Hello Young Adventurers!
Locations Visited: Venice, Italy. Certaldo, Italy (Tuscany Region)
Languages Spoken: Italian
Words Learned: Prego- You’re Welcome.
Y’all… Italy is beautiful. It matches every picture I had had in my head before I came here. Milan was nice, don’t get me wrong, but my time in Venice and Certaldo have been incredible. Buckle up, cause we’re going to dive right in.
When I got to Venice, my breath was immediately taken away. This was one of those cities that I’ve dreamt of seeing for so long, and to find myself walking out of the train station to only be greeted by the huge Grand Canal, stunning buildings, and gondolas galore, I couldn’t help but feel extremely thankful. So here in Venice, cars are not allowed on the main island with the exception of a parking lot near the train station right where the bridge leads onto it. Instead, the only way to get around is via boats, water taxis, and by foot. So I jumped on a water taxi and rode to my hostel where I would be staying the next two nights.
My hostel was right on the water on another island right across from the main square in Venice- St. Marco’s (Saint Mark) Square. The views alone looking across were amazing, so I put my stuff down and headed on another water taxi across the canal to see it for myself. In St. Marco’s square there’s St. Marco’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. I was told to visit both, so I decided to see the Basilica today, and save the palace for a tour the next day.
The basilica was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t take any pictures inside, but it was filled with mosaics. If you don’t remember from art class, mosaics are pieces of art or images made from putting small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials together. There was so much gold used throughout, and it was just stunning. My favorite part, though, is St. Mark is represented by a lion with wings, and you could see it everywhere. Honestly, it’s just really cool.
Following the basilica and the museum inside that I got to explore, I headed out to go on a nice walk throughout Venice to just wander and see where I stumbled. I walked across the entire island and back, ate some delicious fresh lasagna, and got lost wandering through the small alleys staring at all the canals. This city is built on an ancient marshland, and old tree trucks were used as the base for all the buildings and structures. Over time, they were petrified in the water, and are still part of the support system to this day. Below are some pictures I took while wandering! What do you see?
I headed back to my hostel pretty early to relax- I had been up since 4AM to catch my train, I got back, sat down, and watched some Netflix for a bit before going to bed so I could get up early to catch my tour in morning. When I woke up, I got breakfast and headed back across the canal to start my tour- one and half hour walking tour of Venice and it’s history, and a one and a half hour tour of the Doge’s Palace.
The walking tour was fun. It was nice to wander the city some more and actually learn about what I was seeing (like that fun fact earlier about the structural foundation of the city). We got a glimpse at the daily life of Venice, and I took quite a few more photos that I’ll share below. If you look carefully, you’ll see one that has a solid yellow boat under the bridge. That is their ambulance here since they have no way to drive on the roads! It’s crazy to think about how much these things have to change for the different cities around the world. Small things we don’t think about here have to have very creative solutions for other places.
The next part was the tour of the Doge’s Palace. This place was incredible, and I was so happy to have had a tour guided to explain it all, otherwise I would have missed so much. The Doge in Venice is sort of like a President or a King. They are voted into their position of power from people in the higher class, and then they maintain their role for life. Unlike a president or King, though, they do not get to have ultimate say-so, and in fact they are on equal power with about 7 other people who all share in the decision making. Basically, the Doge was just a figure head to represent the city and be the face of the government, but he was essentially no more powerful than anyone else working within the government.
The Palace itself was filled with gold and beautiful artwork from the Baroque and Renaissance periods. Many of the rooms were incredibly extravagant in order to show off how wealthy Venice was when visitors would come to meet with the Doge. Below you can see all the pictures I took inside. What do you see in the pictures that makes you think they were designed for show?
After the tour, a girl I met in the tour and I went and got some lunch. Again, my favorite part of travel is just meeting all of the amazing people and learning their stories. She was from Singapore and was traveling in Italy for a few days as a vacation. It was wonderful to learn more about her homeland, and she gave me some tips if I were to ever go and visit while I’m on this journey! More new friends in new places! Our ticket to the Doge’s Palace also got us into another museum, so we went and looked at old Venetian artifacts for a bit and learned about the history of the city.
