Italy

The early wake ups for the train journeys are really getting testing now. The chill days in locations are alreet cos you can lie in a little and not worry about rushing getting ready.

The times have varied depending on where we've been and where we've gone. Leaving krakow was the earliest get up - we had to be up for a 6:27 train. Leaving Lesce-Bled wasn't quite as bad. The train was due to depart around 8:20ish but there was only two platforms and we planned on getting a taxi down.

We got up early enough to enjoy breakfast and sort out payments at the reception desk. They ordered us a taxi and we didn't think it would be too much considering the cab down to the lake was €23 and we were sat in it for 45 minutes.  It came 5 mins early as well so we were all slightly flustered with no time to write a decent comment in the visitors book.

The driver was another woman and a chirpy soul. She warned us to make sure we checked the prices of stuff in Venice or they'll swindle you. She then proceeded to park up at the station and charge us €15!!!!

FIFTEEN EUROS for a mile drive? Yep! We should have checked the price before we jumped in!!! 

She did give us some usual information and that was the train to Villach would be on the middle platform.  Today we had to change trains at Villach and catch the OBB from

there to Venice. Villach was the station we pegged it across in less than a minute. Today we had a more leisurely 90 min transfer however. 

We crossed the level crossing and waited on the middle platform, but we were the only ones. Everyone else was on the main one. I called over to a group of Brits asking if they were going to Villach - just to make sure we hadn't got it wrong. A guy replied but didn't really say much. Was a bit rude. Oh well. We thought we'd go back to the main one with everyone else. We could always walk back over if needed.

When the train did eventually come, it did stop on the middle platform but it was easy enough to cross the level crossing over to it. It was such a refreshing change to wait at such a quiet little station rather all the massive main city stations. We found a little group of 4 chairs and the ignorant bastard and his 3 pals from the station sat on the seats opposite us.

I lost count at the times Emma and I eye rolled at each other because of what the entitled little shits said to each other during the trip! 

"Oh yaaaaaaaaaarrrrr I am so clever I got 4 A* at A-Level. We went to Barrrrrrrrrrrli to celebrate"

"Yarrr my sister won't do as well. But she's spending too much time at the pony club. Yar"

There was 45 minutes of this. We starting humming one of our holiday songs... the intro from Bjork's "It's all so quiet" because she does a shhhhhhhhh... it reminds us of Hank and we've decided we'll hum it when anyone annoys us.

Doooooooooo do do do doooooo...

When we arrived in Villach we headed into the town to go grab a coffee. It's a lush little town in Austria. We took a couple of selfies by some statues and mocked our carriagemates as we walked up to the town.

"Oh yaaaaaaar I am hoping my sister gets to go to Lancarrrrrrrrster" said Laurie! 

"Think her grades will be a BBC Situ. Yaaar"

Then we spot the quartet walking past us, presumably also to get a coffee whilst they're waiting for a train. I think they will have definitely heard us putting on our best Etonian voices. Oh well.

After our lattes we headed back up to the station via a supermarket for some more train munchies. Our train was slightly delayed but nothing to worry about too much. When it pulled in, I looked for the carriage number or Wagon number. It was down the front so we walked down, got on and looked for our seats. Two on the aisle on one side, and one on the aisle on the other. Laurie was quite happy sitting on his own so Emma and I sat opposite each other. 

I spotted that all the other seats in this block were for Villach to Venice so if they didn't soon come, we could probably sit on one table together anyway. The train set off, Emma and I moved over to Laurie's side.

Not long after a family walked along and we eyeballed each other knowing we'd probably have to move. The mum said we were sat in her seats. She said we have all these - indicating at ours too. Now I knew that wasn't true. I said well these two are definitely ours and that one there is too. Maybe you have the others? No. She was right. I was wrong.

Y'all know I don't mess about when it comes to correct seats. I was prepared to battle this one out. I asked the dad to see his ticket. 

Haha. They were in the wrong carriage.

I was like, patronising and all, "You see your wagon is 219 and this is 199. You're in the wrong wagon. They were still hovering and putting me right off my fresh fruit pot from

the supermarket across the station.

A couple of them went to go and see which was their correct carriage. They came back saying they couldn't find it. I put my train worker hat on and said, 

"Look, there are 4 seats free there and 1 here. Why don't you just sit here with us? We can move together on this side? And then behind us there is one spare someone else can sit?"

