In Transit & Venezia

A 3am wake-up call to begin my trip was welcomed with teary goodbyes but also excitement for my two month trip to Europe! It was a shaky start from the get-go as my plane's engine decided to malfunction before we had even left the terminal. Two hours later we were finally in the air, and with two seats free next to me I was stoked to be able to lie down and stretch out and actually be comfortable on a plane... a luxury I'm sure all those over 5'10 will appreciate.

Unfortunately this comfort was short lived as a pushy woman who spoke next to no English complained to me that it was unfair I had three seats to myself when she couldn't sleep sitting up (babes... you're not the only one...). She soon got a flight attendant to back her up and due to my inability to speak up for myself I was soon moved to a different (more crowded) seat for the remainder of the flight...dayum.

I arrived in Rome at 10.00pm (2 hours later than expected) freaking out because my hostel had a 11pm lock-out time and I had no idea if I would make it on time. Luckily I experienced the kindness of strangers early on and met some people who were more than happy to share a transfer with me for a pretty good price. I arrived in my hotel safe and sound looking forward to meeting up with Rosie and Carly the next day.

After a 3 hour superfast train, I arrived in Venice on Thursday and was greeted by the girls who took me to the shuttle bus that led to our accommodation for the next 3 nights. We stayed at 'Camping Jolly', a campsite about a 15 minute drive out of Venice. Our room was a canvas tent with single beds and pretty much nothing else, but it was cheap and easy and had a pool, bar, restaurant etc. which was all very convenient. That night we shared bottles of cheap wine and I had my first authentic Italian meal...a Caprese salad which was pretty epic for cheap campsite food! We got pretty drunk that night, met some local Italians and some other travelers, and got told off by a security guard on a bike... soo very intimidating. The bar sold cocktail buckets and we were so drunk we didn't finish one... they were pretty pricey so Rosie decided to 'save one for later' and proceeded to put it in the corner of the room promising to drink it in the morning for breakfast. The bucket was of course still there when we checked out.

The next day we hung round by the pool in the morning and swam off our hangovers after having the most heinous buffet breakfast which cost us 6.50 euros and consisted of a selection of rubbery eggs and stale bread... delish. Around 3pm we headed into Venice to do some exploration and get very very lost. I have to say it was unlike anything I have ever seen before... so many tiny alley ways and beautiful shops filled with freaky and beautiful masks and gorgeous glass ornaments. After exploring for a couple of hours we returned to the campsite and had an early night because I was still suffering from pretty bad jetlag.

Saturday we hung around till about midday and then went back into Venice, this time deciding to go to an island about 15mins away by ferry called Murano. This is the glass-making island of the region and we spent a few hours walking around looking at all the amazing glass art. We headed back a little too slowly and missed our bus... so had to catch some other random bus which got us very lost. In the end we made our way back home and once again had a drunken night talking shit about people from Adelaide. When you meet Australians who are massive dickheads it's so easy to ruin their facade by telling everyone else at the table that the place they are from is a joke (sorry Nikki if you are reading this hahahaha).

We had to pack up the next morning and say goodbye to Carly who was off to Amsterdam before going home, and then catch a train into Florence which is where we are at the moment! So far the trip is amazing and I'm really looking forward to having more adventures and seeing more of this beautiful continent over the next few weeks.