This past weekend was eventful, to say the least. My roommates and I wanted to see Venice before we left, but staying there was too expensive. In the long run, it was cheaper to stay in Milan and take a three-hour train to Venice. We flew into Milan on a Friday and hit the ground running. My friends and I went straight to our ADORABLE Airbnb and went to the Duomo in central Milan. This building is insane. The Duomo is a cathedral church with extensive details both on the inside and out. I could stand there for hours and find something new to look at every few seconds. Milan is not a place I thought of going, but I am glad I did. There is a lot of architecture, kind people, and great food.
We took a train early Saturday to Venice. I had a general idea of what Venice would be like, but it beat my expectations. My roommates and I stepped off the train and our jaws quite literally dropped. The canals had a unique blue color with colorful buildings surrounding it. The city was busy, but there were sections of the city less explored that were equally as beautiful. When trying to find the location of our gondola reservations, the GPS took us off the beaten path. We found a really good, small gelato shop and were able to look at the canals with less population. Concerning the gondola ride, my roommates and I originally were not going to do this because it is so expensive but then we found one for $30 instead of $85+ per person. The only thing with this is that the gondola is filled with 6 people. I personally did not mind a few strangers in the same boat as me, I found the experience outweighed the addition of a few extra people. Another section of Venice that was stunning was Saint Marco Square. This building was also beautiful in a unique way. It had peaks of gold and a unique structure. If you find yourself in Venice, do not miss out on seeing this!
Something I would suggest before going anywhere is to learn basic phrases in the native language such as “hello”, “thank you”, etc. Even though 9 out of 10 times a person knows English, natives appreciate the effort. Another pro tip, triple check the departure time of your transportation! My roommates and I were having a nice dinner in Venice and thought our train left at 8:30 pm when in reality it left at 8:00 pm. We thought we were so prepared being at the station over 30 minutes early when suddenly it hit us. When I saw the big clock say 8, the connection was finally made. We RAN to the platform and, like a scene of a movie, saw the tail lights of the train slowly leaving. We got lucky because another train was going back to Milan 15 minutes after that, but if there was not, we would have had to sleep in the train station or pay for an expensive room. Long story short, always triple check and never be too sure. Luck was in our favor, but that will not always be the case!
Sierra