On Thursday morning we woke up all exited. We rushed downstairs to get some breakfast, and then headed to the bus station. Soon after the Lago Tours –bus arrived, together with our guide Silvia and several other exited tourists. Our own Finnish travel agency also made trips to Venice, but we chose the option to take part in an international tour, with tourists from all over the world. Our guide had awesome Italian accent, as she explained about the trip and all the necessary little details. The bus drove south from our town of Malcesine, stopped every once in a while to collect more tourists, and then finally headed to the motorway.
The drive to Venice took almost three hours, and on the way we stopped to a local truck stop, so that everyone could take a little walk and use the restrooms. I have a phobia of public toilets, but after that experience, I can handle anything. And no more talk about that experience, please!
The journey continued, and Silvia started to explain about the ay how things are handled in Venice. She warned us that we should never buy a pirate bag from one of the sellers on the street, because if the police sees it, hey will fine the buyer very heavily. She also told us that she will guide us through the city, show us places, but she cannot tell anything about the history or anything of the sort, because she is a tourist guide, not a city guide. Only city guides are allowed to explain the sights. If she is caught telling us those details, she will be fined.. and the fine will be worth of several thousand euros. She bended the rule a bit, and told us history on the most famous places in the bus while still driving there. Clever girl she was ;)
Arriving to Venice was really special. We just drove off from the motorway, and into a large parking space. Silvia got off the bus and went to pay toll on us tourists (everyone attending Venice has to pay a toll). She came back in, and the bus headed to another parking lot, stopped and we were told the get off. We walked through a terminal of some sort and got into a Lago Tours own boat. Everyone went to sit on the upstairs deck. The boat took off, and sailed us to Venice. On the way Silvia pointed out some points of Interest, for example Elton John’s house and the Plaza of San Marco. The boat ride took about 15 minutes, and then we were finally in Venice!
During the day we walked around following our guide, and then made long walks with just the two of us. Venice is indeed a super romantic city! It was awesome to sit in the Plaza of San Marco, watch the famous pigeons, hear the philharmonic orchestra play the theme song from Star Wars, see all the buildings, see the world famous bridge of sighs.. even still, just thinking about it gives me chills.
Lago Tours had some sort of deal with of the local restaurants, and we got a full three course meal with fairly cheap price. I think all of the tourists on the trip took the lunch offer, and came there. Our places were reserved from outside the restaurant, and all tables were meant for six people. Me and my boyfriend ended up in the same table with a couple from England and a couple from Ireland. Sounds like a bad joke? Well, the night indeed proceeded as in a bad joke: all six of us thought the food wasn’t that awesome after all, but since we paid for it, we should make up for it by drinking lot of wine, which was free. We started talking and got along great already while eating, and when we started to empty the wine bottles, things really heated up. The result was exactly what could be expected from a table full of Finns, Brits and Irish: laughter, loud voices, and a lot of empty bottles. Time flew as we were having fun, and soon we noticed that all the other tourists had left to explore the city, and it was just us and the guide. The night had also fallen, and the Night side of Venice was finally revealed. Silvia decided to give a private tour and took us to one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Venice was so beautiful during the day, but night with all the lights was something really special. Also, most of the tourists had left, and it was really quiet in some of the streets.
Sadly, we also had to leave at one point. Before leaving, Silvia bought us a real Italian espresso, which undoubtedly was the best espresso ever. We got on board the boat once again, and it took us back to the mainland, to our bus, and so our way back started. Pretty much the whole bus was sleeping, and soon we were back at Lake Garda, and people got back to their hotels. We were back at our hotel around 1:30am, and fell asleep as soon as we got there. It was such an amazing day that will remain in our memories forever.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti