I am sure. It is just an excuse to have to come back to Venice one day I guess! Outside the cathedral though, I did see one of the Venetian Towers! This looked familiar since I had seen replicas of them in Barcelona!


I had organised to see Lena again and so I made my way to the Ponte di Rialto where I had organised to meet her at the assigned time. As I was making my way along, there were a bunch of fancy restaurants in a row, each with dressed up waiters and jazz bands playing to the patrons. That was nice to listen to as I strolled by. To get from the Basilica to the Ponto di Rialto, I had to walk along the main thoroughfare and this was when I realised how busy Venice can be. I was weaving in and out of people and shuffling along behind tour groups. I much preferred the quieter areas to Venice where I could go along at my own pace without having to stop behind other people.


I found her amidst the crowds on the bridge and after grabbing a photo of the famous bridge (see above), we then trotted around Venice, chatting once more. We headed down some of the main thoroughfares before going to see some of the other famous churches. For instance, there was also the churches of the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, two of the other most impressive churches within Venice. After visiting the Santa Maria della Salute one, we walked around and close to the big canal once again before cutting back into the streets, where we also saw so many fancy looking delicacies which I wanted to eat. There were a lot of green bakery products, made with pistachios, which seemed to be a Venetian speciality. “Venetian this” and “Venetian that”. I tried one of the cookies, delicious! It was almost seemed like something you would find in Honeydukes – it was so wacky eating something so green (which wasn’t, you know, a vegetable…).




We ended our afternoon of wandering and chatting by grabbing a coffee together by the Giudecca Canal before we parted ways. She was off on a Gondola ride which she had paid extortionate money for (her words, not mine) and then onto a tour of the “ghost town of Venice” in the twilight before dinner. Meanwhile, my phone had run out of battery so I was running back to my hostel to put it on charge. The time was past 19:00 at this point. Issue is, you got bus tickets on your phone and no real other way soooo… I may have ridden the bus without paying eek
Back in Venezia Mestre (Terra Firma), having navigated my way through Venice without the aid of Google maps successfully, I bought myself some pasta and ate a quiet dinner in the hostel with the sun having set. I chatted to my roommates, all of whom were about to head to university and so ended up asking me all sorts of questions about it. I didn’t realise until then how much of a name drop St Andrews was until then. I mean, I guess we are the best university in the UK for Physics but still… Hadn’t ever occurred to me that they might be considered on par with Oxbridge now! The Eager Fresher was especially amazed, claiming that I could get any job I wanted with this degree. Only time will tell if he is correct! Haha
Monday 25th July
My last day in Venice. I was going to be catching the overnight train to Vienna from Venezia Mestre in the evening and so I had to check out of the hostel and then leave my bag with them whilst I did touristy stuff in Venice proper again. It seemed a big nerve-wracking though. The room which the hostel allowed you to keep your bag in whilst you go out was unlocked and so I didn’t feel particularly comfortable leaving my bag in there. I comforted myself with the fact that there were about another one hundred bags and suitcases in this unlocked storage room and so the statistical chances of my bag being specifically stolen were looking good. Just in case though, I took my passport with me so that I had everything important on me at least.
I caught the bus back into Venice for the last time. For these three days, Venice has just been so humid. It must have been an effect of the heat wave that Europe had been experiencing for the last, like, month or so. I walked into Canneregio once again, my favourite area in Venice and found myself breakfast of (you guessed it, say it altogether now) croissants and coffee.


My plan for today was to upload the Sevilla blog post and as such I was planning on spending the morning in Venice before getting to work in the afternoon, typing everything up on my phone. Which isn’t fun. Quite fiddly really. Therefore, I went for my final little wander through Venice. I just adore all the crooked little alleyways, the brick walls and the smell of the place, the hint of sea amongst the odours of bakeries. I visited some fancy spiral stairs and got myself some gelato from a famous gelateria, Gelato Suso. I ate it, leaning on a bridge, watching the gondolas go past underneath me. It also seemed to be post day since there were people with small hand chariots, precariously piled high with parcels and letters, rocketing around the city. I hadn’t seen them before now. I wonder if it costs extra to get a parcel delivered to Venice? There were also a bunch of alleyways with grape vines growing over them, shading you from the sun. So naturally, I also ate the grapes growing on them as I walked down these small streets. It was just all so perfect!


I got myself some gnocci for an early lunch and then caught the bus back to Venezia Mestre and sat in the hostel writing my blog. It was actually quite a relaxing afternoon. I enjoy writing these chaotic things that almost no one probably reads in the entirety. Maybe I should write a book. Hmmmm… But yes, I sat in the hostel all afternoon doing this. I feel that when I have a train or an appointment later in the day, I can’t really focus on much else or commit to an arduous, time consuming task because I always think that I may be running the risk of missing the said appointment later – in this case, a train! Does that make sense? So yeah, that was why I was one of the reason I was spending the afternoon close to the station, writing my blog.

Around 18:20, I left the hostel and headed to the train station, ready to catch my overnight train to Vienna. Dinner was a bagel at the station, and some other snacks that I bought, ready for the journey. The train pulled into the station at 18:41 and I hopped aboard, ready to head out of Italy and into the heart of Europe.
Impression
I really enjoyed Venice. I took too many photos of a lot of buildings and canals for three days and loved the sense of calm and peace that the place seemed to exude, despite the heat and humidity whilst I was there. It was also nowhere near as crowded as I have been led to believe!
Al’s list of fun facts and silly stats
- Days spent: 3, really.
- Bakeries and gelateria visited: like… 4? 5?
- Jazz clubs: 1
- Number of things that went wrong: none really.
- Memorable moment: Again, so many to choose from. The hot, sweaty jazz night? Or maybe the the sense of awe in that bookshop? Or maybe just eating gelato, sitting on a bridge, watching gondolas paddle by…
- Music suggestion based off of city: Felix Mendelssohn, Lieder ohne Worte, Op.30 No.6 (A Venetian Gondola song)
- Postcards sent: 0. Yeah, I suck at this, sorry
- Number of bridges crossed: too many! I would guess like 40-50? Possibly more?
- How many books nearly bought: 2. I was in line to buy Anna Karenina before I realised it was in Italian…
- British people I met: 5 in 2 days, and I wasn’t even trying. Tourists everywhere
- Burnt-o-meter: 5/10. I was definitely red. The crispiest I have been so far!
- Items lost: still 3
- Hostel rating: 6/10 – but that seems generous. Just, everything extra cost more, and the kitchen was tiny, and we were 8 floors up!

FMN1