The city on the water // Session 14

The train ride to Venice was relaxed and I didn't have to reserve anything. Arrived in Venice Mestre. So to speak, the suburb of Venice, which is actually in the water, I looked for my hostel. It was only 3 minutes away from the train station and there was also a grocery store nearby. The hostel was one of the best I've ever been to. It was clean, very well equipped (modern, good beds), the air conditioning worked, the room could be darkened well with curtains, the toilet and shower were separate, it had a good breakfast, a cooking area, friendly staff, a large and cool chill lounge. So it was really good and it cost the same as the other hostels. The only "problem" was that it wasn't directly in Venice, but that didn't make a difference as you could get there quickly and easily.

I had planned a whole 5 nights in Venice because I also wanted to visit the beach Lidl di Jesolo. So I spent 2 days sightseeing and 2 days at the beach. On the first evening I didn't do anything because I was really tired.

First of all, sightseeing: I didn't have such high expectations because I was told it's not as great as you imagine. And now I can also say that it isn't. It's beautiful, no question about it. And you should have been there at least once, but it's not a paradise, as it is often titled... Venice is swarming with tourists, but since we are still in the high season, it's not the best time to complain about it... Of course, if you deviate from the main street, there are much fewer people, but there's also nothing there. And at first, the small winding alleys and always having to walk over small canals are cool, but I got bored of it quite quickly because I couldn't get lost there... The best of all the main attractions was the Doge's Palace. I treated myself to an audio guide again and could really enjoy it. This palace is truly beautiful.

The St. Mark's Basilica was cool, but not as incredible as I imagined it would be. However, it wasn't a typical ornate church either, they tried something different.

The St. Mark's Campanile was of course beautiful, as you can see the city from above, but unfortunately you only see roofs and not the whole canals from above, because they are of course too small on the one hand and on the other hand you don't look directly down from above, but logically at an angle...

Then I visited another church, which was also beautiful, and of course the 2 famous bridges. The Bridge of Sighs, in which I even went inside, and the Rialto Bridge.

In Venice, there are many small shops that sell pasta in boxes, as you know it from Asian food stores. Of course not Asian, but Italian. They were awesome and I ate a lot of pasta in Venice.

The prejudice that there should be a smell in many places in Venice did not apply to me. It always smelled neutral.

Unfortunately, I never took a gondola or a water taxi, as it was too expensive for me and also too complicated to find out how it all works.

The beach was really fine and clean. The sea was also clean and had a pleasant temperature. At the beach itself, I didn't do much except sunbathing, reading and chilling. The bus ride there only cost 4€ one way and unfortunately took an hour. I don't like taking the bus. It always makes me feel uncomfortable...

From the second day in the hostel, there was also a German Vietnamese in my room. He was 29 but looked extremely young and was an architect. I had breakfast with him every morning and we had really nice conversations. I was also glad to speak German. He was the first on my trip who comes from Germany and was in my room.