Road trip to Venice
My wife and I discussed a possible trip to Venice so often that, in the end, there was no point in postponing it any further, and besides, we already had Schengen visas (obtained earlier for a trip through Hungary to Montenegro).
There is experience of 2-4 day trips by car in Europe, so the collection took less than one day. Kyiv saw off the autumn chill and rain. They say rain on the road - to an easy road. And so it happened.
We got to Uzhgorod as usual, about 10 hours. We drove slowly, with stops for snacks and WC. Traveling is easy when both are good drivers and change each other periodically. Uzhgorod met almost in winter - in some places there was already snow, puddles just froze. We stopped at the private hotel "ARGO", which has already become our own. We are already recognized and promised a discount as regular customers.
It is only 25 km to the border, so, after sleeping and having breakfast, we went to the Chop-Zakhony border crossing. We were at the border on Saturday, at about 9-30 in the morning. From experience, this is the best time to quickly cross the border.
We crossed Hungary in one breath, we didn’t need to pay for the autobahn for one day, we just refueled with better (albeit more expensive than in Ukraine) gasoline. And they immediately set off. And our path lay in the direction of Slovenia. Since Hungary and Slovenia are Schengen, the border between them is practically just a name.
The main thing is not to forget that when crossing such a (conditional) border, at the very first gas station, you need to buy a vignette (payment for the autobahn) and be sure to stick it on the windshield, because. traffic cameras and “honesty” points, as we called them, read payment information. The cost of a vignette for 7 days (this is the minimum period) is 15 euros.
We did not set ourselves the task of reaching Venice in one day and decided to spend the night in Slovenia in a small town called Postojna. We stayed in private apartments. We were given a large apartment with a bedroom at our disposal. Very warm and homey atmosphere. It cost us 49 euros per night, including breakfast. Venice was only 200 km away. The owners of the apartments are very nice elderly people, they asked what time breakfast was served, they left and did not bother us anymore.
In the morning, after a hearty breakfast (many thanks to the hostess), we set off again.
The border crossing between Slovenia and Italy is more visible, but we did not see a single border guard. Payment for the autobahn to the city of Mestre, where we stopped, cost us 8.60 euros. There is no need to buy vignettes - at the entrance to the autobahn, in front of the barrier, you take a ticket, and at the exit, the machine reads it and gives out the amount that you need to pay. Payment is made in cash. It won't be hard to figure it out.
We stayed in a private small hotel, which was chosen by us solely on two parameters - cheap and paid breakfast. The night cost us 35 euros. For the money we got a good room, but breakfast consisted of a croissant and coffee.
Mestre is only 14 kilometers from Venice. As it turned out later, the hotel was located about 200 meters from the railway. station, from which trains go to Venice approximately every 10-15 minutes. The ride is not long, only 2 stops (10 minutes). Departure station "Mestre Venezia" - the final stop "Santa Lucia".
Tickets for the train were bought at a kiosk that sells newspapers and magazines. ticket offices sell tickets for long-distance trains. It cost us 13 euros (6.50 per ticket). On the platform there are small yellow machines, the size of a mailbox, in which you must validate your ticket before you enter the train.
Finding the right train is easy, just like with us. Look at the board and choose the train, which has the final stop Venice “Santa Lucia”. See the path on which it arrives and approach that path.
Electric trains are many times different from ours, they are very convenient and comfortable, warm and clean.
We bought tickets for the return journey at the railway station. at the Venice station in the vending machine that sells tickets, this pleasure cost 1.2 euros for two tickets. Why such a difference in tickets, we could not figure it out, perhaps in Mestre we bought tickets for several trips.
Venice welcomed unseasonably warm and sunny (given that we arrived there at the end of November). People hurried about their business, and their own, led by them alone, worries. There were also plenty of tourists and onlookers. The ubiquitous flocks of Asiatics moved in single file behind their guides. Russian-speaking tourists communicated quite loudly among themselves, which made it easy to recognize them.
Their compatriots (Ukrainians) simply pleased us - a simple Italian worker was walking in front of us on his working affairs (working overalls, a cart with boxes). His phone rang, he answers the call and in pure Ukrainian begins to congratulate someone on his birthday. And literally a minute later he exchanged a couple of phrases in Italian with his acquaintances.
Much has been read about Venice, even more films have been reviewed, and yet Venice AMAZING. An amazing combination of streets, sidewalks and canals, bridges and bridges. I liked the boats and boats, converted, or rather, adapted to the peculiarities of this magnificent city. If in familiar cities we see cars (cranes, ambulances, buses, taxis, etc. ), then here they are all replaced by boats and ships. Ambulance boats, police boats, water taxis and trams. With their own routes and timetables.
We saw how small cargo boats moved quite quickly, it is as if a gazelle loaded with something was moving, and loaders were sitting in the cabin. Or, for example, a small barge is driving - and we identify it with a small truck.
We decided not to use trams or water taxis - we just wandered around Venice, looking at houses, canals, people.
I cannot say that Venice is beautiful everywhere. Yes, there are houses with rather old facades and, indeed, no one is updating them. The BILLA supermarket fits quite well into this entire architectural ensemble. And the prices, I'll tell you, are not draconian there, but for some goods they are even less than Kiev ones.
The cost of a large piece of pizza in pizzerias (of which there are a fairly large number) is up to 5 euros.
Another retreat on the assimilation of our compatriots (Ukrainians) in Venice. We decided to walk around the supermarket to see what was the price, so to speak, and came across three women aged who were quite vividly discussing the latest news in Ukrainian (who got a job and where, who changed jobs or place of residence) - I remembered the grandmothers who are sitting near the entrance and know everything about everyone.
I really liked feeding the pigeons (my wife did not like it), they instantly flock to you and sit on your arms, shoulders, head - just to be fed. Although many wrote before me that it was forbidden to feed them and that a fine would immediately follow, the patrol policemen condescendingly looked at all the tourists who tried to feed the pigeons and did not fine anyone.
The weather was sunny all day, we had long since left the tourist trails and just wandered around Venice. We wanted to see the city that its inhabitants live in.
Mulled wine was sold not far from the square (2 euros - a plastic cup). Despite the sunny weather, the city was not hot. I liked the drink, pleasant, warm, I felt a clove. At times it was different from the swill that tourists were given to drink in Budapest, near the Citadel.
Small streets, narrow lanes, intricate labyrinths of streets (if you are not a local resident). The city lived its own life, the builders were repairing houses, and the garbage was taken by carts to a small boat, schoolchildren were returning home from school, running across the bridges. Someone was walking the dog, and she, in turn, selflessly pulled the owner to the nearest tree. Life goes on like in other cities, but in a different way.
After wandering around the city and gaining some impressions, we went into a cozy little cafe near the bridge to the railway station, had a little rest and drank coffee. A cup of espresso with milk cost 1.5 euros. And then we went back to Mestre, again by train. Thus ended our day in Venice.
The city leaves an ambiguous impression.
December 16.2011
