This was a pretty short trip to Italy. From Zagreb we caught an overnight train to Monfalcone and from there it was a half hour ride down to Trieste. We were super tired from the journey, left our bags in a café and went on a self guided tour of the city, as provided by tourist information.
It is a nice place, but was quite windy that day, which made it difficult to sleep in the park on the concrete wall, and also the park bench by the waterfront. It also has the largest town square that faces the water in Europe, with café prices to match. We met up with our couch surfing host, Lorenzo, and went for some good Italian pizza (not that the pizza in Croatia was bad, and there was a lot of it). After, we went to a small street that was buzzing with small, traditional Italian wine bars. Soaked in the atmosphere as well as some vino and called it a night.
The next morning we caught a train to Venice. This was the purpose of our journey into Italy. Again, I had been here before, but wanted to share the magic with Dasha. With no accommodation booked, we set off on foot in search of internet. The locals were really friendly and helpful in giving directions, although what exactly they were directing to was quite unclear. A few stars on a hotel façade would have made a nice place to stay, but, unfortunately, as always, we had arrived on one of the busiest weeks of the year. There was a massive architecture biennale on as well as a festival and some other smaller events, resulting in hotels charging around $300 per night – a little out of our budget, even for Venice. We found a one star, in a good location, and all was sorted…except we didn’t account for the canals flooding into the foyer.
We spent our time wandering the back streets, trying to avoid the bulk of tourists. We did venture down to San Marco, the biggest and most famous square in Venice. It was absolutely packed with cafes, all full of tourists, paying about $30 for coffee and cake for two. We also met up with some local couch surfers, who organised events for groups, which often included wine bar tours. So that was a brilliant evening, sampling the local (cheap) side of Venice’s wines and tapas.
And of course, no trip to Venice would be complete without a gondola ride. If you can’t afford a trip to Venice but would like to feel the emotions of the experience, just go throw your wallet in the nearest river. It will cost about the same and take equally as long.
Apart from that, it is a beautiful city for wandering the winding streets, getting lost and sometimes terminating at wet end streets.
And for our last day, the only thing I ate, breakfast, lunch and dinner, was pizza. A quintessential way to leave the country.
Arrivederci la prossima volta Italia.
