Venice!!

I Venezia 

I arrived to Budapest airport in a panic. Despite every warning I had received about flying with ryanair i had broken one of the cardinal rules, I hadn't printed my boarding pass.This single sheet of paper would come at the hefty price of 20 euro so i began my hunt for a kind shopkeeper who would print it for me and save my pocket. My lsst stop was a success all i had to do was email it to her, but even this proved difficult. The wifi wouldn't cooperate, my phone had 5% battery and then died.. I thought there was no hope and then finally, she understood my panic and simply let me climb around th counter, log into my email on her computer and print it directly. What a legend, i almost cried of happiness when I had that golden sheet of paper in my hands and expressed my thanks a thousand times over before boarding the plane trouble free to Venice!

Through the sweltering heat in jeans, a jumper, two tshirts and wedges (had to wear all my heavy clothes on the plane) I finally arrived at camping jolly. It was without a doubt the hottest I had been so far on my trip and when I opened the door to my tent I honestly questioned whether I would survive three nights here in a tent/sweat box. I got straight Ito a bikini and ran to salvation, the pool! I started chatting with some Aussies also laying by the pool and made plans to grab dinner with them later which soon turned into drinks when we learnt the campsite was throwing a pool party that night. After stocking up on vodka, orange juice and gummy bears the 6 of us girls mixed up a strong punch and started the night. A boy from busabout Alex sat and joined us and we made plans to go and explore Venice together as it was the girls last night. I soon squeezed a confession out of one of the girls Noni, who in a drunken state of desperation had kissed the 45 year old Itsliajn bartender th previous night. I felt extremely sorry for her but st the same time extremely grateful because while we danced, jumped in the pool and pretended to be bouncers and check ID at the door, we were kept hydrated with a seemingly endless supply of free drinks, cheers!

When I met up with Alex the next morning he had invited 2 more companions along from Iceland! Einar and the other guy who I liked to call Einstein, because his real name was similar, but much too difficult to pronounce. After a breakfast of mixed tuna and beans (my staple in Venice it turned out) we hopped on the bus and headed into town. Venice is incredibly beautiful. The canals were glistening in the sunlight, the charming wining cobblestone alleys, bursting with souvenir shops, restaurants and enticing mounds of gelati, which I very quickly fell victim to! We walked aimlessly for nearly 2 hours, sweating and getting lost in the maze of Venice until we miraculously stumbled across the famous St Marco's Square. We wanted to get on a gondola but debated amongst us whether it was worth the money and with some good persuasive skills I convinced them. But first FOOD. We walked away from the tourist traps of San Marcos down some back alleys to find a cheaper eat, unfortunately cheap and Venice is a very rare combination. My first attempt at 'Io sono celiaco' was a success and I was immediately shown the gluten free options with no hesitation, go Italy!! And I opted for the salmon and steamed vegetables which luckily was absolutely delicious, even with the 17 euro price tag. Refuelled we headed to the dock and met our gondola driver (or sailor, I'm not sure what the correct title is?) Laurinzo who ushered us onto the gondola and steered us through the gorgeous canals of Venice for a very relaxing hour. We paid up and then decided to head back as we had all seriously blown our budgets, but Venice doesn't let you escape that easily. It took us another 2 hours to negotiate the lane ways and juxtaposing signposts before jumping back on the bus and drinking all over again, this time with some very crazy Americans who I was very happy to say goodnight to at about 11pm.

Already my last day in Venice I decided to make the most of the sun and have a lazy morning by the pool. After weeks of floods the sun felt so good on my skin it was extremely difficult to summon up the courage to leave the pool deck and went back into the town with my Venice trio. The plan was to check out Murano but once again we got lost and by the time we found San Marco Square it was 3pm and the 18euro price tag to get there and back wasn't too inviting so we stopped at supermarket bought a lot of food and headed back after a very unproductive day. On the way back we found the famous Rialto Bridge and alongside it, 2 of Alex's friends Megan and Lucy who were also doing Busabout and headed to Rome on the bus with us the next day! They seemed lovely so I was excited to finally have some female company in Rome. Top deck had arrived and taken over the campsite by the time we returned, the only positive was that this meant another party so we brewed a bowl of punch just like the first night although this time we ended up with carrot juice as a mixer instead of orange (that's what happens when you send an Icelandic to do the shopping). It seemed to be masquerade night for the top deckers so I stole a mask from the floor and blended in perfectly as well as scoring a perfect Venetian souvenir for free!!