They seemed appreciative of me helping them out when like 5 mins prior I was accused of being a seat thief. Once they sat down and settled, I asked where they were off to etc. It was a family wedding. Angry mum was sister of the bride. The dude sat on our table was a family friend. He was from Munich so him and Laurie and I chatted footie for ages. He told Laurie he liked Harry Kane and Laurie replied, "I'd be surprised if you didn't" we all laughed. 

He was curious about Laurie's Bradford City shirt so I told him about our club! We then moved on to the fact I went to Munich last year to see Adele. He'd seen Coldplay at the same venue. I asked if he'd been caught on the kiss cam and we all laughed again. There's a story than everyone knows about across the planet. Two cheating employees bringing the whole global population together!

A few hours in we were giving their little boy sweets and cheersing our drinks together and singing Christmas songs!! We enjoyed that leg of the trip!

We also managed a trip down to the buffet card and passed the hooray Henry's and Henrietta's from earlier. I was tempted to ask what the melt's sister's A-level results were and whether she'd got into Lancarrrrrster as I was so invested on the other train but didn't.

Our German pals missed their stop... we briefly paused at Vienna Mestre station which was theirs but they didn't alight. So they ended up having to go into Venice Main station and presumably back again.

We pulled into Venice Santa Lucia... I couldn't believe how Venicey it would be as soon as you stepped out of the door. A canal right opposite and gondolas going past.

Thankfully our hotel was only a 9 minute walk from the station. I say hotel... this stay would be the more budget end of the scale from the trip. Obviously Venice is rather expensive this time of year. So our home for two nights is at the Ostello Domus Civica. It's like a catholic hostel. Used as student digs in term time, but turns into a cheapy option for travellers in the summer.

To be honest it's fine for us. Three single beds, a sink in the room, a view of the canal from the room, a ceiling fan, centrally located and an amazing roof terrace. Although we don't have an en suite the facilities are opposite our room and are clean and always vacant. We feel like convent girls, smuggling booze into our room!

We did a mad dash out around the city but were absolutely sweating. It seemed like a chore than something enjoyable. But it was really nice to see the sights. Venice is so iconic and I've always wanted to come here. Getting around is interesting though. It's like one big maze! You have no idea where you're going, you just follow narrow snickets and hope for the best! 

I managed to get my Christmas tree Dec from a little souvenir shop which was the most important part! I'd seen some in other shop but they were €12. This guy had them for €6. So, I chose the one I wanted and handed it to him. He picked up another random Dec and said, "just for you. I do 2 for 10 euro!"

Woah woah woah pal. Hold it right there. I only wanted one. I have one Christmas tree. I want one bauble. I told him to put the other back. He asked which one I wanted. Yeah the one I picked up in the first place would be grand MATE! 

I gave him €7 and waited for my change. It was not forthcoming. I stared at him and was like - er my one euro please.

I hate tourist traps. Always trying to con you. Got to have your wits about you!

I do wonder if I've sold Venice short though. Should I have saved it for an actual mini break where my wallet was full and batteries recharged rather than the tail end of an epic adventure around Europe? Like, will I ever come back if I've already ticked it off? 

We saw all the main sites like the famous bridges and squares and captured enough pictures of the canal and boats. We also had pizza and ice cream - a tick off Laurie's list. We thought we'd make use of our rooftop terrace and go buy some drinks to have up there.

Never mind Krakow and its sky bar with €8 cocktails. The bottle of limoncello from

the minimart was 5 and the bitter lemon a euro or two! The views up there are stunning too - especially at sunset and all the bells of the churches chime and the vibe up there is perfect.

After jumping in the shower fully clothed in PJs, I headed to bed!! One of my fav top tips when too hot at night is that.. I seldom have the chance to do it in Yorkshire, but around Europe I've always been a bargain hunter and got cheap rooms without air con! I was so excited when I saw the fan though! Absolutely Czech fridge levels!

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Day 2 of Venice was one of the most relaxed days of the trip. Well apart from my early morning walk to the station!

Last night, I checked all the train times and details for our next trip up to Zurich. This would probably be one of the trickier adventures of the holiday. Initially we were doing to go on the Bernina Express, which is the pretty little train with panoramic windows you'll have seen on Instagram. There are lots of engineering works going on around this area though and the journey would have been too long and tiresome. Therefore we agreed to high speed it to Milan and take two further trains, one to Chiasso and then Zurich for ease. The views wouldn't be quite as scenic but after two weeks backpacking it's all about the ease right?

