Two days in Venice

Friday 8th October - Saturday 9th October

It's a very eventful last night that we spend in Milan. With the party of our dorm mates that lasted a good part of the night, it's hardly if we were able to get a few hours of sleep. Fortunately, we took the bus early this morning to Venice, which allowed us to sleep for a few hours before leaving for a day of sightseeing.

The first step upon arriving at our destination is to drop off our stuff at the accommodation we have booked. We will stay two days in Mestre, a city 15 minutes away from Venice by bus. Renting in Venice would have been too expensive (even a simple dormitory). We preferred to move away a bit and have a private room (after three very difficult nights, it was more than desirable). We also took the opportunity to do some laundry by hand. We have a balcony in the room, the perfect place to dry our clothes!

As soon as we arrived in Venice, Victor spotted a small restaurant that offers cicchetti, which are very nice and unusual little toasts. This little tasting break is more than welcome, since we only ate an apple since this morning.

Once our bellies are full, we can start the serious business of discovering this magnificent city! Between St. Mark's Square, St. Georgio's Cathedral and the island of Murano, we learn to tame the long corridors of the city, the countless bridges and the network of vaporettos. We enjoy walking around and discovering the hidden treasures of Venice as we go.

While we look for a good pizzeria for the dinner (since our arrival in Venice, we did not have yet the occasion to taste an Italian pizza), we discover a small traditional store of Italian wines. The saleswoman offers us a small tasting and the conversation begins. We learn that the Venetians are specialized in the unfermented white wine. This is similar to fruit juice with 10% alcohol. The locals drink it as an aperitif with peanuts. She also tells us that Venetians drink a lot and that it is a good thing for them not to have a car.

After this nice interlude, we finally taste our first Italian pizza (the pizzeria was warmly recommended to us by our new friend, the wine seller). It's true that my pizza with asparagus and gorgonzola was rather original in terms of flavors.

This day was exceptional, but tiredness catches up with us and it is time for us to go back to rest. We are happy to see that our clothes are almost dry (not surprising given the wind in Venice). Unfortunately, one of my shirts decided to follow its own adventure and certainly took advantage of a gust of wind to fly away. If any of you come across a purplish-gray t-shirt flying through the air, it's probably mine!

The next day, after a good night's sleep, we returned to Venice to head directly to the island of Burano (45 minutes from Venice by boat). And surprise: it is a magnificent festival of colors which awaits us there! All the houses are painted with a bright color. Yellow, green, pink, blue, red, there is something for everyone! It's a pleasure to stroll through its narrow streets. It is the most colorful village that I had the opportunity to see. It is a real favorite for us.

But why so many colors? The theory of our friend the wine seller from the day before is confirmed: in the past, fishermen sometimes had difficulties to find their houses because of the alcohol fumes (and also the fog). Another theory is that each large family on the island assigned itself a particular color.

Whatever the reason, it is a treat for our eyes. We want to take each facade in photo. To enjoy a little more, we lunch on the spot a salad of seafood and fried seafood.

Back in Venice, we take advantage of the last moments in the city to take a trip on the Grand Canal by vaporetto. The sight of the city via the sea is completely different than when we walk there. We are hypnotized by the ancient facades of the houses that we cross. And we see the bridge of the sighs which becomes more and more clear as the boat advances. Between the cab boats, the gondolas and the boats of the private individuals, the grand canal is very alive!

Once on the dry land, we taste an ice cream (it would be a shame to miss one of the best specialities of Italy), and we walk in the park which looks like an art gallery with all its sculptures and modern structures.

They are our last hours in the city. Then for the dinner, we buy fresh pastas (with eggplants for me and with tomatoes mozzarella for Victor) that we taste by admiring the light of the illuminations on the facades of the buildings. We even have the right to some typical songs on our way back.

Tomorrow, it is a new adventure which waits for us. Initially, we had planned some days in the Dolomites. Indeed, since we came back from the GR20 (long hike in Corsica), we dreamed to go to the Italian Alps. Unfortunately, after more research on the region, it turns out that most of the mountain huts are already closed at this season because of the snow. And doing short day hikes is difficult without personal means of transportation. Too bad, the dolomites will be for another time.

Ciao Italy, we're off to discover Austria!