You Me and Tuscany: Venice, Italy

When we arrived in Venice, it was 10:30pm we had just spent 10 hours in a car. I knew Zack was fading, but this was the last night we had with Mel, Keaton and Caiti, so we wanted to explore the city a bit. Though we were all running on little energy, we trekked into the city. I have to admit, there's nothing quite like strolling the streets of Venice at midnight. The weather was still warm but not scorching, and the streetlights light up the canals making them glisten in the moonlight. The void of cars and other vehicles create such a quiet intimacy as well. This was the perfect start to our stay in Venice.

I know this might be ignorant, but before coming here I had no idea that the city of Venice is an island (to be exact, it's made up of 177 islands... all linked together by numerous small bridges and water canals. The city is an island made up of islands!). I also had a picture in my mind of the beautiful canals, but really thought it would be crowded and way too hot (which I thought would take away from the "romantic feel" of the city). But to my surprise, we found ourselves loving Venice. We stayed at a campground located off the island (on the mainland, everything becomes a lot cheaper) called "Village Jolly". And what a jolly little village it was! We had made these arrangements kind of last minute, and really did not know what to expect. Arriving late at night, we were worried we'd have to set up a tent in the dark (which would have sucked. We were exhausted from our time in Croatia) but to our surprise, the tents they rented out were more like small cabins with fabric walls, and included two single beds! Now, this is glamorous camping! Village Jolly also had an outdoor pool and a great breakfast buffet which we made use of every morning. We took the bus into Venice in the afternoon each day and were able to walk around Venice in the evening, which in our opinion is the best time to stroll.

A few highlights of Venice would be: having our last hurrah with Italian food, simply wandering the city streets, and the walking tour we did on the last day (though we should have done this at the beginning!). The walking tour was very informative and the young tour guide gave us some great suggestions of places to go out for food and drink. We were surprised to find out that the city was built from a wood and mud foundation. Going back long ago, the Italians living in this area built this city upon a lagoon to try to take refuge from being attacked. They literally used wood pilings, mud and clay to create the foundation for the city of Venice. How did this foundation not rot away? Since the wood is not exposed to oxygen, it preserves. In fact, because of the constant flow of water and mud, the wood became almost as solid as rock. It is on top of this old "wood" foundation, that the beautiful city was created. The city is full of beautiful architecture that has been preserved for many years. Venice is home to the oldest LEED certified building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). I've visited a few LEED certified buildings back at home but never were they very old. Venice has a very respected Architecture School... I can only imagine what it would be like to go to school there. Definitely nothing like good ol' Fanshawe College. Another cool fact: A Venetian gondola consists of 287 separate pieces and takes a full year to build! It also intrigues me that Venice is said to be a "sinking" city because of the water levels continuously rising. Some believe this as true (and you can see that the water level in many of the small canals reach the first floor levels), but our tour guide on the other hand told us this was not necessarily true. I am forgetting what her reasoning was (sorry...).

We spent our last day in Venice relaxing at the campground. The pool was perfect and at times I felt like I was at a resort! We definitely needed some relaxation time. I can't believe we are now on the last stretch of our summer travels.

Dark chocolate gelato... amazing.

This is the grand canal.

You can find costume stores all over Venice. They have a two week festival every year when everyone dresses up in these Venetian masks.

Village Jolly was awesome! Above are the tents. You can also bring your own tent, or rent a more luxurious mobile home. I would definitely come back here! Below is the pool where we spent each morning.