Venezia 2.0

I went back to Venice! I couldn't resist going again with it being so close by and train tickets costing 5 euros for a return journey half an hour each way (take note Gatwick Express). I've had a niggling feeling the last few weeks that I just had to go back to Venice and experience more of it before I leave. I'm very glad I was able to go with my host family the first time to get a feel for the place, but this time I was determined to do it alone and prove to myself that I can actually speak enough Italian to have a day out!

It turned out to be my best day off since I've been here and was a great confidence booster. I used 3 different types of public transport (bus, train and water bus), translated a few sentences for a British family on the train who were being spoken to by a group of French people, and somehow found my way from the station to all the main sights without asking anyone for directions (although I did take some wrong turns, but in Venice there are no wrong turns as you usually end up seeing something even prettier than you would have had you taken the main route!) Thankfully, it all went pretty smoothly.

In Piazza San Marco, I went up the bell tower to see the amazing views from the top. It was well worth the 8 euro ticket, but not one to do if you are scared of lifts or are claustrophobic as they pack you in like sardines.

I also went to the Basilica San Marco (which is free, Italians are horrified by the idea that in England you have to pay to get into some churches, even if they are main tourist attractions), and despite queuing for half an hour in the sun and being spoken to in Russian (that's a new one for me, they usually think I'm German if they don't pick up on my Englishness) it was definitely worth it. It's very dark and Gothic and Catholic inside and not as crowded full of tourists as the queue outside suggests. Definitely worth going into if you ever find yourself in Piazza San Marco, although it doesn't really take more than 15 minutes to see the free (you have to pay to see the "treasure" whatever that is) and open to the public bits despite looking absolutely huge from the outside.

Using foreign public transport for the first time on my own was surprisingly easy. Apart from one small mishap. At the train station in Treviso I thought I'd make life easier for myself and use the self-service ticket machine which had an English option. Fate obviously had other ideas though because there was an error with my bank card and I had this machine shouting "Error, error, please remove your card" over and over again, alerting half the town to my foreignness and making me miss my train. Lesson learnt, next time I will have more faith in myself and go straight to the human being who understood me perfectly.

On the train, I couldn't help noticing that there were many signs warning of the consequences of travelling with a faulty or out of date ticket... all in English. I don't know what they're implying about the honesty of British travellers!

Unfortunately I won't fit into the category of being a British traveller for much longer, but I really am looking forward to going home on Friday, and I will squeeze in one more post before I leave :)

Alice :)