"Shitty" Venice.

This will be my last post about my honeymoon and trust me, this will also be the most interesting honeymoon post ever. BEHOLD......!

If you still remember, we left our tour group in London and extended our honeymoon on our own with the husband's relatives in London. We took a flight to Venice just the 2 of us on our 3rd day in London.

So why did I call it "shitty" Venice? Not because the place sucks. Venice is a beautiful place, I stood in awe in front of the Grand Canal, still in disbelief that I was actually in Venice. I didn't know that I could have the chance to see this magical place with my own eyes. I always thought the closest I could get to Venice was on TV. It was so surreal I wanted to slap myself hard to see if I was dreaming. I was so close to drop down on my knees and kiss the Venice land!

LITERALLY "SHITTY"

So why shitty? Because I had diarrhea attack and nearly visited all the toilets available in Venice Treviso airport =___= Yes, shitty enough, literally. I felt sick when we were at London Stanstead airport. My legs were wobbly, I felt drowsy and tired. I made trips to the toilet for I-have-no-idea-how-many rounds. Things got worst when I boarded the plane. Probably because of the altitude and air pressure. My stomach bloated and I felt sharp pangs. It was like as though my stomach was stabbed repeatedly with a cleaver. I couldn't stand the pain and cried. The flight we took to Venice was a budget airline, Ryan Air. So the degree of comfort was very limited too. The husband asked the flight attendant for some warm water. But they gave me a small cup of cold water and walked away without asking or concern after seeing me crying. Don't expect them to service you like what you see in TV ad, keeping you warm with blanket and serve you with bright sunny smile =___=

I guess I was too tired enduring the pain, I fell asleep. Things got much better after we landed and my stomach deflated too, like a balloon. I popped 2 Paracetamol and lied dead on the hotel bed. For the first time, I didn't bother to take photos of the hotel room. I was even willing to be all alone in the room without lights while the husband took the keycard to go to the lobby to fetch warm water for me. If it happened to have ghosts in the room, I think I would be too tired to feel scared. NOTHING IS SHITTY ENOUGH THAN SHITTING ALL THE TIME IN VENICE! NOT EVEN GHOSTS!!!!

By night, I was better and managed to take a night stroll with the husband. Besides, I felt bad because the husband had to stay in the hotel room with me when we were in Venice! So we walked the night street to shop for souvenirs and grabbed some pizzas for dinner. The wind started to blow and it was drizzling, so we had to go back to our hotel =(

The next morning, I woke up super early because we already wasted a day in Venice! I wanted to recover all the time we lost in this wonderful island!

The one thing and also the most important thing to do in Venice is getting lost! The island is so small, it's no worry to get lost because there are so many things to see. Furthermore, road signs are everywhere!

Venice is a city sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. The only transportation available is boat. The city is listed as a World Heritage Site!

Love this picture. The wall was fully plastered with posters of exhibitions and concerts.

Look at my pale face. Worn out and messy hair.

THE GRAND CANAL

As soon as I caught a glimpse of the Grand Canal from afar, I ran towards it's direction like a small kid who saw a teddy bear by the window display. I stopped right in front of the magnificent view, in awe, in shock, in trans. There were no words to describe the feelings that I felt at that moment, it was so surreal. My dream stood right in front of me.

The Grand Canale of Venice *tears*

RIALTO BRIDGE

The bridge was originally made of timber. It was partly burnt in a revolt in 1310 and it collapsed under the weight of a crowd watching a boat parade in 1310 and collapsed again in 1524. The idea of rebuilding the bridge in stone was proposed in 1503 and over the following decades. Plans were offered by famous architects and Michelangelo also was considered to design the bridge.

The present stone bridge was designed by Antonia da Ponte, completed in 1591. It is a similar to the timber bridge it succeeded and it has defied its critics to become one of the most architectural icons of Venice.

RIALTO BRIDGE OMGWTFMAMABBQ!!!!!!!

GONDOLA RIDE

Everyone said the gondola ride is a waste of money. Even travel websites advise tourists to opt for the cheaper alternative, Vaporetto. It's a water bus where you share with many other people but you can still see the same view of the Grand Canal. But come on! It's my honeymoon and the gondola is one of the must do in my list! I don't care if it costs a fortune (it was indeed very costly), but it is mandatory for couples having their honeymoon!

It was still early, all gondolas were still sleeping, zzzzz.....

Waiting for my gondola ride.

Our gondolier!!! Very camera shy. 

Gondoliers in Venice have to get a license just like taxi drivers. And they must wear the signature black and white stripe outfit to operate the gondola. My gondolier had a windbreaker on because it was winter and the weather was freezing. Apparently the wind blew extra stronger on that day. Poor dude, he has to stand so high up to brace the cold wind.

Going into the small canals where Vaporetto can't go! Hehe =P

A gondola ride is not complete without a photo with the gondolier. Love this photo!

A short video I took during the gondola ride and the view of the Grand Canal (and a quick glimpse of my macho gondolier).

