We got off the plane, grabbed our luggage and headed toward the taxi line. The taxi in front was a bigger van thing instead of a car, so we debated on what to do. We eventually gave in and went into the taxi. Luckily, he knew where we were going. I watched as our meter passed 20…30…40… and finally settled on 59.00 euros!! You have got to be pulling on my leg! That is the most expensive taxi ride. I watched the meter it went up 10 cents every 2-3 seconds.
At least our hostel looked nice. It was huge 400 rooms. Crazy! Tents and bungalow. We got the bungalow. It is really small, but nice. It has AC. The first AC we have had in 8 weeks! Wow! I have really been roughing it!
Then off to bed in our air conditioned room.
Monday June 30
We woke up after a nice sleep. We decided to go to the convince store that was at our hostel. We got a package of muffins and downed them. They were really good.
After getting ready, we went to reception to book a spot on the shuttle bus to the center of Venice. The bus ride was quick but we had to catch a people mover to actually get into the city. 7 euros later, we were in the heart of Venice. We passed up the maps because they cost 2.50. We eventually caved.
We wandered over the bridge and got extremely lost. I mean beyond lost. It was crazy. We were walking down back alleys with no way to know where we were going. The streets were twisty and ended at random spots. Ended in water. The buildings were so high on each side that we couldn't even see the sun. It got a little scary at times.
We stumbled upon a pizza shop and Gelato shop. Thats when we knew that we needed to stop. That was the cheapest meal I think I have had here. It was also delicious!! We sat on the steps of a church and ate. It was a nice time. While lost, we stumbled upon the cutest shops.
We circled for ever. Then we saw it… Where we started!! It was a miracle! We made it back to where we started without even trying. Literally I have no idea how that happened. We were all relieved. We ran to the tourist desk to book our Gondola ride. We found out the ride started at the other end of the side we were on. We booked it for 5, giving us 2.5 hours to get there. The lady told us that it went right through some good shopping areas. That was good since we wanted to get some good shopping in.
We searched those streets thoroughly. It literally took us 2 hours to get to the end when it should have taken 40 minutes. We had a good time. And we had delicious smoothies. They were really fresh!
We reached the gondola place, but they said to go to the garden for the meeting place. We went back to the garden and waited. A man came up and gathered all 15 of us. He assigned us to different gondolas. We got gondola 2. We were in it with 3 other people. A couple from Florida celebrating their 25th anniversary and a lady alone.
We started out in a large water area. Definitely not the grand canal. This had lots of big boats creating lots of waves. It was kinda scary. We were siting really low in the water and the waves were moving us around a lot. Our driver told us we had to lean different ways at times. We eventually moved into the canal. It was really pretty. We gilded through the heart of Venice. Seeing all of the houses and buildings that surrounded the canal. I liked the ride a lot.
After the ride, we looked for more shopping and food. After walking in several smaller circles, we found a restaurant with good prices and an awning because it was starting to rain. I got ravioli. It was pretty good. It had ham and cheese. With white sauce. After that we got nutella gellato.
A little more shopping and we were on our last leg toward the people mover. We were walking across the bridge when we noticed the sky was beautiful. As we were taking pictures, a man approached us with roses. He threw them into our hands. Then he wouldn't leave us alone. He was talking to us and then as we were walking to get more pictures, he started asking us for money. We didn't want to give him any so we told him we didn't have any money and we tried to give him the roses back. He wouldn't take them. We were practically running away from him now. He snatches the roses out of our hands with a lovely scowl on his face. Creeper. We ran as fast as we could away.
We got more lovely pictures with the sun and then departed. We reached the people mover in good time. Then we had to sit outside and wait for the bus. Not all bad because we had free wifi.
Back at the hostel, Karli ran to scrub her face because a pigeon ran into her face earlier in the day. She said her face was burning now. We were a little worried about her.
Tuesday July 1
Oh man was it an interesting day! We were just planning on staying by the pool and laying in the sun.
We woke up and had to pack up and be out of our room by 10. At 9:45 Lindsey starts freaking out. She can't find her wallet anywhere. We literally tear the entire bungalow apart looking for it. She is on the verge of breaking down. I was freaking out for her. We checked out and sadly left the room. We went for breakfast at the convenient store on the campsite. We moved into Caio Bella (the restaurant on the campsite).
This is when I finally convince Lindsey that she didn't lose it, but someone pickpocketed her. We think back to the day before. She had it when we got gelato. Then we started leaving. Then it hit us, the creeper on the bridge with the roses. It was him! He or an accomplice must have taken her wallet out of her purse when we were taking pictures.
Several texts and phone calls later, we walked into reception asking if we could use their phone to call. They told us no and sent us to a call center with a poor map. We reluctantly headed off, leaving Karli behind to guard our stuff. Lindsey and I walked through a tunnel into a sketchy town. We were a little scared. We stopped and asked for directions about 4 times. No one spoke English. I kept putting my thumb and pinky in the phone sign trying to communicate. They all pointed us in different directions. We followed each path, but to no avail...After about 1 hour into our adventure, we stumble upon this sketchy looking shop. Sure enough, it had 3 phone booths.
Tunnel leading to the city
Phone booth
We tried to talk to the man working the desk. He spoke little english, and by little, I mean none. This made the situation even better. Eventually, we get Lindsey settled into a little booth with the phone number. She tries calling 4 times. Nothing.
We leave without calling the bank and return back to the campground.
We just sat there in silence trying to contemplate our next move. I decided to go an ask for a shuttle to the airport. Surprise, surprise, that wasn't available any more. I was told that we would have to walk to the bus stop and take the bus 45 minutes to the airport. Yay!
We left at 3 for the airport. That would get us there around 4. Which gave Lindsey enough time to try and use a phone at the airport.
We got to airport with enough time. She ran to the phone. After 4 attempts, we considered that a failure and moved on to a sitting area. Luckily, we reached Lindsey's mother and she got her cards suspended. We sat until we could check our bags at 5:26. That was fun.
Bags checked and through security, we went for food. The first food I had had since breakfast. I just got a croissant and fruit bowl. Oh how I have missed fruit! We sat and waited. I kept looking behind me at the line forming. I thought it was our gate, but nothing had been announced. Then Lindsey, coming back from the bathroom, comes running up saying that our flight is boarding. 45 minutes early. We all run up to the boarding area, which is now vacant. We then follow the corridor down the stairs and to the stupid shuttle thing. I really don't like that thing. We wedged ourselves in and away we went.
We got the last seats on the plane. I actually kinda like those seats. It was a small plane. But it was really nice. Short flight too.
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