As a way of marking the halfway point, I thought I'd list 5 things I've learnt since being here.
1. Italians do the best pizza.
Okay, so I didn't really learn this - I already knew it. It has, however, most definitely been confirmed. There is nothing quite like Italian pizza. It's thin and full of flavour. Even the 'rubbish' Italian pizza is about a thousand times better than the English take on the stuff. It's available on every corner, and we're all seriously in danger of becoming obese. We were even happy to ditch the classic post-night out kebab/chicken nuggets and chips/burger for pizza. Oh, and whilst I'm on the subject of fast food, the kebab shop in Campo Santa Margherita serves CALAMARI. Yep, you can have drunken calamari if you want it. Or deep fried mozerella. Or deep fried sardine sandwiches. Also, the Venetians do incredible fish soup. Oh, I could go on forever!
Basically, Italy has really great food. Really really great food.
2. Italian supermarkets are hell on Earth.
I think the reason that so many Italians seem to eat out constantly is because Italian supermarkets are a nightmare. Today I had to queue for at least half an hour just to pay. I seriously considered putting all my stuff back and walking out. They only had two cashiers on the checkouts (leaving 4 empty desks) in a huge supermarket. There wasn't a shortage of staff either - they were all milling around doing nothing whilst the queues wound their way around the store. Also, if you don't have exact change, they go mental. At first I thought it was because they didn't have any change in their till, but nope, the angry cashier opened the till and it was basically overflowing with coins! I have no idea what their problem is with notes, but they seem to hate them.
I strongly advise you to shop at the markets instead of the shops. You'll avoid the chaos of the supermarket and also probably get more for your money.
3. Caffé = Espresso
Now maybe I'm just being a really ignorant tourist here, but when I learnt Italian, 'caffé' meant 'coffee'. During one of my first weeks here, I went out with my friend Giulia and ordered 'un caffé' expecting a great big mug of caffeinated goodness. Oh no no no no no. How wrong I was. I was served an espresso. Suppressing my dismay at the sheer lack of 'liquid' (for want of a better word) before me, out of fear that Giulia would think me a fool, I downed the whole thing in one (whilst standing at the bar... the Venetian way). Luckily, Giulia didn't seem to notice my surprise, since she continued chatting without a care in the world. I have since taken to specifying 'Americano' or 'Caffé Latte' (not just latte because that's just milk... I may have made that mistake as well...) whenever I order coffee.
I may have forgotten to mention these facts to some of my friends, and enjoyed a fair few smug moments whilst they pretended to appreciate espressos or mugs of milk.
Saying that, we really tend to indulge more in hot chocolate than coffee these days. (Italian hot chocolate is incredible, best I've ever had... probably should've mentioned this in the first point but hey ho!)
4. If you have to cross the Rialto Bridge, add 15 minutes onto your journey time
Once upon a time, Venice was just a whole load of islands. I mean, it still is, but there were a hell of a load more back then. Y'see, there never used to be any bridges, that's why there are so many churches - each island had a church so that everyone could make it to mass/save their soul/whatever. Well, there never used to be any bridges apart from one - the Rialto. As a result, the Rialto was pretty important. 'With great power comes huge numbers of tourists' (that's the saying, right?)... well, the Rialto is still super important and is often so crowded that you can barely move. It just so happens that in order to get to uni, I have to cross the Rialto. Every time, I prepare myself for what I can only describe as a rugby scrum at the top, as surges of people from one side try to make it past people from the other and vice versa. Don't get me wrong, we fully embraced the beauty of this bridge, with its historical significance and amazing views of the canal, for the first few weeks (see below for my great selfie on the bridge...) but 5 weeks in, it just does my head in. I find myself shouting and shoving tourists out the way as though I'm a local and I have some God given right to have a clear path across the bridge. By the time I finally make it to my lectures or to the library, I'm so hot and bothered that I no longer have the energy to do any work!
Warwick, you should move your university building to San Polo where all us students live, God damn you!