Another reason why I adore Venice so much because I fell in love with this place after watching The Tourist starring my beautiful idol, Angelina Jolie =) The movie was shot in Venice and I always wish to have a chance to see it with my own eyes ever since then.

I was where Angeline Jolie was! =D

After shitting so many times on the day before, my stomach were almost empty. So we headed into a nice restaurant for lunch. We ordered 2 set lunch, which was a bad idea. We must have forgotten that European food portion was double the size of Asian. We ended up forcing ourselves to finish the food. So bloody full!

PIAZZA SAN MARCO

After a fulfilling gondola ride and lunch, we proceeded to the Piazza San Marco, also known in English as St. Mark's Square. We did a lot of pigeon chasing and feeding, so fun!

I looked like a tong sampah.

=___________=

The husband was frustrated that no pigeons wanted to play with him. 

But as Asian, especially from Malaysia, we sneaked a few packets of crackers from the restaurant during our lunch. As soon as the husband cracked the crackers and filled his palms with crumbs....

He became The Pigeon Man!

Love the pigeon spreading its wings for my camera!

I was too scared to have pigeons standing on me, so I played chase and run with them instead.

Campanile di San Marco. A 323 feet tall bell tower and also one of the most recognizable symbol of the city.

Doge's Palace. A palace built in Venetian Gothic style and the residence of  the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the Republic of Venice.

BASILICA DI SAN MARCO

Within the St. Mark's Square, lies a church called Basilica di San Marco. It was consecrated in 1650 and it has been known by the nickname Church of Gold from the 11th century for its opulent design, gilded with Byzantine mosaics.

SNOWSTORM

Everything started to go downhill afterwards. The wind blew even stronger and it started to snow! Our skin was so dry it started to peel and our hands were so rough, even the husband's lips were bleeding. We seek shelter in a bar when the snowing got stronger. It was then my diarrhea came back. The whole toilet visiting was happening again. Thank God it happened after I was done touring around!

It was about 4 something, we have already been to all the attractions we wanted to go and the weather was murderous, the husband suggested to collect our luggage from the hotel and head to the airport earlier =( I was reluctant at first because I wanted to go back to the Grand Canal again. But looking at the weather, I gave in =(

As soon as we boarded the bus to the airport, the whole city was covered with snow within a mere few minutes. I felt nauseous and threw up in a plastic bag, I vomited everything I ate during lunch, including the salmon. It was a bad idea to have such a heavy lunch after diarrhea.

LOCK UP NIGHTMARE

We reached the airport and I already looked half dead. For the next 2 hours, I visited every single toilets available in the airport. The nightmare happened when we were waiting at the boarding area, my stomach grumbled and I had to go to the toilet again. The toilet in the boarding area was upstairs at the far corner away from the crowds. I got in and after doing my business, I COULDN'T OPEN THE DOOR!!!!! THE DOOR WAS STUCK!!!!! No matter how hard I twist and turn the knob it wouldn't open. I panicked and started to bang the door, shouting for help. I shouted as loud as I could because the toilet was at the far corner and I had no idea if anyone could hear me. It was like a moment of death, things started to flash across my mind, the husband outside not knowing his wife is trapped in the toilet and us missing the flight because he had no idea where was I. PANIC OVERWHELMED ME!!!!!!

SAVE MEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Then I heard someone coming in, that person ignored my banging and shouting and went into the cubicle instead! After I heard that person coming out, I shouted for help again when I didn't even know if she could understand English. Bloody hell I was in an Italian country! Then I heard "Are you OK?".

THANK GOD!!!! A British woman!!!!

I told her I was locked up, she tried to open the door from outside but failed. She told me to stay calm and she will go look for help. After waiting for an eternity, she didn't come back.

I tried banging and pushing the door again until I heard a few people speaking Italian coming into the toilet. I did not say anything because I don't know Italian but I tried signaling them by banging the door vigorously. Nobody came to my help. With the little strength I had left in me after shitting so many times, I threw myself at the door and it finally opened!!!!! The people outside just stared at me like I was some alien. Bloody Italian! I knew Italian was rude, but I didn't know they are so bloody unhelpful! I dashed out of the toilet nearly in tears. Then a concerned looking woman approached me and asked if I was the lady who was trapped inside the toilet. She told me she already alerted the airport authority but she was worried so she came back to look for me. I nearly broke down in tears in her arm and she comforted me.

I should have taken her contact or Facebook so we could keep in touch. It is hard to find such compassionate person nowadays. I will always remember how she look like =)

I'm not sure if you have the same experience or you might laugh at me. But being trapped is a very scary experience, left alone I was trapped in a quiet toilet in a foreign country. I dare not imagine if no one found me and I was left all lone in the toilet for God knows how long. The husband would be so worried and we would miss our flight.

After such terrifying experience, I took out the protection pendant my Father-in-law gave me and held it near my heart and spoke to it. Hoping this to stop so I could have a safe flight home, I was so worried my stomach will bloat again in the plane. Miraculously, my flight was so safe and sound I slept through the whole hourney without any pain and visit to the lavatory.

So that was my Venice experience. Bittersweet.