Feet firmly on the ground

Backpacking keeps your feet firmly on the ground (and it's not just the weight of your backpack pulling you down). Just when you think: this is it, I can now take over the world, you have a day like I had when going to Italy the first time about two weeks ago.

I arrived in Koper, a coastal city in Slovenia very close to the Italian border, the night before  just to find out I'm sharing a room as big as my room in my flat in Johannesburg with seven other people. The eight of us also shared one bathroom (with one shower) with eight people in the room next to ours.

Even though I woke up early the next morning to be the first one in the shower, there was no hot water. The hostel was so small that while I was drinking coffee in the kitchen, there were three girls literally brushing their teeth in a queue next to me waiting for a guy who was in the bathroom. That's when you realise you're not quite as laid back as you thought you were.

I got a taxi to Triest shortly thereafter (there were no buses to Italy because it was a Slovenian public holiday) and got on a train to Venice. Upon arrival, I asked a lady at one of the tourist information desks which hostels she would recommend. Her answer was a mere, "I only know about hotels."

"So where can I find out about hostels?" "I don't know," was her next short (and not so sweet) answer. Luckily I overheard someone next to her saying that there's an information office at the train station with a list of hostels.

I went to that office, waited in a queue for about 20 minutes, and a very friendly tourism officer printed me a list of hostels and circled four of the hostels on the list on my city map.

I walk to the first one. No luck; they're fully booked. I phone the second one; they have rooms available. I don't ask for directions, because friendly Mr Tourist Info circled it on my map.

I follow the directions he gave me and almost end up in a canal (I think he might still be laughing at the stupid tourists who follow his directions). By that time I was really feeling sorry for myself - it was hot (I'd guess at least 35 degrees celsius) and I was carrying my backpack.

Luckily it was clear I was completely lost and a guy passing me in the street came to my rescue with a, "Do you need help, my friend?" He gave me the right directions and finally, three and a half hours after my arrival, I found a place to sleep.

All this said, as soon as opened a bottle of Italian red wine with the new friends I made at the hostel, I was smiling again and as Alanis Morissette sings, "everything is (was) just fine, fine, fine." 


On the photo below you can see where I ended up after following the tourist officer's directions. It gives new meaning to the term 'dead end'.

When I finally arrived at the hostel, I walked to what I thought was the front door. This was the last thing I wanted to see at that stage. Luckily it was only a 20-metre detour.

When thinking of Venice, images like this one immediately comes to mind. There were hundreds of tourists going on boat trips in the canals.
 

 

A magnificent view. The St Mark's Basilica with its five domes and the Doge's Palace as seen from the top of the bell tower in Venice.