Venice/Jesolo

Day 14:

Woke up to rain rain rain in Engleberg. Hopped on the bus again and onto Venice! But first we made a stop in Verona. We were suppose to go to a lake on the way to do a boat ride and get some sun but it wasn’t a good boating day sooo we continued to Verona.

I-T-A-L-Y 🇮🇹 I-T-A-L-Y 🇮🇹 I-T-A-L-Y

We were able to see the House of Guieltta…if anyone has watched the movie Letters to Juliet, this is where those letters in the wall were. I actually thought it looked nothing like the movie but that also could have been because there were about 200 people crammed into a tiiiiiiiny square. There was a statue of Juliet too where you had to rub her breast for good luck. Of course we did it 😜.

Then we went in search for some lunch and we both got our first Italian pizzas! And guess what…we both ordered one…and we both finished it. It was a big pizza too. It was amazing.

Got back on the bus and headed to our hotel in Jesolo which is where we are staying instead of in Venice. Weird thing is, our rooms didn’t have numbers, they have names. So we stayed on the first floor in Gilallo. But again, put our bags down and went right back out of the room to the beach! But our first order of business was to stop at a gelato shop. Mike said he would buy us all one since he loves this group so much 😍. I got chocolate peanut butter, Cody got biscotti…gelato is the best ice cream ever. Hands down.

Next stop, beach. But it was windy and cold so there was no way I was getting into the water because I was cold just standing there. The sand felt like moon sand and it would’ve been beautiful if it were better weather.

After we/I was done shivering on the beach, we found a convenience store that had 2€ bottles of wine…although it wasn’t the best wine but where else do you find a 2€ bottle of Italian wine…on the streets of Italy that’s where!

And even after having a full breakfast at the hotel, a whole pizza, gelato, and snacks on the bus…we still wanted dinner. So a group of us headed out to the cheapest place we could find because Switzerland robbed us all. We found a place where we got some pasta ragu. First pasta in Italy! As well as a bottle of wine; Italian Merlot. Nom nom nom.

So after dinner we wanted to go to a bar to watch the World Cup. So we found the Gasoline Roadhouse Bar right next to the beach. It had American stuff hanging up all over the place and we had a little too much fun 😝.

Day 15:

Where we’re staying, Hotel Mayor, the staff was very strict. Already got yelled at when we came back at night and then they were being pretty strict about alcohol in the room and the breakfast situation…but we come to find out that Mikes group, last time he was here decided to get naked, jump into the sea and have all of their clothes and items stolen from the beach. So they had to go to the police station at 2am. Maybe that’s why they’re not too found of us…

Started our day on the bus heading for Venice for our walking tour. There was a 30 mins boat ride in order to get into the city because Venice is actually made up of multiple islands connected by over 400 bridges. We met out your guide and saw evvvverything. The Bridge of Sighs, Piazza St. Mark (which is the lowest point of the city), the Basilica of St. Marks (on outside of the Basilica it tells the story of how the bones of St. Mark got into the church and how they were “borrowed” from Alexandria of Egypt. To get into all the churches in Italy you must have your shoulders covered and bottoms that covers your knees), the Two Pillars (which is actually bad luck to walk through because it used to be where executions took place), the Doge Palace, the Clock Tower, obviously the Lagoon of Venice (which is brackish water), and a glass blowing demonstration.

So after our tour, we set out for lunch. And what did we want…spaghetti of course. We finally found a place with reasonable prices, Cody got spaghetti with meat sauce, I got spaghetti with red sauce. Oh. My. It was so so SOOO good. It was cooked perfectly andante and so fresh. Delicious.

Then we walked around a little and went to the Rialto Bridge and got some more geeeeelatoooooo 🍦🍦🍦

Met up with Mike and went to the gondolas. Cody and I wanted to find one by ourselves and be a little romantic but it would’ve been very expensive. So we ended up going with the group and got an opera singer and a glass of prosecco at the end of the ride. It’s actually illegal now to have alcohol on the gondolas because there was an accident a few years back. But on our ride, the singing and the views were beautiful. All those movies with shots of people going through the canals in gondolas is exactly what it’s like. It was surreal being there in person, I couldn’t believe we were actually there.

After we finished our cups of prosecco, we went straight back to the boat in order to head back to Jesolo and go to the beach!! If was an absolutely stunning day so we dropped off our stuff, changed into bathing suits, and headed straight for the Adriatic sea!

Side Notes: On our tour, we also learned that the reason Venice’s flag is divided into 6 sections at the end is because there are 6 different districts in Venice. And the symbol of Venice and St. Mark is a winged lion so that’s why you see them everywhere around the city. Also being a Gondolier is really a family business. It’s passed down through the family line. But if you don’t get it passed down through your family, it costs 700,000€ for the boat and license and I could see why. Those things would be hard to learn how to navigate.

So we finally made it to the beach! The water was pretty cold so I wasn’t in there for long but it was nice laying out for a couple hours people watching with about half of the group. Sarah and I went on a pretty nice walk and then Cody and I went on another walk in the opposite direction ha.

Dinner was up to us, we wanted to find a karaoke bar but that didn’t happen. Ended up going to an English pub where almost all of us got real breakfast for dinner. The breakfast that we’ve been having in the morning, everyone hates. It’s the same thing over and over again. Dry cereal, yogurt, apples, rolls, butter, jam, Nutella, cheese, or meat… So at this pub, they served breakfast all day. Needless to say, there were many plates of eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast coming our way.

Ended the night, Cody and I walked the streets trying to locate a place that sold cannolis but there were none in sight. Literally no one had them. It was all gelato places. So we ended up getting some frozen yogurt. So yes we had a huge gelato at lunch with our pasta and frozen yogurt for dessert with our dinner/breakfast.

Jesolo reminds me of Dewey or Bethany beach. One boardwalk/road that shops and restaurants were on, a beachy culture/vibe, and lots and lots of people.

I can’t believe we’re in Italy right now! Everything is so beautiful and unreal it just feels like a dream. We’re back on the bus tomorrow morning and off to stop at Assisi and stay in Roma!!