Everyone knows that being a student has the giant stigma of being just one big prolonged drunken experience, with some essays thrown in between... well for us literature students anyway... and this does by no means change as soon as you leave England. So far I have found that drinking culture is huuuuuge here but is really different at the same time. Going out at home is all about the nightclubs and the places that hold big events just for students most nights of the week, just as it would be at any university in England. But here it is all about bars and the social side to drinking. Which was something to get used to at first, especially regarding the whole 'but what do I wear?!' debate.
Venice has no nightclubs apart from one called 'Piccolo Mondo' which translates as 'small world'. The name really says it all, I have never been in but from what I've seen through the doorway it is tiny! And they charge you anything between 15 to 25 euros just for entry! which is awful. I have also heard some pretty bad things about it so I cannot justify spending that much money. So the lack of nightclubs led us to this square right next to one of the main university buildings called 'Campo San Magherita' or san mag as we like to call it. It has a handful of bars which line the square and sell drinks for pretty good prices. Then everyone sits in the square and drinks, smokes and just generally socialises. It's a nice atmosphere to be apart of whether you are going hard or just for a 'few'.
When we first came to Venice a lot of the nights out were directed by the ESN guys and because there was still such good weather a lot of them were at the bars on the beach in Lido. Although these places were bars they would still be blaring out overly remixed club music and everyone would be dancing so they were really cool actually. I think on this particular night us deciding to just go out 'for a few' ended up with me being sick into one of the many canals of Venice on the way home so....
But as the weather has declined rapidly over this past month the best place to go that we have found is The Docks on a Wednesday night for their event F30. It is the most similar to a nightclub that we know of and it is actually really good. Although it is 7 euro entry BUT that includes your first drink, and drinks are seven euros anyway so I guess it's good? haha.
But as the weather has declined rapidly over this past month the best place to go that we have found is The Docks on a Wednesday night for their event F30. It is the most similar to a nightclub that we know of and it is actually really good. Although it is 7 euro entry BUT that includes your first drink, and drinks are seven euros anyway so I guess it's good? haha.
Whilst we are on the subject of drinks I just want to draw attention to how strong do Italians make their drinks?! I have been suffering from some serious hangovers because I'm sure the drinks are 90 per cent alcohol and 10 per cent mixer the majority of the time. But also I have discovered Aperol Spritz and hugo. I have never heard of either of those drinks before, are they a thing in England? But spritz is such a big thing here, it is basically a bitter spirit mixed with Prosecco and soda water and finished off with a slice of orange and a olive. It actually looks a lot like Iron Bru, but is a bit too bitter for my taste actually but my house mates love it but hate olives and I LOVE olives. So whenever they order Spritz I end up with like ten olives on sticks and it is wonderful. A hugo looks like a mojito but it made up of Prosecco, soda water, elderflower syrup and crushed mint and lime. I looooove these, but be warned they are super sweet. Both of these are pretty cheap to buy everywhere, normally between 2 and 3 euros, which I think is why they are so popular with students.
A few other places we have been to is Molocinque, Morion and even on top of the Hilton hotel. Molocinque is an actual nightclub but it is all the way in Mestre which is the mainland. It took ages to get there so we were too soba by the time we turned up and because drinks were crazy prices it didn't turn into a good night. Then Morion is basically a building in Castello which is covered in graffiti and posters inside and out. It is actually a really cool place but I hated it because everyone was smoking inside to the point where it was almost hotboxed haha. I'm not a smoker so it wasn't for me and I came out absolutely stinking of smoke. The Hilton rooftop was a really nice evening actually. We dressed up and just spent a few hours there. Drink prices were crazy expensive but that was to be expected. I shared a bottle of wine with a few other girls so it was ok really. Also we got a unlimited supply of snacks which consisted of pineapple, biscuits and OLIVES so I was very happy. The view was amazing as well, I wish I could have taken some better pictures but the one above still gives a glimpse.
No matter where we go though we always end up on the Vaporetto home which always proves to be entertaining. They only run once a hour at night so the wait can be long, but it's fine if you are still drunk. One time me and my two (male) housemates decided to turn into some sort of gymnastic club and climb and just do random splits and stretches all over the vaporetto stop so I guess you could say it's what you make it haha.
I have still got seven months here to discover some more nightlife and take even more drunken photos (which I hope my friends don't mind me sharing on here) so updates will be in order!
Until next time..
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