5. 2 euros 50 cents is not cheap for prosecco
So, being classic English girls who are used to a glass of prosecco costing the best part of £8, we thought we were in heaven when we found out our favourite bar did glasses of prosecco for 2 euros 50. That is, until my friend, Federico, told us otherwise. Federico is from Treviso and apparently they make an awful lot of prosecco there, so I guess he's kind of an authority on the stuff. One time, I was out for lunch with him and Helena and we mentioned how cheap prosecco is at 2 euros 50. He laughed at us, explained how expensive that actually is for prosecco in Italy, then proceeded to take us to a place that served glasses of the stuff for 90 cents! And these were big glasses. We enjoyed them sitting on the steps of some church (I'll hold my hands up and admit that I've visited so many churches that they've all kind of blurred into one in my head) and laughed at the thought of our friends back in Campo S. Margherita paying the extortionate of amount of 2.50 whilst we enjoyed bigger glasses of better stuff for less than half the price.
So Venice, I've learnt a fair bit. I hope you continue to teach me some more over the next five weeks!
Now maybe I'm just being a really ignorant tourist here, but when I learnt Italian, 'caffé' meant 'coffee'. During one of my first weeks here, I went out with my friend Giulia and ordered 'un caffé' expecting a great big mug of caffeinated goodness. Oh no no no no no. How wrong I was. I was served an espresso. Suppressing my dismay at the sheer lack of 'liquid' (for want of a better word) before me, out of fear that Giulia would think me a fool, I downed the whole thing in one (whilst standing at the bar... the Venetian way). Luckily, Giulia didn't seem to notice my surprise, since she continued chatting without a care in the world. I have since taken to specifying 'Americano' or 'Caffé Latte' (not just latte because that's just milk... I may have made that mistake as well...) whenever I order coffee.
I may have forgotten to mention these facts to some of my friends, and enjoyed a fair few smug moments whilst they pretended to appreciate espressos or mugs of milk.
Saying that, we really tend to indulge more in hot chocolate than coffee these days. (Italian hot chocolate is incredible, best I've ever had... probably should've mentioned this in the first point but hey ho!)
4. If you have to cross the Rialto Bridge, add 15 minutes onto your journey time
Once upon a time, Venice was just a whole load of islands. I mean, it still is, but there were a hell of a load more back then. Y'see, there never used to be any bridges, that's why there are so many churches - each island had a church so that everyone could make it to mass/save their soul/whatever. Well, there never used to be any bridges apart from one - the Rialto. As a result, the Rialto was pretty important. 'With great power comes huge numbers of tourists' (that's the saying, right?)... well, the Rialto is still super important and is often so crowded that you can barely move. It just so happens that in order to get to uni, I have to cross the Rialto. Every time, I prepare myself for what I can only describe as a rugby scrum at the top, as surges of people from one side try to make it past people from the other and vice versa. Don't get me wrong, we fully embraced the beauty of this bridge, with its historical significance and amazing views of the canal, for the first few weeks (see below for my great selfie on the bridge...) but 5 weeks in, it just does my head in. I find myself shouting and shoving tourists out the way as though I'm a local and I have some God given right to have a clear path across the bridge. By the time I finally make it to my lectures or to the library, I'm so hot and bothered that I no longer have the energy to do any work!
Warwick, you should move your university building to San Polo where all us students live, God damn you!
5. 2 euros 50 cents is not cheap for prosecco
So, being classic English girls who are used to a glass of prosecco costing the best part of £8, we thought we were in heaven when we found out our favourite bar did glasses of prosecco for 2 euros 50. That is, until my friend, Federico, told us otherwise. Federico is from Treviso and apparently they make an awful lot of prosecco there, so I guess he's kind of an authority on the stuff. One time, I was out for lunch with him and Helena and we mentioned how cheap prosecco is at 2 euros 50. He laughed at us, explained how expensive that actually is for prosecco in Italy, then proceeded to take us to a place that served glasses of the stuff for 90 cents! And these were big glasses. We enjoyed them sitting on the steps of some church (I'll hold my hands up and admit that I've visited so many churches that they've all kind of blurred into one in my head) and laughed at the thought of our friends back in Campo S. Margherita paying the extortionate of amount of 2.50 whilst we enjoyed bigger glasses of better stuff for less than half the price.
So Venice, I've learnt a fair bit. I hope you continue to teach me some more over the next five weeks!
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