While in Italy it was extremely foggy; I believe that Italian winters are more misty, than snowy. We arrived at night, so nothing else really happened.
The next morning was going to be a great day, we were heading to Venice! To get there we had to catch a train, then hop onto a boat (which ceiling was extremely low). Again, it was quite foggy that day, but I felt that it gave a sense of mystic to the charismatic city.
After our arrival, the group was taken on a rather unique walking tour...I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but lets just say that our tour guide(who was an absolute dear) didn't exactly have much of an agenda).
After we had about 20mins before a top secret surprise our Contiki manager set up, and of course I used that precious time to get some gelato!
WARNING! St Marks Square is filled with birds, mainly pigeons and seagulls, please be careful of the following:
-Them swooping down, it may look like they're going to dive bomb into your head, but 99% of the time they won't hit you
-Them sitting on your shoulder, arm or head, some people try to get the birds to sit on them(perhaps they have a dream of reenacting the bird-lady-Central-Park scene from Home Alone 2?), but the birds seem to sit on anyone they seem fit, whether they're willing or not
-Them stealing your food, for real this is actually extremely common, within the span of 2 minutes 2 people from my tour group had food take out of their hand...literally, they lifted the food up to their mouth and down swooped the bird and stole their 4 euro pastry or an entire slice of pizza; please refer to the first point
When everyone interested assembled for the surprise we headed out through the maze of narrow streets, until we reached a large factory/studio, where we would have a private tour and detonation of Venice blow glass, literally it was the coolest thing!!
If you're planning on embarking on a Contiki tour, first of all DO IT!, secondly do all of the extras, you may have to pay, but #noregrets. If you're not interested in a Contiki tour, but rather exploring Europe on your own, DO IT!, and if on either of the above trips you find yourself in Venice, do yourself a favour and go on a gondola ride! It was an extra option and it was one of the best parts of Italy! What better way to see Venice, than by intertwining your way through the backyards of locals, through the canals, under bridges all while relaxing in a classic gondola! Then just take a moment to see realize what you're doing and how cool it is!
Next was free time, I didn't have anything in mind in terms of activities or things to see, so after grabbing a delicious slice of pizza, I was off to get lost in enchanted streets of Venice.
That night, which happened to be Christmas Eve, there was an optional traditional Italian dinner you could attend. Here they celebrate Christmas on the 24th so it was sure to be a night of good times and loads of cheer! There was 4 courses, all of which could have been a meal in itself, along with lots of wine, a saxophone player, and everyone donning traditional Venetian masks, it was soooo good!
With our bellies full, cheeks rosy from wine, and our spirits high on Christmas cheer, we made our way back to the boat, thinking back now we were all wearing our Venetian masks and there was about 50 of us all laughing and dancing through the streets, we probably looked like some sort of cult..
It was such a long day, and sleep was welcomed as soon as my head hit the pillow!
WARNING! Do not flop down on the beds, they are not squishy, but very solid, hey you can't win them all.
Tomorrow would be Christmas, woohoo! Find out what amazing surprise was planned for the group and where our next stop would be, part 6..coming soon!
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