Top Tips for Visiting Venice, Italy

I recently had the wonderful experience of going to Venice, Italy. It has been on my Bucket List for years. And honestly, it is an absolutely, breathtaking city. However, there isn't much to do in terms of major sights to see. Once you see St. Marc's, all we had left to do was shop and eat (not too many complaints here). I'm sure if we had done a little more research beforehand, we could have found something to do.

Tips:

1) Research possible museums to visit. We showed up and all we knew about was St. Marc's Basilica. This means we ended up wandering around all day searching for something to do besides shopping, eating, and drinking.

2) Venice is sinking. I don't think it will become like the lost city of Atlantis any time soon. But this does cause frequent flooding, especially during rainy seasons. Don't believe me? Check out this article from NBC News here.

3) Venice does smell. I will not lie. We went in the winter and that is supposedly when the smell isn't bad. I beg to differ. In certain parts, where there is no water, yeah it doesn't smell. As soon as you cross a canal though. Ooof. Just a word to the wise: always expect a smell. 

4) Venice has two airports. One is the main one that can be accessed via normal means (train, bus, car). Then, there is this little tiny one that can only be accessed by a bus that fills up really quickly, aka the one I had to use. I think all of the RyanAir and Wizz flights go here. 

5) I am way too nice and indecisive for Italy. Getting onto the bus, I kept getting shoved aside and was refused to be allowed onto the bus because there wasn't any more sitting room. Thankfully, someone convinced the driver that we can just sit on the floor, which I didn't mind. Which leads to my next piece of advice...

6) HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE IN A BUS DRIVEN BY AN ITALIAN. Oh my goodness you guys. If we had wrecked, I would have been done for. I was sitting on the walkway in a charter bus with nothing in front of me. It was scary. He was driving like he was behind the wheel of a Ferrari. Thankfully it was only a thirty minute drive. My heart nearly stopped for all thirty.

7) You might get to see a Google Street View Team Member. These are the people who record the pictures on Google Maps for us. You might even see me! I sped right past her after taking this picture. 

Overall, I did enjoy Venice. I just wished I had researched more so I knew what to do there. Do you have any favorite places in Italy?

 

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Pantheon Rome, Italy

I recently went a trip with a couple of my co-workers to Italy. We went to Rome and Venice. Both were wonderful cities. But Rome was my favorite of the two. Here is a quick summary of what I did in Rome and some tips if you ever need to go there!

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

A Beautiful Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

School of Athens By Raphael, Vatican Museum

Sprial Stairs of Vatican Museum

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi Rome, Italy 

Colosseum

Me at the Colosseum

Tips

1) Watch out for how you say Grazie. It isn't "Gratzi". Its "Gratzia", but a soft, short "eh" sound. Pronunciation looks like "GRAHTS-YEH". That is the correct way to say "Thank you" in Italian. Follow it up with "Prego" for "Your Welcome".

2) You don't need an appointment to go to the Vatican Museum. They take walk-ins and you can walk at your own pace! There are plenty of signs and plaques to tell you about the artifacts, as well as audio tours. I wish I had gotten an audio tour. There is so much there to see and learn about.

3) They serve pizza every where! If you are wanting the best, you had better research before to find it. They all claim to be best and they are EVERYWHERE, kind of like the American Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. There is one on every corner. 

4) If you are using the long-distance train to go somewhere in Italy, check prices for the trains that leave before and after the time your planned departure time. We ended up leaving Rome two hours earlier than planned and the price on the ticket was twice as much! We didn't want to pay that. However, we were already at the train station, so we had to buy the tickets.

5) Research the sites beforehand. A lot of famous sites that are not in a museum don't have very informative plaques or they are in Italian. I was walking around the Roman Ruins with so many questions.

6) In addition to researching the sites for facts, check if they are under construction. Almost everything had some part of the site under constructions because it was during low tourist season. I was able to get the construction out of most of the pictures, but unfortunately, two sites were completely down. The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Here is what I saw at the Trevi Fountain:

Kind of disappointing right? The Trevi Fountain is my absolute favorite site in Rome. I was extremely upset seeing it this way. Oh well. That just means I'll have to go back again ;)

7) Watch out for pickpockets. Thankfully, none of us met one, but they are out there. Don't be flashing your money every where and they shouldn't bother you.