Following that, I went back to my hostel and sat along the canal for a while and watched the sunset. I also got to FaceTime with my mom and my dad for a bit, so it was a nice way to end my stay at this beautiful place. I went upstairs and packed my bags before heading to bed so I could head off to my next location in the morning. I was a little nervous. I last minute changed my plans for another city- Florence, for a small village tucked away in the hills called Certaldo in the Tuscany region. I saw a hostel there while researching that seemed like it would be really nice, in a low-key and quiet place with lots of authentic Italian things to do and try. I took a risk and signed up to stay there, so we’ll see if it pays off!
Well…. It definitely paid off. After a long travel day, I finally made it to my hostel in Certaldo, and it was like I had waked back in time. This place used to be a monastery back in the 1300’s (That’s 700 years ago!). It is quiet, and hidden away, and it is maybe one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I checked in, signed up for a pasta-making class that evening, and then jumped on a bike to go explore the little town and get some groceries.
I had so much fun biking around, but it was the pasta making class that night that was the real star. One of my goals for Italy was to take a pasta class, so I couldn’t pass it up! We were going to make 2 types of pasta from scratch- ravioli and fettuccini, with three different sauces- a meat sauce, a tomato sauce, and a sage and butter sauce all from scratch.
We started with cutting all of the vegetables and getting them to cook down before learning how to make pasta by hand. The only ingredients were flour and eggs. It was so simple, and so easy, and it was so much fun. We mixed them together, rolled the dough, and then got to use the machines to flatten it out and cut it to make the different pastas. Everyone in the class got to make their own raviolis (filled with a spinach and ricotta cheese filling). We rolled out our sheets of dough, scooped the filling, closed them off, cut them out, and then placed them in the water to cook. After that we all got to make our own fettuccini as well with the machine to help us cut them to be the same size. It was so much fun!
After the sauces had been finished and the pasta cooked, we all sat down a large table and shared the meal together. We ate so much, laughed, and had a great time sharing travel stories, and enjoying the results of our hard work. The fresh pasta was on a whole new level compared to what I had eaten before, too. I left the class with a full stomach, new friends, and new knowledge. We all ended up sitting around a campfire and chatting for a while more before heading to bed. This was by far one of the best nights of my trip so far.
The next day I slept in pretty late. It was nice to be somewhere that I didn’t have to rush to go anywhere, and since there isn’t even WiFi except in the main office, I couldn’t even play on my phone to kill time. I got up, went on a small mile-long hike through the countryside nearby, and then went and got breakfast at a local bakery with my new friends. The pastries were INCREDIBLE there. All local, all hand made, and so delicious. We all headed back afterwards to the hostel to get ready for a tour to a medieval castle town called San Gimignano.
This place was bizarre in all the best ways. Again, it felt like we had stepped back in time to the 1300’s. What I was most excited for was that there was a gelato place here that is considered to be one of the best in the world, with many awards to prove it. We found our way through, and got to look over the castle walls at the beautiful Tuscan country side. Tuscany is a region in Italy that is just beautiful beyond words and known for all of it’s grapes.
Following there, we made our way to the Gelateria and it was AMAZING. Definitely lived up to all the hype, and we all sat and enjoyed our ice creams before wandering some more. We managed to find some pizza for lunch, toured some of the ancient churches, and just enjoyed our time there before we were picked up to head back home. I was pretty tired when I got home, so I headed to bed so I could wake up early in the morning. I can try to describe all of these places I saw, but honestly, the pictures explain it way better than I can. What kind of things to you see?
Tomorrow, I’m heading off to explore the town of Certaldo itself where we are, and then I’m off to a city Thursday known for it’s leaning tower. Do you know where I’m off to next? I can’t wait to bring you along! Until then-
Have Courage, & Be Kind,
Mr. Weavil