Day 12 – Saturday August 21st

Today is my epic travel to day to Venice. I got up at 7:00, mildly hungover, I got back last night around 4:00. I finished packing and then Fabi dropped me off at the bus station. I took a bus to Modena and Umberto picked me up on the other end. He took me to their house, with Greta and ChiChi, and we had tuna spaghetti. I felt a tad homesick being with a family and not knowing any Italian. It was the first wave I’ve felt so far. After lunch, Umberto took me to the train station and rode with me to Bologna where I had to transfer trains. We found my new train and he said goodbye. I then rode the train to Venezia Santa Lucia train stop.

Once we arrive I grab my bags and start walking towards my hotel. I should have printed a map but I didn’t and I ended up going to the wrong way out of the train station. After walking around for a half hour I found an info desk – she said that I just go to the right of that white building (the one I can’t see) and then go over a bridge and go left and I should be there. Yeah right, It took me another hour to get to my hotel. I’m sweating like a banchee with jeans and a cardigan on, carrying heavy ass bags. I’m walking up the stairs across a canal and an Italian man asks to grab my bags – like way to go Jillian – I say yes, and then he asks me for money DUH. I’m looking for some money and thinking the whole time how I’m about to get pick pocketed or robbed or something, but I give him 1 euro and move on. Could I BE any more naive?

I get to my hotel and press the doorbell, the door clicks and I walk into this walkway with even more stairs. I leave my bags at the bottom and climb the stairs, check in and grab my bags, strip off all my clothes and lay down on the bed. I was overheating. I unpacked my purse, finding a little green stowaway. I was carrying around a glass liter bottle of Heinekin all day without realizing. I'm just having major issues today. I watched bbc cnn on phone applications and then on google, and fell asleep until 7:30 the next morning.