June 21- 23 Italy: Milan and Venice

June 21-22: Off to Milan we go

Boarding our first flight! Off to Italy! 

Katie and I choose to fly to Milan only for the fact that it was the cheapest flight to Italy we could find. We arrived in Milan at around midnight, and made it safely to our first hostel...the only bad thing was that we had to walk into a room of people we didn't know who were sleeping, find our beds, change our clothes, etc all in the complete dark! I slept with my backpack underneath my head because I thought someone might want to steal my things...I guess that was kind of ridiculous!

The beds are SO close!
 I didn't exactly enjoy sleeping that close to strangers! 

In the morning we had a complimentary breakfast, which included toast, croissant, and spreads... They also made individual fresh cups of coffee any way the guest wanted it.

After breakfast we were off to explore Milan for the afternoon. The city was just like any other city, but the metro was nothing like the clean and simple metro we use in Bilbao.  It was dirty, had graffiti on the outside, and was packed with people! I was glad that Katie understood all the different lines we needed to take! (She said it was similar to Chicago).

Graffiti on the Metro in Milan

First place we found, was a castle! Just outside the castle Katie and I were handed two "free" bracelets. Although we tried to refuse he had it on and tied on our wrists...then with the "free" bracelet on we were told that if we didn't fonate some money it was bad luck! Being that it was the begging of our trip we couldn't have that, so 1 euro later we had good luck on our side :) 

Inside a castel in Milan...
we bought some "free" good luck bracelets just outside the castle.

The largest park in Italy was just a few steps from the Castle and we walked through it. People were reading, playing with their dogs, and even tanning on the lawn area! It was a very peaceful escape from the busy city center of Milan.

Largest park in Italy!

 We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a little sandwich cart in the park. The mozzarella and tomato was delicious!

Stopped in the park for a quick lunch! 

Although I didn't like being on the metro it was a great mode of transportation! We got around Milan quite easily, and we were able to see the Milan Cathedral which was beautiful!

Duomo di Milano- Milan Cathedral 

Next stop: Venice!

We took a night train from Milan to Venice and on the train we noticed we had somehow lost our train ticket...as we looked for it the man came up and asked for our tickets. We were so nervous, but he ended up just letting us off the hook. Its a good thing we had paid for our bracelets! We arrived in Venice around 11pm. Getting to Venice at night was almost like arriving during the day because so many people were still out and doing things! It took a little while to find our hostel so we ended up taking a taxi cab. At the hostel we actually got a room to ourselves!

High Speed Trains in Italy! 

June 23: Venice!

We only had 1day in Venice and we spent the day walking around, getting lost, and just taking in everything! Venice was a very cool city, and it had an interesting smell but that didn't bother me. We went to a church and were not properly prepared to enter so we had to buy a sheet to cover our shoulders. On the inside it was beautiful! (And the best part was it was free to enter!)

  

Classic Venice: a gondola (we didn't ride one...it was too expensive!)

Venice! 

Getting lost was not my favorite because we were grumpy, tired and hungry, but we eventually made it back to the main area and found a great little pizza shop! We shared pizza and then treated ourselves to some gelato! (Our first Italian gelato)

The police officers...II took a picture because I just love their hats!
I think the one in the middle saw me!  

Overall, we liked Milan and Venice. Venice was a lot more relaxed, and had a lot of things made from glass that were unique and beautiful. Our next stop, Florence!