Author: Jon-David
We are now on the back half of our trip. As I reflect, I am grateful for the experiences and knowledge that we have gained already and we still have three months to go! As you can imagine, it isn’t always perfect and we promised to share not just the highlights, but some of the bumps along the road. The last few days in Italy we were extremely homesick. As I have said before, the biggest insight I have gained on this trip is how much I appreciate the life we have at home. As the Holidays approach we know it will get harder. Many of our friends and family keep telling us nothing new is happening back at home and it will be just the same when we get back, which has helped provide perspective and energy to continue.
After some feedback, we made last minute adjustments to our Italian itinerary. This led us to add two nights outside of Bologna in what was described as a B&B. Turns out in Italy the definition of a B&B can vary quite a bit. Once we finally got in touch with the host we entered the very questionable apartment building. We quickly deduced that this was just two guy’s three bedroom apartment, by the number of toothbrushes and hanging underwear in the bath/laundry room. When they rent out two rooms they must bunk up in the other bedroom for the night. On the second night we overheard another couple outside reenacting the same exact conversation we had the night before: “Are you sure this is the right address?” Having said that, the room and linens were clean and they did have coffee and snacks for breakfast, better than some hotels we have stayed in.
For our first day in the Bologna area we took the train to the town of Ferrara. It’s a nice quiet University town with one of the last castles with a moat.
From our research, the best thing to do in Bologna is eat, so that’s what we did. After hiking up the world’s longest portico to San Luca Basilica, we went on a DIY food tour. By food tour I mean we walked around, got Italian cocktails, pizza and of course gelato.
We took the train to Vicenza (an hour or so west of Venice). We spent the first of two days doing laundry and rearranging our New Zealand travel plans. The second we took an early train to Venice.
Venice definitely lived up to the hype. It was one of the most unique cities we have been to. I knew Venice had the canals but I didn’t realize that in the city center that’s all they have to get around. The canals are like their streets and boats are cars. It was very interesting to see how they do everyday things like pick up trash or construction with crane boats. We spent the day navigating the very dense maze of canals, bridges and alleys.
Molly really enjoyed seeing Venice because she has been reading a 800 page biography of Napoleon Bonaparte since we visited Paris. Venice was a powerful city-state since the 11th century until Napoleon came and took it over in 1797 without a fight.
Not Sew Fancy Travels 