Venice, Italy
45°26'13" N, 12°19'57" E
Taking trains opened up our possibilities exponentially. Our Palermo dates got pushed to January 15th because Krystal was super sick in Berlin when we should have been booking our lodging and the perfect place came through at the perfect time. That shift in events left us with about two weeks to adventure through Italy. When looking at the rail lines we realized that Venice was a short jaunt east from our southern trajectory and decided to add it to our itinerary. We are so glad we did! The island of Venice is experiencing many of the same struggles as our home Island of Hawai’i. In fact, Venice may soon turn into a living museum as many local folks are being driven out. The carrying capacity of Venice during the day and especially on a holiday is far beyond the islandʻs ability to manage. We are grateful for the ability to experience this unique city and implemented the habits that make Hawai’i navigable for us: waking up before dawn to go to the most crowded places, eating mostly home-made foods, and being extremely kind to the service staff.
We were able to wander about and see the sights. We did not spring for a gondola ride as they seemed sort of, as our British friends from breakfast said, “cheesy and we’re not cheesy are we?”
The power of ancient trade routes, feats of engineering, and questionable plumbing all proved really fun to explore. We stayed at Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo and can not recommend it enough. The staff was a total joy and the breakfast kept us going long into the day as we wandered through the streets. We were also in town for the Regata delle Befana on Epiphany. La Befana is an old witch who leaves children presents in Italy. Getting to know more about the celebration and catching the race was a blast!
We ended our time in Venice with extremely over priced drinks at one of the cafes in Saint Markʻs Square. The sun was shining and there were a billion people…feeding birds. We have a thousand years of epic luck because Krystal caught a giant pile of seagull sh*t with her hand and it splattered everywhere. For the files, a seagull’s body temperature is about 109°F, so it was hot and absolutely disgusting.