Ciao, Venezia!

     I have been dreaming of traveling to Venice since I was a little girl. I can't remember the exact reason why; I must have seen a movie or watched tv and fell in love. The canals are what interested me. The houses built literally in the water. I loved the idea of boats driving past people's front doors and the windy streets.

When we arrived to Venice, we followed a map given to us by the owner of the apartment we were renting. It was complete nonsense. We got lost for at least a half hour then eventually realized the street on the map near the canal was an actual street on the canal. They aren't streets, really. Alleys, cobblestone paths might be better words to use. Every "street" in Venice was actually a narrow alley connected to other alleys in all directions. It is extremely easy to get spun around, but just as easy to find your way again because one, the city is extremely small, and two, all alleys lead to squares so you are bound to end up in a square you recognize. More often than not, you get lost and end up in the same square you just left. I loved this, though. I love finding my way and navigating a new place, especially when I'm not too concerned with being lost. The city is a giant maze. It's the urban final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament.

     We arrived at our meeting place to get the keys to the apartment, but the landlord was no where to be seen. We waited at least a half hour, emailed her, and eventually found out that our friends already checked in. Of course, all Lisangi, Julie, and I kept thinking was that this lady stole our money and there is no apartment, so we were a little on edge once we got to the apartment and saw all of our friends just hanging out on the couch. We were also tired and hungry from a full day of travel so I knew I just needed some food and I would be fine.

We walked to the bakery around the corner from our apartment, and I got a cream puff. DELICIOUS. 

I loved this bakery. It was right

around the corner from our apartment.

     Then I got a burst of energy and decided to run across the bridge and down some stairs and slipped on some seaweed and ended up with a butt full of mud and seaweed and canal remnants. It was disgusting so I just looked up at Lisangi like a little kid and she ran down and helped me up. Everyone was saying I should have cried at that point, but all I did was laugh. How can I not? It was probably hilarious to see, and I was the dumb American walking down the street with crap all over her ass. Thank God we were only around the corner from the apartment. Even as I write this, I can smell it. The nasty beachy, seaweed smell comes back to me just thinking about it. I washed my pants and flannel and let them try to dry in the hallway. There was nothing I could do about my TOMS though. They were goners. Covered in mud and sea weed that even the slightest drop of water caused them to smell putrid all over again. So I threw them away last night. I had a moment of silence.

     I cleaned up for dinner and we went to this restaurant a few alleys away. I ordered spaghetti bolognese. It was so good. Probably because we did not have a full meal in our entire time in Switzerland because food was so expensive. So I ate the entire plate and splurged on a coke. The whole meal was about €12. I was so relieved at how cheap it was. For the three days, I spent only €100 in food and souvenirs. It was my kind of trip.

     We went to get gelato but only found one place open, and it was a little pizzeria with the most stereotypical young Italian guy working behind the counter. He was cursing and throwing his arms up, inviting us to parties, giving us tons of free samples and tiramisu and hot chocolate. It was hilarious. He was yelling about the most ridiculous things like my friend not wanting to try mint gelato. At this point, he got really serious and gave what I called "life lessons from the gelato man". He said that when you go to another country, you have to try everything. Try their food because it is made from the heart, not like processed supermarket food in America. (Now do you see why he was the quintessential Italian?) All of the food in Italy is made from love and is labored over and made fresh, he said. So when my friend Julie didn't want to try the mint gelato, she was refusing something of their country. It makes sense, but it came from the most unlikely source. I would have expected that from a little old, fragile, Italian grandmother who is hunched over from years of cutting up garlic and slaving over the stove. It was perfect though. I knew what he was saying. You have to have an open mind about things, and I hope that I have been living my life that way.

     The next day, we walked to San Marco square then took a beautiful gondola ride.

     We went through the canals and under bridges and saw Marco Polo's old house. Did you know there are over 400 bridges in Venice? And that the inner canals are 2 meters deep and the grand canal is 10 meters. Our gondolier sang to us for about 45 seconds, but the ride was perfect. This is how I found out how Venice really works:

     There are no cars on the island. Not one once you get past the bus station at the mouth of the island. They do EVERYTHING by boat. They transport food, mattresses, flowers, garbage, wine, anything they need is transported on a barge or boat. It is amazing. Most houses are in alleys, but the houses on a canal have doors leading right out into the water, some with a little dock to allow easy loading onto a boat, and others, just a door in the water. When boats are riding down a canal and need to round a corner, or cross through an intersection, the boat drivers yell "aaaayyyyooo" so the person behind the wall knows something is coming. At first I thought our gondolier was saying hello to people he knew, and I was thinking that this guy must know everyone, typical Italian. Then I realized when he was doing it. It made me laugh and love the city more because they have such a simple life. In a world of car horns and blinkers, it was nice to see everything so simplified. A simple shout will suffice, no need for a turn signal or traffic light.

     After the gondola ride, we were all hungry and this triggered the hour from hell in which I almost channeled my anger at Kelly and flipped out on her. To avoid going into the whole debacle, I'll just say we split up into a group of four and a group of two because big groups are hard to manage. Kelly, Julie, Lisangi, and I went to go eat then shop. I was on a mission to buy myself a bracelet, and I was getting anxious that I wouldn't find one. So we shopped and eventually I went into a jewelry store and bought myself a gorgeous gold bracelet, thanks to Mama.

     After that, I was relaxed. I got what I came for and was able to enjoy the rest of the shopping. Venice is full of glass trinkets. Glass animals, glass jewelry, plates, clocks, everything you can think of. And masks, masks are everywhere.

My favorite canal

     We went to dinner, and I ordered my first authentic Italian pizza. It was delicious. Margherita, but I think the cheese to sauce ratio was a little off. I would have liked a little bit more sauce. (I sound like my dad analyzing these pizzas.)

     We enjoyed our last night in Venice by sitting in my room and talking. We did the same thing the night before, and it was just so nice to be able to relax with friends and enjoy being away. 

     We got pizza the next day as well. Salame this time. They put big slices of salami  like pepperoni. It was the best pizza I have ever had. It was thin, crispy, and perfect. 

Dinner night two

Lunch day three

     Venice was a change of scenery from both London and Switzerland. I came from a town in the Alps full of Earth beauty and went to a little city in Italy full of man made beauty. I loved every second of my spring break and cannot believe I had the opportunity to do it. It was spectacular on so many levels. 

Perfectly candid.

     Now I lay here staring at my friends sitting on the floor unpacking and it is surreal. Absolutely, completely surreal.