Venice "the maze"

No matter where you are, the Italians definitely know about fashion. Walking the streets of Venice is such a show. No matter the age, sex, or social status, they have a special style of which I am envious. If I thought that hipsters knew how to dress in KC, this is way above our heads. 

Venice has been so good to me. Except my arrival. I made a quick stop in Pisa to do the touristy stuff and see the Leaning Tower. The rain didn't ruin it for me, but it sure made it more difficult since I was carrying a 30lb bag and wearing TOMs. Not smart of me. 

I literally made it to my train to Venice half a minute before departure. Once I got to Venice, I got off the train at the wrong station, so of course the directions to my hostel were making no sense. Bursting out my GPS, I realized that I was 6 kms away. Haha! That hike was not going to happen. After rude customer service since I spoke to the guy in English (I refuse to admit that I speak English so that I can try harder to learn the language), I jumped into a train that would take me to the right place. 

Venice streets are magical, but also a freaking maze! The cheap wine and small plates make up for the hassle. I would stop at an Osteria to grab some prosecco, spritz or vino rosso everytime I would get lost. It was a perfect way to find myself on the map, but by noon I would already feel the Venice happiness in my veins, so I would either get more lost, or not even care anymore. 

Also, I learned a few tricks while walking the streets of this beautiful city. It costs 1.50€ to use the public restroom... so instead, I find an osteria that is tucked in between the streets (those are the best), pay 0.85€ for a glass of their red house wine, and use their toilette. If it's too early, grab a coffee for 1€ and do the same. Everytime, the bathroom was cleaner than the public ones anyways. Another trick for backpackers is to not have a seat down dinner. They charge fees over fees for that and you are stuck with one dish. Instead, hop around the local spots for tapas style dishes that run between 1-4€. That gives you a chance to try more things, and mingle with the bartender and other locals. A local recommended the Campo Santa Margharita area. Also, I found great local spots (where my new American friend and I were the only tourists) in the Santa Croce area. Walk the streets without being afraid to get lost. Seems like every turn is a new adventure. 

Yesterday was a tough day. I got lost pretty bad, tourist were annoying me, the rain had my shoes soaking wet, and my phone went for a swim in the toilet. What else could go wrong? I had to stop, take a step back and look at the big picture. I was in freaking Venice!!! Who cares??? So, I went on a shopping spree for Italian shoes and make up, and it solved the issue. Of course I lost the shopping bag later and went around the city tracking it down, but I found it! Don't judge. It was between shopping or eating gelatto, and my waistline could not take the hit anymore, so my wallet had to. 

Speaking of waistlines. What do Italians do to keep the levels of obessity so low? Seriously! With so much food and drinking, you would think that Italians would be rolling all over the place, but that is not the case at all. We are definitely doing something wrong in the US. 

Last and not least... I quickly have learned that making eye contact with a man in Italy is dangerous. It is not to be done, unless you are flirting. Will not disclose the stories that this has created. Lesson learned. Moving on. 

Dani G. 

Benvenuti in Italia!

The journey began oficially with plenty of leg room on a 7.5 hr flight. Despite the sleeping pills, I stayed awake for most of the flight watching Taken 3 (yes, I had the guts to watch it right before my trip alone), and Eat, Pray, Love (who knew that movie would hit home so hard for me?). By the way, how many times do they feed you on these flights? It felts like everytime I would open my eyes, there was water or food being handed to me. Right before landing, I freaked out about my Italian and crammed in a few phrases to say to the immigration officer. Too bad he didn't say a word to me. He could have been my first victim at my attempt to sound trilingual.

Eight hours, three trains, a bag of pistachios with strange australians, many pastries, and a crazy one-mile uphill walk later, I made it to my first hostel. Unlike my first hostel adventure back in 2012 in Madrid (where I spent 2 nights with 3 Australian and German males), I shared the room with 2 brave american girls from Wisconsin. Back home, I would get wide open eyes when I told people about my long trip. On the other hand, these brave girls responded, "Great, our trip is the same lenght".  Ha!! I forgot how amazing it is to meet like-minded people that make you sound less crazy. We'll all just be crazy together!


After wine and real pizza, a 12-hour sleep put me back on track for my hike to Cinque Terre. The hike consists of going through the five villages walking through the mountain with amazing views. Due to the weather and slow season, I was only allowed to hike the 4km/2hr trail from Moterosso to Pazzea. Pretty strong experinece if you are doing it alone, as it is just you, the vineyards, the beautiful view, thousands of "steps" uphill (which look more like staggered rocks), and your thoughts.  Being stuck with your thoughts for a long period of time without technology, society, or others, is pretty incredible. But, isn't that one of the main reason I decided to take this trip? Perfect start to my journey.


Refusing to speak English, I have been practicing my very little Italian a lot (even if it got me sparkling water instead of regular water and a pedicure that included some techniques that I have only dreamed about). Made my way through Vernazza eating gelato, talking to the locals, and saboring some Trofie con ragu de ricciola. Corniglia welcomed me with 375 steps just to get to the town where narrow and colorful streets led me to panoramic views of the Cinque Terre. Manarola has been my temporary home, and it exceeds at having hills everywhere, but magestic views. Riomaggiore, my last stop, embrassed me and kept me at la marina for hours just staring at the Ligurian Sea (of course I had to get fresh calamari after that!).

The
Yeah, I got lost already on the train, I have spoken some pretty bad Italian, and I have eaten items that my MyFitnessPal app cannot find, but who cares? Tha is the whole point! Not many people can get out of their confort zone to explore the world. After my adventures today, I have realized that life is too short and the world is too big to hold on to questions and things that we want to say. Sometimes we hold on to questions because we don't really want to hear the answer. Sometimes we don't say what is in our heart because we don't want to find out the outcome. This world is too  beautiful to have a heavy heart, it's too big to think that one bad experience is the end of it, and it's too full of surprises to hide in a confort zone.

Baci da Italia!

Dani G.