Ermannooooooooooo´s Hostal!

April 8

So Venice take 2. This time I was supposed to end up in Venice. I missed my original train but no pasa nada when you get a ticket it is validated within a 6 hour period so win for meee.

I arrived to Venice around 11, and guess what day it is—EASTER! It´s weird because this was the first first first time I have spent Easter without several members of my family. I wasn´t like, awww so sad, it was just very strange to be on a holiday so family oriented all by my lonesome self.

Anyways, I had gotten the for sure okay to stay with this guy named Ermanno in Venice. He is 28, had excellent references on CS (couch surfing, no computer sciene-come one tech people) and he was in Venice so all great great things. Unfortunately, I wasn´t sure when or what time I was to meet him but around 1130 I decided I would deal with that little struggle after going to mass. I ended up going in this basilica named San M.. It was really nice. I understood at least some of what the readings were about and what the priest was saying, but what´s really cool about Catholic mass (I am sure most other denominations and religions are similar but I don´t have much experience with those) is that the protocol of mass is always the same. So even though I don´t understand what they were saying, I knew what was going on.

Ermanno y GIAMBATISTA

After that I finally got in contact with Ermanno (by stealing free wifi from some overpriced ristorante-sanksss) and he told me that his friend Giambattista (how much more Italian can you get that that? Over the course of the next two days, whenever I said his name I would always almost yell it and say it very Italianesque with lots of exaggerated hand movements: GIAMBATTISTAAA!) in front to the main plaza of Venice, San Marco. Finding Giamba wasn´t too hard, he had a leather jacket, beard, sunglasses, a “rocker” as Ermanno described him when he messaged me. We said our hellos and then off we were to Ermanno´s place. Through the narrow streets of Venice I was running after this dark hairded Italian man attempting to avoid tourists, vendors, stands. Needless to say I ran into a few things a couple times. 

 When we arrived to Ermanno´s, it really was a like a hostal. There were like 10 other people there! Ermanno, with the help of this other Italian guy Paolo and then Giamba, were cooking pasta for everyone (SO GOOD, carbonara again yummm), there was a group of 3 girls from GA state that were studying in Venice (small world!), a Scottish girl and an Italian girl. Lots of good food, lotsss of wine, and shots, and beer, and then crepes with Nutella…. Oh, it was like 5 o´clock in the afternoon.

drunk decisions. keep in mind it´s like 6pm

Around 8 or so the executive decision to go to the bars was made. Venice doesn´t really have much of a “night life” persay. This normally close around midnight or so and it´s mostly just bars and restarants that have live music. That does not mean we did not have fun. I drank my first (of many) spritz! It´s like sparking white wine, tonic, and this liquor named aperol. I was a responsible individual and did not allow myself to get more than a buzz seeing I had to do all the touristy things of Venice the following day since all I had done was eat and drink (and enjoy) since in Venice. Wonderful, but I Venice was waiting for me. Everyone else around me was hammeredddd. It was quite funny actually. This one girl, Brittany, that is from GA state also, becomes Italian when drunk. Literally she would speak Italian only and all the hand motions and everything. At one point I got into a conversation with this Polish guy that was hanging out with us named Robert. I was telling him how in Spain cat calling is superrr common and annoying but I have learned to just ignore. I think he misunderstood cat calling for boys like approaching me because he then compared me to this 47 year old woman that is all alone. He was like (in his typicalll Polish accent), “EEt takez a lot of courage for a man to speak to a woman. I can zee it in your eyez you want a boyfriend. Don´t be so closed or you will be alone”

I was like, whatttt is going on? I am 20 and quite content just chilling in Europe. Regardless it was entertaining.

our group of hoodlums

We didn´t end up going to bed until after 4 (and a lot of drunk eating-which here btw is salami, cheese, and crackers). I have no idea how I got myself to wake up the following day at 9.

April 9

GIAMBATTISTAAAAA

After a healthy breakfast (crossaints, chocolate chip biscottis, and of course copious amounts of Nutella), Brittney was so kind as to make us a list of what to do and where to go in Venice. GIAMBATTISTAAA offered to be our guide (when I say our, I mean this other couch surfer that ended up coming later the night before named Lisa. She´s from Florida).  We just walked around, went to all the main things, and of course took lots of pictures. Literally, around EVERY corner there is like a post card scene. If you actually look at the buildings, you notice they aren´t that pretty-kind of old and paint chipping etc. But the combination with the water is incredible.

