Venezia and Absinthe: quite the mix

Howdy everyone. Oh yes, I'm back safe and sound after my first adventure in a hostel and let me tell you it was a grand ole time. First of all, I'd like to start off by saying how truly amazing Venice is. I really do want/need to go back because I still haven't taken a gondola ride. I'll fully explain why throughout this entry. Also make sure to check out my tumblr @ mmalachi.tumblr.com. (There you go Liliya, I figured it out :D)

I departed for Venice last Sunday morning (Feb. 27th) from the Chambery train station. Pierre and Catherine dropped me off and told me to call if I needed anything and I talked to Pierre a couple of times throughout this LONG journey to update him on my progress. I decided to take the train from Chambery to Venice because I figured I have to take at least one train trip while in Euro land. Even though my trip was extremely long and at times very boring I'd say it was pretty cool. The train route was very nice and I got to see a lot of the country side, mainly in Italy though because of course I fell asleep throughout the rest of France. I had one change and that was in the Milan train station, which was packed to capacity so I got a little taste of Milan but a taste none the less. The only real highlight of my trip on the train came while en route to Venice from Milan. I missed my original train from Milan because the train from France was delayed but my ticket was still good for a spot on the next train just not an assigned seat. I realized this and went to the emptiest compartment I could find so there wouldn't be any problems with people asking for their seat. About halfway through the ride these two women come into our car bringing the total head count up to about 10. Seriously, the entire train car is empty and of course she walks right over to me and says these are our seats. I was in disbelief at this but I got up without a word of protest and walked the literal foot over to the next row of seats. I guess she really wanted those seats.

Eventually we begin to approach the city limits of Venice and I could not take my eyes off of the scenery outside. Venice has two parts, the modern city and the old town. You have to cross the bridge to get to the old part and it kind've reminds me of 395 back in Miami going to South Beach with the cruise ships to the side and the ocean surrounding you. However, Venice is a hell of a lot cooler because once you hit the old town there are no more cars, scooters or anything of that nature. The only way to get around Venice and it's plethora of tiny alleys they call streets are walking or a boat for the canals. Venice is one of the easiest places to get lost I've ever been and I spent an almost an hour looking for the hostel I was staying because I couldn't find the entrance even with directions. I had to call twice and eventually they were able to direct me towards the door. I stayed at L'Imbarcadero and I definitely recommend it. It has an amazing view right on the Grand Canal and I met plenty of really cool people during my stay. Even the guy who runs it, Alex, was cool as hell. He's a young Iranian guy and he directed me throughout the city for places I should check out for food, parties etc. The first night was pretty standard, I was one of the first people to arrive during the evening so it was pretty empty. I went to dinner by myself at a nice place around the corner from the hostel that Alex told me to check out if they had room. After dinner, I of course wanted to wander around the city so Alex suggested I head to Campo Santa Margherita for a drink and for a little taste of nightlife. I had a beer walked around a little bit and headed back to get ready for the next day's festivities.

The next day at breakfast is where I met the crew. There were people all of the place staying in the hostel. Three American girls, two Israeli guys, three girls from Brazil, a Norwegian guy, and a Colombian girl who lived in Australia. I don't know how to spell everyone's name properly so I'm going to leave them out (lol) except for my 3 buddies who helped make up the grand adventure. At breakfast everyone was just talking and getting to know everyone better when we found out that Alex was going to head to San Marco so we all figure it'd be better to go as a group instead of wandering alone down the city streets by ourself and getting lost. At 10:30 we all head out with Alex over to San Marco and if any of you still reading this have played Assassin's Creed II, it looks the exact same way it does in the video game. Nerdy, yes I know but it was amazing to actually be there in person. Alex had to go back to work the hostel so we all started heading back with him because it was lunch time and we didn't want to get lost. Of course, since we were in tourist mode we did get separated from Alex but we made it back to the  Hostel under my new friend Deirdre's guidance. For lunch my newly assembled wolf pack of my homie from Norway Håkon, Brianna and Deirdre two of the American girls, headed back to the same place I had dinner last night. We decide to kick things up a notch at lunch and order two liters of wine with lunch. before I change subjects, for lunch I had spaghetti with black squid ink and pieces of squid mixed in, it was so good but I was nice enough to share some before I devoured it all.

After lunch we didn't want to just head back to the hostel because we had limited time in the city and the weather was decent so we decided to walk around and see the sights while simultaneously having a bar crawl. Typical Americans right? Anyway towards the end of the tour we ended back up at Campo Santa Margherita and stop in one of the bars there to have a drink of Absinthe. When I say that after that sh*t hit the fan, it would be an understatement. If you've never had a drink of Absinthe I'll tell you that it is literally the Devil's juice and it did it's job. While we're leaving the bar Deirdre walks off because she says knows the way back to the hostel and that we're going the wrong way and she'll meet us when we get back. Long story short me, Alex, and Håkon had to spend two hours looking for her because like I said earlier Venice streets are quite easy to get lost on, especially after some absinthe. I had fun though got to see more of the city than I ever imagined and I got my pizza at the end of the night. Until our next adventure kiddies. It should be a good one Mommy and my Aunt Jackie are coming over to have some crazy Euro land adventures with me.