So anyway, I checked all the routes, reservations etc. I noticed the leg from Milan to Chiasso was now a rail replacement bus and that we needed a reservation. I hadn't got us reservations after Milan as it said I didn't need them. I couldn't work out how exactly to get us seats either. One thing I do know is that ticket office staff know exactly what they're doing and the best route to take! Last year, Sam and I had some issues getting from Salzburg to Zurich. The attendant in Austria sorted us out. We went on a rail replacement bus for part of the route - through Lichtenstein actually! I was buzzing. Another scratch off the map! 

My plan was head down to Venice Santa Lucia first thing and get reservations sorted. I left Emma and Laurie in bed and walked down. No one bothered me this morning - I didn't look like a tourist! Score!

The lady at the station sorted us out seats on the bus for €3 each! She couldn't sort the next part of the trip - I am assuming that's because it's sold out! We're going to have to wing it en route from Chiasso to Zurich. There are some other local trains which might have more space so that could be our plan. At least we have passage to Switzerland - we can figure the rest out up there. I won't mind a couple of slow trains. The views up there will be stunning!

With tickets in hand I stopped off to get our trio some donuts for brekkie. There didn't seem any point going out and paying a shed load when we could enjoy a sweet treat in the room.

We didn't actually end up leaving our room until 12:30 in the end. We had our breakfast, put some music on, had a singsong, drank some limoncello, drank some wine.  I've said before the unplanned parts of this trip are probs our most favourite!! 

Also, travel fatigue has really kicked in all round. I can't remember the last time I went away for two weeks. Even at an all inclusive you get ready for home around this point but we haven't stopped. We've walked shit loads of steps, got on loads of buses and trains and spent far too much money! Ten days is a real sweet spot for a trip. That's how long we booked Turkey for and how long we've booked for Morocco next year! But to be fair most of my trips are much less than this. Lapland was 3 nights, Disneyland 2018 was for 3, interrailing last summer 5! 

At this time of year I am also craving my routine! I can't wait to eat healthy, get back to the gym and live my mundane life! I am excited for Laurie to start his new high school and for me to get back into my latest work project. What a boring bastard I am! I am also buzzing for him to start in a football team and for us to go watch city home and away! We're missing a trip to Valley Parade today and I am so gutted! 

You forget the lulls of holiday though. When you look back at photos and videos you remember the views, the meals, the characters, the situations. You don't focus on the day you missed your dogs or when you couldn't be arsed to go anywhere cos it was too hot. There have been such epic moments and memories that the three of us will live with forever! 

Eventually we headed out but the heat was really difficult. There's a little reel we've seen on insta where people walk in single file right next to buildings in Italy in high summer to try and get as much shade as possible and that's literally us! Having Venetian pasta is on all our lists this trip so we scouted out some places. We kept to the back streets rather than the water front establishments which would have charged way more.

We found a little restaurant that did a deal for €14.50. You got spaghetti to start and then another course. Plus they threw in a glass of Prosecco! Laurie and I had seafood pasta (Obs) and Emma had a spag bol. We were all pretty full after this, but along came our mains. Bennetts were on calamari and chips and Emma on chicken and salad. They did bring out Bread too but I was a bit conscious about eating it. What if they charged us €10 for a slice of bread? I've had my guard up since Slovenian taxi driver gave us the warning. We didn't really need it as we had so much food.

When the bill came they didn't even charge us for it!

We didn't want to spend too much time out today. The heat had done us in and we'd seen everything we wanted to see. We agreed not to bother with a Gondola ride. None of us really cared to go around the city on a boat. Yeah the picture would have been nice but that's an expensive picture at €80-90 min per ride!!

We grabbed some drinks and headed up to our sun terrace. It felt like a proper holiday! Sprawled out sunbathing, drinking limoncellos and dashing to the cold shower every 15 mins for a cool down! We spoke to a couple of other guests up there too! Hostel vibes always give you some good conversation. When me and Shaun went to Iceland back in 2017, we had a lovely twin room in a hostel. The terrace had a hot tub and we made loads of new pals!

Had we wasted a whole day in an amazing city? We could have gone to see some more sights!? But what? We'd got our canal fix and weren't really interested in the old buildings. The rest was just perfect and totally needed. I went back to my room to enjoy a tiramisu I'd bought earlier in the shop! That was on my list whilst here. I didn't specify that it had to be in a cafe!

So now we're travelling through the Italian countryside on the Frecciarossa (High speed train) Fun fact, I've been on this train before - Milan down to Lake Garda many moons ago! We're going to go past that station shortly! How life has changed since in those 14 years!

I am going to have a look out the window and enjoy the Italian views!

Ciao