Thunderstorms and 700 Kilometres

In the morning, my alarm clock rang at 6:30. Since I wanted to drive 700 kilometers to Venice in one day, I got up quite early. Outside it thunderstorms like anything else and of course I had to somehow walk to the train station in Naples. So I stayed in the Hostel for a while and wanted to wait until the storm was over. After an hour, however, it had not gotten any better.

So I decided to get ready and pack my things already. By eight o’clock it had still not gotten better. However, I wanted to leave, otherwise I would not arrive in Venice in time. So I called an Uber, which was of course more expensive than the train but somehow I had to come to my car.

At 9 o’clock I finally sat in my car. Since I had never driven such a long distance in one day, I had a little respect for the track.

By 4 pm I was doing pretty well. In the meantime, I had also taken some breaks. However, I was then in traffic for over an hour, so my arrival time was delayed.

A race against time

Shortly after seven I was in Mestre, a suburb of Venice, where I wanted to park. Before I went to the car park, I checked again the time when the train would run. In order to catch the last waterbus with the train, which would take me to the hostel, I would have had to hurry. So I decided to park in Venice. Although this was significantly more expensive, it was safer.

Arriving in Venice, I parked my car and quickly grabbed all my things before rushing to the next station. I bought a 48 hour ticket straight away because I was sure I would need it more often during my time in Venice. Fortunately I found my drop-off station very quickly and I caught one of the last waterbuses for that evening.

The hostel, which I had booked, was the one that I personally liked the least in all my time in Italy. In the whole hostel were hardly people. When I checked in at eight o’clock I was the only person in my eight-bed room who was occupying a bed. Later at 11:00 pm., when I already thought I had the room to myself, another girl checked in.

In addition, there was no kitchen at all and all the things I had with me, which had to be put in the fridge, remained so cold. Besides, I couldn’t even cook.

Last stop: Venice

The next morning I left the hostel around 11 am to explore Venice. Rain was announced for the whole day and it was also quite cold. So I first drove back to the parking garage by water bus to get my umbrella and my jacket, which I had forgotten in the hurry the day before.

No sooner had I brought my things, it started to drizzle and only a few minutes later it rained in torrents. Fortunately it was only a short shower and I was able to move on very quickly.

I really liked Venice and was fascinated by the many small canals. Venice is just a completely different city compared to all the cities I’ve been to before.

In Naples in the hostel I met a man who was totally enthusiastic about Naples and told me that he didn’t like Venice at all. However, I have to admit that Venice is one of my highlights during my stay in Italy.

A little later I arrived at the Rialto Bridge, which was of course only so crowded by tourists. Nevertheless, I really liked the view from the bridge over the city.

From the Rialto Bridge I went on to St. Markus Square. Because of all the rain, it was a little under water, so that small pedestals were built up over which one could walk. On the square I visited the Campanile du San Marco, the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica.

From the nearby boat station I drove back to the hostel for lunch. Although I had already seen almost everything, nevertheless I made my way back to the city center shortly after. Meanwhile it had become quite windy but as long as it didn’t rain I didn’t care. The small bit of cold that the wind brought with it was easy to ignore.

I just wandered through the streets and looked around. Late in the afternoon I made a short detour to the hostel, before I went out again in the evening to go shopping. By now it had become dark and so I had the opportunity to admire Venice at night.

The last thousand kilometres

In the evening I went to bed quite early, because the next morning the long journey home was imminent.

The drive back home was actually quite unspectacular. In just 15 hours, I made the 1100-kilometre route and arrived home shortly after one in the night. I am a little proud of myself that I have managed a three-week journey by car through a foreign country alone. In total I drove 4007,2 kilometres in 21 days.