Italy, part XXVIII - Venice (ii)

I managed to get well and truly lost in Venice's catacombic network of winding pathways, cul de sacs and needle alleyways, and Google Maps did not work here at all - well, it pinpointed my location, but that was it. The map was completely unhelpful. I had twenty minutes to go till my bus left from Mestre, S Lucia to Mestre was a 10 min train ride and I had to factor in things like buying the tickets and getting there in time for a train, and most of all Google Maps kept telling me that my current location was '30 minutes by foot' to the train station. I ran numerous scenarios in my head as I rushed around trying to find my way back, but only succeeded in getting farther and farther away from the train station - cancelling my hostel in Slovenia for the night, booking a last-minute hotel in Venice. It was hellish. I tried asking at a restaurant for directions but the instructions they provided me with were vague and not helpful in the slightest, and in despair, I ducked into a jewellery shop and pleaded for help. The gods must have been smiling upon me that day because the shop owner was very gracious and helpful, even though I must have looked horrible - sweaty and red faced and wildeyed and dishevelled. She told me to follow the signs labelled "Ferrovia", and even wrote it down for me. I thanked her copiously and ran out, and began running. It was remarkable but those signs really were everywhere, and I managed to find my way back to the main causeway and the train station, against all odds. Still have no idea how I managed to pull it off, but pull it off I did. I bought my tickets and got on the next train, and found my Flixbus waiting for me outside Mestre, like a charm. And then it was adios Italy, till the next time, and on to former Yugoslavia and the Balkans. Already those days seem like lifetimes away.

Outside S Lucia train station, one last photo

Yes I'm a tourist, deal with it

Italy, part XXVII - Venice (i)

This view though

I don't want to waste my breath on pretentious words here so I'll just be very blunt. Venice was gorgeous. If there is paradise, then Venice is as close as it gets, I think. I have been to many places at this point, and seen quite a few scenes and locations that are considered beautiful, but never have I been to a place whose the sheer beauty was so staggeringly overwhelming that it brought tears to my eyes. This trip was filled with almost unreal beauty, and there were about three instances where I would pause in my tracks involuntarily, and look up into the skies and the distance, my heart singing with joy for the beauty that I was surrounded by, and I would thank everything for leaving everything to come here, and think to myself, this really was the best decision I ever made in the entire year. Venice was one of those instances. I was so amazed by its loveliness that I thought my heart would burst.

My journey there was somewhat less romantic. I'd managed to buy the wrong ticket, which took me to Mestre, still on the mainland, but I explained my predicament to the extremely obliging bus driver, who let me get off at Tronchetto, the one that was situated on the island itself. Tronchetto was about 40 minutes' walk from the old city that everyone knows, so walk there I had to. Flixbus was the cheaper option from Bologna, but next time if I'm strapped for time, I think I'll just take the train. The train station, Santa Lucia, is located right inside the inner city, so none of this unnecessary and time-wasting walking and poring over GPS.

On the bus

Outside Venice Mestre

Well, I got there - I finally got there - and everything was worth it. The weather was perfect, the skies were the colour of speedwells, and the clouds were the sort that looks good on photos - like smears of white against a still periwinkle backdrop.