Buongiorno! It is currently 7:30am and we are in the hotel in Venice. It is a nice hotel again with working air conditioning and good wi-fi. These things make a difference. Yesterday was huge.

We left the hotel early, but not before ducking to the little cafe next door to the hotel and grabbing a croissant. Much nicer than the hotel quality continental breakfast ones. Then we drove 3.5 hours to fair Verona – where ancient grudge break to new mutiny.

Verona is the city where Shakespeare based the story of Romeo+Juliet even though Shakespeare never actually travelled to Italy, apparently it was a trend to base stories in Italy in those days. However, it was loosely based on real Capulet and Montague families and a real Romeo and Juliet. Both of their houses are visitable as tourist attractions. We went to Juliets house. It was a nice little balcony, but nothing really special.

After this we had some free time so we walked across the canal and caught the funicolare (Cable car) up the mountain to a castle that overlooks the city. It was a really nice view of all the old buildings. We stayed there for a little while just basking in the glory. It was nice.

It was really hot today in Verona (31C). Walking around was a bit difficult but we still did it, we have done an incredible amount of walking on this trip. I knew we would do a bit, but I had no idea it would be this much. My feet are very sore every day, but it is worth it. We walked to a little bar and had an Aperol Spritz and some bruschetta for lunch. It was not like the bruschetta you get in Australia. It was kind of like a pizza, but on crusty bread. It was nice eating at the little bar there, very Italian. We had a Gorgonzola + Bacon one and a prosciutto and mushroom one. They were both delicious, as was the spritz.

On the way back to where we were meeting the group we stopped at a bar and grabbed another spritz – so good. Verona is so much more than Romeo and Juliet. It is such a beautiful and lovely town. It is a shame that we only got to spend 3 hours here, but it was a good amount of time to get a little taste of a really nice and vibrant place.

It was then another 1.5 hours drive to Venice. The next part of the trip was another ME time optional. This time it was “An evening passegiata + Apperitivo”. This means transport, a walking tour, plus a drink and little snack. The people on our tour who weren’t doing this, don’t get to go into Venice until tomorrow so we decided to do this for more Venice time. I mean, they could’ve went on their own but apparently from our hotel, it is really fucked to try and get to into the main part of Venice and back.

We got to Venice and went on the walking tour with the little radios again. It was really beautiful. This happened at 7pm so it wasn’t really that crowded and it was no longer as hot. It was really beautiful strolling around the narrow streets of Venice, crossing the canals and learning history in the evening. We then had our included bellini and crostini, which was a nice little touch.

We then had about an hour and a half to grab some dinner before leaving the island. We (as well as most of the group) decided to grab some pasta that you can get in these takeaway boxes from a place called “We ❤ Pasta” to eat in the square. Ronnie had tagliatelle amatriciana which he thought was very good. Aimee had a mushroom tagliatelle which she did not like as much. After that we decided to grab a gelato at this little place that Jimmy recommended that was called Suso. Aimee had a pistachio flavoured gelato and Ronnie had a peanut brittle flavoured one. Both were excellent.

We then boated back to the bus and bussed it back to the hotel.

Itemised spending:

Servo snacks – €9.47
Water – €1
Funicolare – €4
Lunch – €24
Spritz’s – €7
Fruit – €4
Optional Activity “Evening Passegiata + Apperitivo” €56
Pasta dinner – €17
Gelato €4.40

Total: €127.

Well under budget again.

See you in Venice!

Ronnie and Aimee

We have a really huge day in Venice tomorrow. Leaving at 9am and not returning until 10pm.