You would think that spending a year in Austria with its rather central location would mean that I'd be off every school holiday and weekend hopping all through the continent...you'd also be wrong.
This past weekend's trip to Venice was actually the first time since arriving here in September that I'd traveled out of German speaking land. Well, I did go to Thailand over Christmas so I shouldn't be complaining too much. Through bad luck, felled plans, and financial constraints I feel as I have not been able to do nearly as much travel as I would like. Just another reason why I'm really, really glad to be in Austria for at least one more year.
To be fair, I've seen a lot of Europe on previous trips here. This year, I've been to Berlin, Vienna, Munich, and many other places in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. To all of which I was extremely happy to return to! But still, I won't lie, my lack of new inter-European travel on this tour was seriously grating a nerve.
Rachel and I had long talked about a weekend in Venice only to see our plans fall through several times. This time, we resolved, we shall prevail!
Friday afternoon, we packed up and hopped on the train to Villach. Liva and her kitchen full of amazing foods and smells were ready to meet us. A quick round of grocery shopping and it was back to Liva's to get ready for dinner which would also included several TAs from Klagenfurt and other neighboring towns. We had vegetable lasagna, salad, too many nutella cupcakes, and too much wine while playing Apples to Apples for hours. As soon as every one had left Rachel and I went straight to bed to prepare for the our 4:00am wake up call.
One Euro nightline later, we arrived in Venice at about 9:00am. We thought about taking the water taxi into town but decided to just walk and get a sense of bearings.
Venice was once the seat of a powerful maritime republic that lasted for over a millennium. It is an ornate and spectacular city with stunning architecture. It's also a place where I would really have liked nothing more than to turn back the dial on tourism by about 500 years.
Rachel and I got our tickets for the water taxi and after spending some time trying to figure out the rather complicated system, hopped on the next boat for San Marco. The weather that day was far from the sunny blue skies we'd be experiencing all week but it wasn't all bad, the horizon was streaky blue gray color which gave everything a bit of a moody and intense glow. Even with the rain, it was warm. It was just enough for us to be able to look beyond that signature rainy-smelly-European-city stink.
First up was a picnic lunch that we'd assembled the night before in Villach. After poking around San Marco, we joined a very very long ticket line for the Ducal Palace. The Palazzo was both the center of the Republic's administration in addition to the Dodge's, the ruler of Venice, home. We saw state rooms, courtyards, ornately decorated ceilings, sea and plaza views, and prisons.
After our palace tour we decided we needed a coffee break. I had heard from quite a few friends that the food in Venice was mostly horrible tourist fare. The more we walked around the city, the more I feared we would never be able to find a menu in less than five languages.
Finally, and to our supreme luck, we found a tucked away little place with a mostly Italian menu and in which actual Italians were eating. Rachel and I had both had the mussels, which were beyond amazing. Mussels + lemon buttery sauce + bread + prosecco = Heaven On Earth.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city, getting lost and walking in circles, drinking cappuccino and having gelato, and trying to figure out the supremely complicated water taxi system.
The more I travel, the more I find myself having a very low tolerance for the hordes and masses. Venice is pretty but I really could not have dealt with an additional day of crowds of people in San Marco. I don't even want to think about how bad it could get in the summer. We caught the Euronightlight at 9:00pm and made it back to Villach by 1:00.
Venice in 24 hours.....not bad!
After a wonderful and rejuvenating weekend of friends, fun, and new places it was back to Salzburg on Sunday evening. It's weekends like this that keep me going and are the supreme reward for dealing with teenagers all week.
Next up in my travel diary: Krakow!
This past weekend's trip to Venice was actually the first time since arriving here in September that I'd traveled out of German speaking land. Well, I did go to Thailand over Christmas so I shouldn't be complaining too much. Through bad luck, felled plans, and financial constraints I feel as I have not been able to do nearly as much travel as I would like. Just another reason why I'm really, really glad to be in Austria for at least one more year.
To be fair, I've seen a lot of Europe on previous trips here. This year, I've been to Berlin, Vienna, Munich, and many other places in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. To all of which I was extremely happy to return to! But still, I won't lie, my lack of new inter-European travel on this tour was seriously grating a nerve.
Rachel and I had long talked about a weekend in Venice only to see our plans fall through several times. This time, we resolved, we shall prevail!
Friday afternoon, we packed up and hopped on the train to Villach. Liva and her kitchen full of amazing foods and smells were ready to meet us. A quick round of grocery shopping and it was back to Liva's to get ready for dinner which would also included several TAs from Klagenfurt and other neighboring towns. We had vegetable lasagna, salad, too many nutella cupcakes, and too much wine while playing Apples to Apples for hours. As soon as every one had left Rachel and I went straight to bed to prepare for the our 4:00am wake up call.
One Euro nightline later, we arrived in Venice at about 9:00am. We thought about taking the water taxi into town but decided to just walk and get a sense of bearings.
Venice was once the seat of a powerful maritime republic that lasted for over a millennium. It is an ornate and spectacular city with stunning architecture. It's also a place where I would really have liked nothing more than to turn back the dial on tourism by about 500 years.
Rachel and I got our tickets for the water taxi and after spending some time trying to figure out the rather complicated system, hopped on the next boat for San Marco. The weather that day was far from the sunny blue skies we'd be experiencing all week but it wasn't all bad, the horizon was streaky blue gray color which gave everything a bit of a moody and intense glow. Even with the rain, it was warm. It was just enough for us to be able to look beyond that signature rainy-smelly-European-city stink.
First up was a picnic lunch that we'd assembled the night before in Villach. After poking around San Marco, we joined a very very long ticket line for the Ducal Palace. The Palazzo was both the center of the Republic's administration in addition to the Dodge's, the ruler of Venice, home. We saw state rooms, courtyards, ornately decorated ceilings, sea and plaza views, and prisons.
After our palace tour we decided we needed a coffee break. I had heard from quite a few friends that the food in Venice was mostly horrible tourist fare. The more we walked around the city, the more I feared we would never be able to find a menu in less than five languages.
Finally, and to our supreme luck, we found a tucked away little place with a mostly Italian menu and in which actual Italians were eating. Rachel and I had both had the mussels, which were beyond amazing. Mussels + lemon buttery sauce + bread + prosecco = Heaven On Earth.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city, getting lost and walking in circles, drinking cappuccino and having gelato, and trying to figure out the supremely complicated water taxi system.
The more I travel, the more I find myself having a very low tolerance for the hordes and masses. Venice is pretty but I really could not have dealt with an additional day of crowds of people in San Marco. I don't even want to think about how bad it could get in the summer. We caught the Euronightlight at 9:00pm and made it back to Villach by 1:00.
Venice in 24 hours.....not bad!
After a wonderful and rejuvenating weekend of friends, fun, and new places it was back to Salzburg on Sunday evening. It's weekends like this that keep me going and are the supreme reward for dealing with teenagers all week.
Next up in my travel diary: Krakow!
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