Alps to the Adriatic

I have covered quite a distance in the last 2 weeks…. I last left you in Austria where I had been running around pretending to be Lara Croft.

The trip from Austria to Venice was relatively uneventful except to meet up with 2 guys (both named Daniel but for ease of understanding their nicknames are Giddo and Spitty) that I had spoken to for about 10 minutes when I was in Bath – Dave Pasho you should remember them, the red wine in the park boys???? They recognised me at the hostel in Austria and we hit it off straight away with an hours long quoting session from Anchorman. The boys are from Melbourne and are a great laugh. The first night in Venice was spent drinking at the camping ground and getting to know the other people on my bus. I was rooming with a girl from Perth called Clare.

I am sick of the cities of love….
Travelling is great and I’m really appreciative to have this opportunity but it absolutely sucks when you go places that are just full of couples in love and enjoying the sites together. The first day in Venice I spent by myself. It was quite overwhelming. I got thoroughly lost but made friends with a 4 month old dog that wouldn’t walk across a square that I was sitting in. The first shop I walked into was full of Venetian masks. It was incredible. I spent about 45 minutes talking to the store owner who was an architect by trade. He was lovely and explained the relevance of the masks and how he made them. The first day in Venice also heralded my first experience of the Italian Stallions in their own country. Whoa are they forward!! I had one guy follow me for about 5 minutes yacking away about my eyes so I took refuge in a shop only to find him still calling out to me from the entrance. Having shaken this bad smell I walked up a small street to get a cup of tea only to be bombarded with ciao bellas and bellissimos from the windows above. I was talking to Giddo about stereotypes and we agree that the Italians perfectly fit the stereotype with which the western world defines them – stylish, lovers of pizza and pastas and romantic (depending on how you interpret their actions).

Pigeons and laughs….
pretty much defined day two in Venice for me. After a night of playing Kings – a drinking/card game I met the Giddo and Spitty on the bus and we all fell into hysterics. Anything that could go wrong for Giddo inherently does to the great amusement of Spitty & I. We visited the basilica and took in the view of San Marco square from the top. It was an incredible site and really funny to watch all of the people surrounded by pigeons! After lunch in the square and an inevitable attack on me by a flock of pigeons (thanks to the boys throwing crumbs at my feet and hair) we moved onto Lido via a ferry. Giddo subsequently was served a terrible coffee, snapped his thong and walked into a tree. Spitty and I were in hysterics. As the day drew to a close we made our way back into the town centre and searched for a gondolier that would take us for a cruise for less than €160. It quickly became apparent that this was a nonfeasible feat and we met up with Kylie and Warren another couple that we had met from Busabout.

Warren…..
I could dedicate a whole email just to this guy. Think Russell Coit crossed with Troy Dan and Rex Hunt. He is absolutely hilarious but exhausting. If I’m not laughing with Warren I am laughing at him. Kylie deserves and award for being able to out up with him and his antics. I don’t actually think I can do the man justice by writing a description here so I may send an email of quotable Warren quotes – await this instalment.

The trip to Ancona took 2 hours longer than necessary after the GPS system sent us into Slovenia instead of the south of Italy. Upon arrival it was laughs all around with Warren and the boys. Luckily as 4 out of 6 of us had student cards we were able to book cabins for the 10 hour ferry trip to Croatia and save ourselves €70 each. The ferry trip was quite good as I slept the whole time. I did however wake up every few hours as I felt like Santa was coming the next day. I was so excited about getting to Croatia and starting the sailing trip as well as meeting up with Darcy.