My Solo Travels in Italy - Tips, Tricks, Hacks (Part 1 - Venice)

Venice 02/03/2019

First Sight @ Venice

Vezenia was my first almost solo travel in Italy. What initially started as a group trip ended up being me in Venice with just one more classmate. Nevertheless, Venice was remarkable and I am glad I started with this. 

Ferry Stop at Venice

Venice hosts a masked carnival every year from mid February to beginning of March. On initial enquiry, most of my European classmates, especially the ones from Italy, discouraged the idea of going to Venice during Carnival time. The reason being - it'll be too crowded! Well, I have lived in India all my life, so crowd was a challenge I was totally up for. In fact, it was barely a challenge!

I was out for a party on Friday night, which ended around 3am. My bus was scheduled at 4am, so I walked from the party place to the bus stop. The journey to Venice took about 7 hours, and I was in the land of Shakespeare by 11am. My first stop was Burano. My sister and brother in-law had been there a couple of years back and swore by it. Needless to say, I absolutely had to visit it. And Burano didn't disappoint! 

Burano is a very small island located 40 minutes away from Venice. One can easily catch a ferry and reach there in under an hour. I had my breakfast (sandwich that I'd packed a day before) in the ferry, brushed my teeth and got all set to discover Burano.

Burano was not only spectacularly beautiful but the fact that it was small and compact made it even more charming. I could really cover the entire island on foot in 1-2 hours. I took a short wine break at the port before heading back to Venice.

Burano!

By the time I arrived in Venice, the scene was even better than what I had seen when I had first arrived in the morning. Everyone was dressed up elaborately, even the dogs! (Nope, I am not kidding!) The whole city was like a Gatsby party, maybe even better, I'd say. The colours and the carnival in play made everything brighter and better. For lunch, I had another sandwich made by yours truly. (Yep, totally on a budget!)

                                                            

By evening time, I was in the main square (San Marco's) where a live band was playing. It was like attending a concert, minus all the crowd. But don't get me wrong, Venice was crowded, but not like what I am used to.

After a long walk in the city, I headed for dinner to this one pasta place recommend by a dear friend. If you know anything about me, you'll know that I'm absolutely in love with pasta. So much so, I end up having pasta even in places where you'd know for sure it'd be shitty. (Side note - I'd been craving pasta in Torino for over a month now, so my expectations were pretty high. Dan Moras, this little hole in the wall pasta place, finally came to my rescue. 

The pasta there was exquisite, so much so that my mouth is watering as I'm writing this! I had the regular white sauce penned with garlic and extra olives ad I swear I saw heaven when I took the first bite. Whether you're in Venice for an hour or for a month, you absolutely have to go to this place. The best part? It was relatively very easy on the pocket. I paid 7€ for my dinner, but the portion was so big, I packed some to eat later.

I headed back to the main square to enjoy the rest of the evening, which kept getting better with each passing moment. Finally, around 10pm, the concert ended. However, my bus was not leaving for the next two hours.

I followed the crowd and ended up reaching Hard Rock Cafe, where a full-power (Delhi slang) was taking shape. I spent the better part of next two hours dancing to random Italian (and English) songs. I was in a room full of strangers but I had never felt more at home (at ease?) at a party. Good vibes and smiles all round is sometimes all you need. Finally, at around midnight, I headed back to take the ferry to the bus stop. The next morning, I was back in Torino.

Tips:

• Must attend the carnival in Venice if you can.
• Take the day pass for the ferry. It's totally worth it.
• Go to both Lido and Burano if you have the time. Lido has excellent beaches, I've heard. However, since the weather was cold, I didn't make an effort to go there in my time there.
• Venice has no watering holes. Carry your own bottle, preferably a big one.
• You have to pay to use the restroom, so either use them in the ferry or while you're having coffee/eating.
• For Burano, every place has a cover charge, called coperto (2-3€). That's the money you pay JUST to sit in a restaurant, irrespective of what you order. Look for it in the menu before deciding on a place. If you're a big group, you could spend a whopping amount just on the cover charge

Tricks/Hacks

• Carry your own food and wine and water. You'll save a lot, trust me.
• Carry a light bag. There's only walking.
• Make most use of the washrooms on the ferry.
• If you want to buy magnets, don't pay more than 1€ for each. Anything more than that is stupid.

Budget

• Since I didn't spend much on food an drinks, I spent less than 40€ for food, ferries and souvenirs.

*****************************************Introduction 

Part 1 - Venice / VeneziaPart 2 - Florence / FirenzePart 3 - PisaPart 4 - SienaPart 5 - NaplesPart 6 - Ercolano and PompeiiPart 7 - CapriPart 8 - Amalfi and PositanoPart 9 - Baia