Forza Italia!

The day we traveled from Ljubljana to Venice perfectly illustrates how stressful backpacking can be. In spite of the hours spent on the two trains and bus to Venice, we ended up waiting for transport almost as long as we were on it because of late trains, ridiculously infrequent bus schedules and an obnoxious Italian bus driver! Finally, after almost ten hours on the road, we arrived at the campsite we would call home for the next two nights. And with that, our first pieces of good fortune for the day; football on the tv, fresh pizzas cooking in the oven and ice cold Perroni on tap behind the bar.

Although it was forecast downpours all weekend, only during the first morning did a typically British drizzle enforce itself. It meant that, when we took the water bus down Venice's winding Grand Canal, we couldn't help but feel a small sense of disappointment. The buildings looked dreary and unkept and the water murky - even St. Mark’s square left us slightly underwhelmed. When the sunshine broke through, however, the whole city was illuminated in glorious daylight and we soaked up the legendary city as it was meant to be seen. 

St. Mark's square

We then revisited the now sensational St. Mark’s, we mocked the cost of a Cappuccino on the square (€9!) and meandered through the narrow alleys that were littered with tourist shops, cafes and churches.

The most uniquely frustrating thing about Venice is when you do get lost, it’s extremely difficult to escape the labyrinth of the criss crossing streets and countless bridges that connect everything together. After going round in circles for a good hour, passing the same shops and no doubt amusing the locals that kept spotting us; we appeared on the north side of the island and sailed over to Murano and the island's world renowned glass workshops. 

The atmosphere is much more relaxed on the outlying islands as they’re less well known and so consequently less busy. Whilst we were there, we saw a fascinating demonstration of folding and sculpting glass, including the making of an ornate glass horse in a matter of seconds.

Waiting for the bus (Venetian style) 

Grand canal

We continued to discover the city as slowly and leisurely as we could and managed to get a nice feel for it despite only being there for two days. The evenings at the campsite were comfortable enough too. We watched some of the Euro’s football on a big outdoor screen and befriended a monotonic, intoxicated Scotsman, along with some lovely fellow backpackers from America and Germany.

After our short stay in Venice, we left for the eternal city to meet our friend Oli from Uni in the evening. On the way, we decided to stop over in Florence (Firenze) for the afternoon. After another hectic start, including lots of queuing and timetabling frustration, we were beginning to regret not going directly to Rome; but once we'd ventured into the city itself we were so thankful we'd decided to stop.

Il Duomo

Although we only wandered the city for about three hours, Florence instantly became one of our favourite places - largely down to the incredibly beautiful ‘Il Domo’, which towers over the city with its sensational dome. We made a beeline from the train station to Florence's main attraction and we were soon standing at the top, surveying the stunning Tuscan landscape bathed in sunshine below. Yet as wonderful as the view was; the climb was an experience that will never be forgotten. 

You climb up steep and spiraling staircases for what seems like an eternity, only to find yourself at the base of the enormous dome structure. From here you gain an incredibly unique perspective of the inside of the dome where every inch is illustrated with an enormous scene painted directly on the ceiling (in a similar style to the Sistine chapel).  From there we ascended into the dome. The dome is actually two domes, an inner and outer one with a small gap in between acting as the passage to the summit. Climbing through, you get a first hand view of the phenomenal skill that must have been needed to construct such a giant and complex piece of architecture. 

At the top of the Dome

And inside of it...

After we spent some time at the top, we climbed down, had a quick bite to eat and ambled away our last half hour at Ponte Vecchio; a strange and cosy little bridge that crosses the Arno River to south of Florence. It has several little houses that clutch precariously over its edge and a once bustling market place is now monopolised by high end jewelry stores.

Albeit rushed, Florence was a wonderfully serendipitous stop on our trip. Although our stay was criminally short, ancient Rome awaited along with our friend, Oli.