San Marco´s Interior

San Marco´s Exterior

We let Giamba off so he wouldn´t have to wait in line to get into San Marco. Then we walked back by the water and stopped by this old man doing water colors. Lord knows I have no money or space to buy any type of unnecessary object, but Lisa really wanted a painting, and more specifically the painting the man was currently working on. So we stopped and watched him and I talked to him, things I do. We spoke a combination of Italian and Spanish and then I realize he was asking me to go out for aperitvos and dinner. He was like too old to be creepy so I just smiled and was like, Uhh no can´t have plans. He was a very sweet old man and so I was going to try and help him out and buy a small painting for it. He wouldn´t let me pay. I got a hand painted watercolor from an artist in Venice. My mother will be so excited J

When we got back, again more foodddd. Seriously at Ermanno´s, we were treated better and fed better than any hotel I have been to. And it was all home made J Pasta with pesto y pomodora. I had to force myself to leave his home though because I was more than content just hanging out and talking with everyone and eating and drinking.. but I made the decision to go explore Venice a little. Got lost in the little streets finding seriously the most beautiful sceneries. And the best part is that I was far enough from the center that I could take pictures without ANYONE else in them! Yayyy found the authentic Venice J

 

Unfortunately during my admiration of the view from a bridge I was sitting on, I somehowww got my phone stolen. I moved from the bridge to like 5 meters away to some steps. Then I realized it was missing, literally less than an hour ago I had checked the time. Some Italian old ladies let me call my phone but someone answered and hung up. Bastards. Have fun with the millionsss of alarms I have set for the next four months.

The night again we went out for a few Spritz and spoke with Robert about the wonderful Italian culture and hospitality—I´m telling you we have deep conversations when he is drunk haha. I also packed my stuff and left Ermano´s place because he had another surfer coming, but Juliana, who I had gotten to know of the course of the two days told me I could stay with her. Sad to leave Ermanno´s though. Thanks for a WONDERFUL stay in Venice!!!!

April 10

The next day, Juliana got all her work done on time so was able to accompany me to Verona! She´s Colombian and lives in Atlanta and studies at Georgia State, so we had a lot in common J I love traveling by myself, but it´s nice to balance it with other people. And of course, because I traveled by  myself and couch surfed, I  met Juliana. I am telling, traveling by yourself makes meeting people sooo much easier! And she spoke Italian so it was great.

is it bad i think about how many of
these people probably aren´t together anymore?

Verona was nice but there really wasn´t thaaaat much to do. It´s more of a city to just walk around and admire, because it really is quite pretty. The main attractions are Giuliette and Romeo´s house, the arena which is where gladiator fights would have been held (arenas are to Italy as plazas de toros are to Spain).

And we also walked around the castle. SUCH a nice view.

Then it started to rain which was a bummer… but we got some gelato to make everything better.

Leaving Verona was a struggle though. My next destination was Firenze/Florence/Florencia. Sooo not having a phone has been a struggle more than one time. It was litearlly my life line. I had everythinggg on it. Including the ticket code for my ticket for Florence because I bought it online… So Juliana tried to help me talk to the Customer Service to explain the situation but they were like, Oh, just buy another. Ummm I spent 30 euros on that, no sanks. So then, thanks to Juliana´s help, we called like 3 of her friends so they could log onto my TrenItalia account to get the ticket code so I could print my ticket out. Finally, Eramano was the savior, however giving him the password was a struggle between my English and his Italian accent. Eventually I got it and Juliana just made her train back to Venice and I had some time to kill at the train station. People watched at McDonald´s for the win. This guy was literally eating his fries with two hands. Like a continuous feeding motion. And this other like homeless guy would fall asleep at a table, and then get asked to move. He would walk around and then sit down again and fall asleep again. Bizarre.

Made it to Florence kind of late, but I was staying at a hostel. I didn´t want to be like rude to the Couch Surfing community and be like YEAH I be arriving at 10 kay sanks. I was exhausteddd when I arrived so I was lame and just got in bed around 11. I got woken up about a hundred times cuz I was dumb enough to pick the bed right by the door. Oh well, (hashtag)hostelproblems.