so i took a break from the real reason I'm in Italy, which is studying the summer course in uni. to something I've been looking forward to a long time, visiting Venice and Florence.
i only had around 7 hours in Venice. i was told that once you see a canal you've seen them all. it's true actually. i didn't end up taking much photos in Venice and rushed though the whole thing (as there isn't any transport of any sort other than boats) my friends were worried that once we walked up to one side of Venice we could potentially get lost and spend hours getting back to the train station and miss our train to Florence. it was good that didn't happen though. we managed to get to the main square (san marco?) and back up north.
Venice is a strange thing, if you don't stick to the main passageways frequented by tourists, which is what we did try to do for a change, the city is made of tiny little passageways that only two people could just fit in side by side. and it is easy to get lost, if only for the signs pointing to san maria square or San marco square. and there seems to be an interesting journey to get from one point of Venice to the other. one point there is a little alleyway giving in to other alleyways and then soon after, a little bridge over a canal. that is the most interesting thing i found in Venice. you can't find anything like that anywhere else in the world.
i didn't do the gondola ride. my friend who went to Venice a few years ago found them too expensive (she thought it was 200 euros but i did a little research and found out it was only 80 euros, but usually the gondola rowers will charge higher prices). i didn't feel as if i was missing out on anything though. the gondolas are decorated a lot however. you're essentially sitting on this throne with cushions and furry blankets while a rower pushes you through the canals. gondola rides would be good for a honeymoon or something.
Florence was next on the ititernary. at first when i helped booked all the tickets for the train and hotel i first put in staying overnight in Venice, but luckily we got a tip to stay in Florence instead as it would be cheaper (obviously). when i found the train tickets were also cheaper doing this way we ended up staying in Florence instead. just as well, as we had the best dinner in Italy so far at Florence.
i had some pici pasta with duck sauce thing. it was really nice. we also had free small glass of wine mixed with some spirit. after that we decided to have dessert. i decided tirimisu, since i realized i never had this famous Italian dessert ever since i was in Italy. so it came in this huge lump and it was so delicious and awesome. the waiter also decided to spoil us even more with free things. like one free piece of biscotti, free amoretto shots and a free calender. we have a theory that whenever we go to restaurants out for dinner and tell the waiters that we are from Australia we always get free stuff. it's worked twice.
afterwards after a late night we go off to see the usual landmarks of Florence, the duomo, the main piazza (repubblica?), the pontevecchio, the gallery uffitzi and another cathedral. yes i probably spelt all those names wrong, sorry. walked a lot. also saw the markets, a long line of souvenir and leather everything shops. i brought most of my gifts to take home there. if you can haggle for good prices you can get good quality bags, wallets, bracelets, key rings, jackets... all in leather. apparently Florence is famous for leather goods.
also Florence is good for gelato and has the best gelati in Italy. Italy is probably the only place where i would eat ice cream in winter.
i would say Florence is the best city I've been to in Italy so far. by a margin from Venice though. I'm sure if i had more time to appreciate Venice then i think i could like it more, but i don't think it could ever beat Florence. honestly.
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