Sleep Tight Dont Let The Bed Bugs Bite

Venice, Venezia...Italy. Italy in general is a world of its own. The way the cities are set up and the vast amount of history here is breathtaking. The day in Venice was truly lovely as I have already mentioned. That night we went to find this campground we were staying in. We had to back track on the train a bit to get to the Mestre stop just outside of Venice. From there we had to walk a bit and take a bus. The directions were really good so we actually didnt have any trouble finding Camp Fusina. First impression? Nice...there they have a restrurant, bar, supermarket, laundry, shower house, wifi....everything you would basically need. We were staying in a trailer...fairly simple just beds, an outlet and some shelfs but overall pretty cozy. Especially because it was just the three of us staying in the tralier which is always a treat. However, whenever it is just the three of us , our shit goes everywhere...mostly because we can do that. That night we were all pretty tired so we just decided to grab a drink, shower and went to bed. The next day we all decided to go to the beach. Its this little island just off of Venice the beach is called Lido. There is a boat that takes you from the campsite to the island. It was a 25 min ride and we were able to see more of the sea. Everyone seems to own a boat of some kind over there....all different sorts to....fishing boat, gondola, motor boat, cargo boat etc etc. The island has mostly houses with a few resturants and stores. The beach was easy enough to find...just about a 10 min walk in. The best part of the beach is that it was just a beach. No vendors or any buildings around.There was actually just a few other people then us there as well. The sand was white and felt really good on our feet. The water was warm, really warm with waves. The day at the beach was awesome, it wasnt crazy hot and a bit cloudy which was nice so we didnt burn. After a long day at the beach we basicially had some supper and went to bed. Venice was a nice place to reboot our batteries, prepare us for the rest of Italy. The next morning we got up and had some breakie and coffe. It was nice to be in nature again, we have been spending alot of time in the cities lately. Over breakie...we noticed christies "rash" had gotten drastically worse. Worse though....now stef had the same thing. Sitting there....my mind wandered back to sitting at the kitchen table across from my mom talking about bed bugs. The rash will be red, sore and itchy. In a track mark. To avoid this, check your stuff and body every morning, keep your sleeper sheet in a sperate ziplock bag and never put your backpack on the bed. Damnit! Why didnt I listen to my mother...and WHY is she always right. We had bed bugs. Stef and Christie were in alot of pain, from the itching and the welting. And i mean WELTING. I thankfully showed no signs. Once we got to Florence we knew we had to deal with the bed bugs, after a quick "MOM WHAT DO WE DO" email, we got the girls some cream to help with the itching and went to find a laundry mat. None were open and we couldnt find them anyways. We had to deal with it the next day. Our hostel was a story in and of itself. We of course take forever to find it, Florence has so many side streets and Piazzas its really tricky to orientate yourself. Once we found it of course it was on the 4th floor. Once we get up there, its only a floor. it was so small they dont have a front desk and we can barely fit in the hallway with our backpacks on. There are two bathrooms, a coomon room, kitchen and 3 rooms with beds. Even the workers stay in the same room as the guests. We get to the room and its a bunch of beds packed in but we didnt see a luggage locker or keys for the door. The guy tells us the rooms dont have locks but dont worry we have lugguage lockers. He goes to another room and comes back carrying a little bed side stand with a shitty padlock on in. Then he plunks it down and says...there now you have a lugguage locker. Looks like were carrying our money belts everywhere. Not Great. O well, we did what we love doing the most....walked around Florence. It truly is a sight to see. The buildings are so colorful, even the chruches...with blues and green. The Piazza (which are about every 4 blocks) and filled with statues, monuments, and chruches. On every street coronor is a painting of some sort or another. We got back and it was free sanguria night. Thats right the hostel provides free Sanguria. Free booze is always a highlight. There was quite a few of us all in this one tiny room. Austrialia, British, American, Brazil, Spanish, and Scottish. A great mix of people. We spent the night visiting and sharing backpacking stories. On aussie was telling us about this girl in her group that got a litre stein thrown at her face at Oktoberfest...had to spend the night in the hospital. Thank got that wasnt us. Btw, our paris gypsy horror story is a classic hit every time we tell it. Its nice to be able to laugh about it now. Later in the night me and the girls wanted to go dancing and got directions to a disco club(nightclub, here it is a disco). The map was some photocopied missing half the streets on it. Italians are crazy with directions too...they half speak to you in italian and mostly just circle things fast and be like "its easy, so easy, you will see it" We didnt get but down the block and we were lost. Thankfully Florence does not slow down at night. Could be 4am and theres lights and people everywhere...resturants and music still playing. This guy from Florence could ccclearly see we were having trouble and offered us assitance. He was a train conductor from Florence and really nicce. He actually took us to an old pub just around the bend. We met up with some of his friends, a girl who is a biochemist and another train conductor. They gave us history and things to see in Florence. Meeting locals is always like hitting the jackpot. Then they showed us where to get the best kebab in town. And it was a GOOD kebab...expect they put fries in it, we dont like that as much. Either way a wonderful sucessful night and hopefully more to come in Florence. Knowing that we had to sleep in those beds and possibly infect the rest of the hostel was unnerving...but alas we did not have a choice. Tomm we will tackle the bed bugs.