Kyle and I were lucky enough to stay at our friend Mel's place for the night which was located on San Servolo island, a short boat ride away from Piazza San Marco, the main Venetian square. San Servolo Island used to be an insane asylum which is now completely covered by a small university and campus (small is an understatement... you can walk from one side to the other in less than five minutes). It was the perfect place to crash for the night (minus the fact that boats to the island only leave once every hour, but we will get into that later).
Our place on San Servolo!
We went into this trip not knowing what we wanted to do exactly, which for us worked out because I believe one truly gets to know and appreciate a city only by getting lost in it. We walked through the square and ate pizza before taking a boat over to the island of Murano. The boats in Venice are like the European metro or Boston T systems. You cannot get anywhere without them and they have little schedules, routes, and transfers, just like our trains. That was definitely one of the coolest parts of Venice, seeing the city by boat! That night we ate tortellini, watched live music in the square, and enjoyed the first of many gelato. Some illegal Indian street venders were selling glow up flying toys in the square which (1) made the sky look beautifully majestic and (2) provided Kyle and I entertainment as we watched the cops trying to track down and chase these mysterious light flingers (clearly, a lot of crime for Venetian cops to handle).
That night, Kyle and I got completely lost and missed two consecutive boats back to San Servolo (which means, yes, we were lost for over two hours). However, it worked out for the better because we got to enjoy more time in the square. The next morning we ate lunch on the island and began our journey to Genoa, Italy where we would be departing for Cinque Terre.
Venice by night!
When we arrived in Genoa we had no hostel plans, which usually makes no difference, however, we were unaware it was national holiday that weekend in Italy so we ran into some slight problems later in Venice. After being rejected from maybe 15 hostels (and tripping and falling through the door of one) we found a hostel with a single bed. After 20 minutes of begging the owners to allow two of us to stay in the room we were in the clear... we did it... we successfully booked the smallest bed known to mankind... for any Eagles out there reading... imagine cutting a BC bed in half and trying to fit two people on it. TORTURE. To ease the pain of seeing our tight living quarters we did what any two American students would do in the beautiful country of Italy... we ordered Chinese food.
Side Note: We discovered perhaps the most ingenious invention of all time.... Bread sticks with Nutella snack with iced tea all in one packaged deal (below is a completely necessary picture).
The next morning we departed in the misty rain for Cinque Terre (five towns) which is a group of five towns located on Italian cliff islands. On a good day Cinque Terre can be completed solely by hiking but we were met with rain, clouds, and a flock of old geezers who hiked at 1/4 my normal pace. Once I was tired of complaining about the crappy weather I realized how beautiful these towns were. They truly are the quintessential Italian beach towns that you would imagine. We ate pizza in the second town and upon completing our meal the waiter ate our check... strange. We took a boat to the last town and enjoyed some coffee. The day would have been better if the weather gods had given us sunshine but it was not pouring so I can't complain too much.. the rain was waiting for us in Florence.
Note: On the right you will see me rocking the jean shorts with tights look common in Spain... at first I thought it was super tacky.. while I may think this the second I get back to the US of A, I am taking advantage of my foreign right to wear tacky shit and pull it off.
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