Jack and Kate's Summer '24 European Trip: Part 1

Dates: June 27-28, 2024

Locations: Venice, IT

With a shocking lack of activity on my summer calendar, Kate managed to convince me that it was time for me to become a real international traveler (besides short jaunts to Canada/Mexico) and we workshopped a trip itinerary over the course of the spring. For two weeks, we would start by flying to Venice, driving through the Dolomites in far north Italy and hiking/getting my fill of mountains, then on to Slovenia with its mountains and lakes, then driving the length of Croatia to enjoy its national parks, coastline, and medieval cities. A nearly full tour of the Adriatic sea!

When the big day of travel finally came it was time for me to fly from Houston to Philly, and Kate from Detroit to Philly, then a short hop across the pond together to Venice. Again, I'd never flown internationally before and I was nervous about customs, phone service, language barriers, and the like. So of course, I woke up to a notification from American Airlines that my flight was delayed by 3 hours, enough to totally miss my connection and be left behind when Kate took off for Europe. I called American and they were entirely unable to help me get on any flight that would let me complete my trip. Panicking, I turned to google and found one single flight that was going HTX-PHL in time for my connection, a United flight that would set me back another $350. I bought it, rushed to the airport, and got on just in time. 

Thinking crisis averted, I then settled back and enjoyed my flight...until I landed to see texts from Kate that American had delayed her flight to Philly and she wasn't going to make the connection now! American rerouted her through Chicago, on a flight which ended up massively delayed as well, and her new flight to Venice would land some 6 hours late. Well, there are worse ways it could've gone, but the start of the trip had now descended into chaos with 5/5 American flights delayed and us separated! I was already on the next plane by the time we realized what was going down, so I was about to have my first European experience solo.

I was on the lookout for historic buildings, so stopped at the first huge cathedral I came to- the Basilica S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. This huge brick building had a tall belltower and large square out front that reminded me a lot of the square from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he emerges from the catacombs, so I was sold. Spending my first 2 euro on admission, I walked into the sprawling entry hall. Brick vaulted arches stood high overhead, coupled with ancient wooden beams that filled the church with a musty rich smell. It was thankfully much cooler in the darkened halls than outside in the humidity and sun, so I explored for about an hour here.

Leaving the church, it was even hotter and brighter outside now. I followed the stream of people down the busiest alleyways, assuming they must be generally heading for St. Mark's square. Suddenly I was at the grand canal, many times wider than the ones I had been following and crossing so far. Gondolas and water taxis plied the canal and the crowds were even greater than I'd seen yet. Everyone converged at the Rialto bridge- the oldest of the grand canal bridges. Ironically, my first thought was that the replica in Vegas (that I saw in March) was grander than this hallowed original.

I finally reached St. Mark's square, quite pleased with myself for my routefinding abilities. The square swarmed with people and street hawkers, trying to shove flowers and crafts into my hands constantly. I took a lap of the square and surrounding areas, including walking the exterior of the Doge's palace, which was elaborately decorated with patterned pink and white tile. Not having time to do the palace and the cathedral I weighed my options and chose the cathedral.

Luckily, I was able to get in the line without a reserved time slot and secure a ticket quickly. The hushed interior of the cathedral was stunning and calming after the chaotic mass of humanity and sunlight outside. Nearly every surface is covered in brilliant gold mosaics (8000 square meters of them!) that were added continuously after the basilica was built 1000 years ago. Distinctly Byzantine and Medieval in style, it was truly unique. 

Gilded memories of the St. Marks.

Now quite tired and hot from a whole day carrying my pack around this swampy city, I decided I was content with that amount of solo exploration and returned to the hotel to post up outside at Caffe del Doge. Using the hotel wifi I saw Kate's plane had finally landed an hour ago, so she should be here soon. I ordered my first European espresso with only a little awkwardness, and sat at a small metal table sipping like a Sopranos character while I waited and hoped that Kate would find her way here. Then as I finished my second cup, there she was! Hauling two backpacks and looking tired, she lit up when she saw me and we ran toward each other. The long separation was over!

Excitedly, I showed her our room and we stuck our heads out the window to watch gondolas slide down the canal. Then we got dressed in our town outfits and went out to walk the streets and find some authentic Italian food for dinner! It turned out Verizon was having a total outage of international data so she didn't have it any more than I did, and we went old school just wandering until something caught our eye.

After we'd walked to the Northwestern side of the peninsula, where you can see the square San Michele island (a cemetary) off across the water, we found our place. Kate pulled me into Osteria da Alberto, a small hole in the wall with a vintage vibe to it. The hostess said they were normally reservation only in the evening, but pulled together a table for us by the door. I was hankering for pasta so I had venice seafood spaghetti, and Kate ordered a local fish. To our surpise, an entire fish came out, scales and eyeball and all! Once she figure out how to dig into it, it was delicious (although she complained of it staring at her the whole time).

After dinner, we strolled aimlessly until we ended up along the Grand Canal once more. There were still plenty of tourists and locals around, but the overwhelming throngs of people from the day were gone now. A cool sea breeze blowing in off the Mediterranean was a welcome addition. As we found our way back to St. Mark's square, we passed some more famous landmarks including the Venice Arsenal, an ancient shipyard and armory, and the bridge of sighs, a covered bridge that prisoners would cross on their way to their cells from the Doge's palace.

From the square, we knew the way back to our hotel but enjoyed some people watching first. Vendors roamed the square, live music was emanating from several restaurants, and the occasional flock of nuns strolled by, prompting Kate to consider if her calling was really joining them and staying here. Eventually I won out, and we called it a night. Once we were sitting back in our room, it fully sunk in for me that we were actually in EUROPE together, and I had spent a whole day solo with no service just making the most of it. What a first day!

Morning came with sunlight streaming through our window and the renewed sounds of motors humming on the canal below. We spent longer than we should have sitting at the windowsill watching the boats, mostly workers and service boats at this time of day, navigating around each other before we decided to get on with our day.

We thought about grabbing a water taxi but ultimately just walked back to the bus depot. It was already sweltering outside, so our brief stop for a breakfast croissant and cappucino was a needed breath of cold air. By the time we'd crossed the last bridge I was ready to head into the mountains and leave this beautiful but swampy city behind.

After a short bus ride back to the mainland, we grabbed a shuttle to our rental car place and picked up our car. We had gone with AutoOne, seeing it on Chase travel for a great price and thinking the Chase travel site would only host reliable companies. Well, we spent 2 hours getting our car despite only 4 other people being in the office. The agents were incredibly inept and rude and insisted on upselling us mandatory insurance (which was NOT required by law despite them telling us so) until Kate went online and got her international drivers license right in front of them to get rid of that charge. It was a stressful hassle and I cannot stress enough NOT to go with this company. (they also tried to gouge us on return, but more on that later).

Finally with the car in hand, we were even happier to see the heat haze in our rearview mirror as we gained elevation and dropped temperature. Just a couple hours would have us in the Dolomites - the main event of the trip!