Venezia

I am smitten.  The stars aligned for a splendid weekend in Venice; fears of l'acqua alta (high waters) kept many tourists away, and the sunshine, low tide and mild temperature provided a perfect contradiction to that forecast. 

I went Friday night to the train station in Reggio Emilia to buy my tickets for the weekend.  After proudly explaining in Italian (and fighting through a bit of language confusion) that I wanted a roundtrip ticket to leave early Saturday morning around 7:00 and return Sunday evening before the last train parted, the man handed me two open-ended tickets which I could validate any time within the next couple weeks.  I who pretend to know so much, actually know so little.

Good morning, Venezia!

I woke up at the end of the train ride Saturday to see water all around.  We parked around 10:00 AM, and I quickly found my friend and coworker, Ashley, waiting at the end of the same platform.  She is staying in a town 30 minutes from Venice for a few months, and is a wonderful travel companion with her curious spirit and positive energy.  Our hotel was just around the corner, so we dropped off our things in our closet of a room (with no room number, but it was next to room 18= closet) and hit the streets.

There was a huge fish market going on, which you could smell from blocks away. 

Seppia; the small squid I was saying we ate in a fried ball filled with cheese.  They make a pasta dish in Venice using Seppia and its ink, so the sauce is black.  I wanted to try it, but was always too hungry when we ordered to risk not being able to eat it.  Plus, what would happen to my teeth?

 

This stranger accidentally posed for my picture so well.

We walked around each day for 6 hours, and I completely fell in love with Venice.  I had heard that it was a dirty city, but I didn't see that at all.  I've heard that when it's hot and humid everything stinks.  Since the weather is cooler now, it was just a clean, organized, fairly quiet city built atop the water.  The entire city was so romantic; what a great place for a honeymoon!  Although stay away from the gondolas; we tried to take a short trip on one at the end of our weekend and were scared away by the price of 150 euros.  GAHH! No thanks, we'll walk.  There are ferry buses that you can take pretty much anywhere for 6 euros, and you can easily walk the entire island within a few hours.  Not getting lost is the tricky part; you have to crisscross back and forth over waterways and around dead ends, so it is very easy to start traveling in the wrong direction.

Ponte Rialto; a very famous bridge with a shopping center on top.

Careful! You have to pay for that beauty guiding the oar

We made it to the famous Piazza San Marco with the Doge's palace where the most important government figures lived.  The church of San Marco was overwhelmingly COVERED in gold.  If it were a home I would say it was almost a bit tacky :), but being a basilica it was gorgeous. 

House of the Doge, Piazza San Marco.

...and later that night.

Basilica San Marco.  Free entry, but there was still a line with guards...?

Inside Basilica San Marco.  Gold EVERYwhere!

Front view of St. Mark's, with the Doge's palace behind.

Saturday night we met up with a friend of Ashley's, and a few of his friends, at a pizza joint.  We tried to stay away from the most touristy locations, but all of Venice is really made for tourists now.  Most of the locals have moved to the surrounding areas to get away from tourist traffic, high prices and uncomfortable flooding.  Therefore there weren't any restaurants to find that were for the locals.  We were waiting outside the pizzeria Ae Oche ("to the ducks") and I noticed a familiar symbol inside on the back of a booth:

I thought the guy in this picture was attractive, but he had a girlfriend.  And she joined us shortly after.

The restaurant was loaded with U.S. sports memorabilia.  I thought it was hilarious!  The pizza was good, though.  Ashley and I ordered a salad and a pizza to share, and all the guys thought it was crazy that we were ordering a salad. Even the one who was on a diet because his doctor told him it would save his life was eating a sausage pizza.  But he did only take one bite of dessert.  I will say, though, that for as little salad as they eat here everyone is very fit.

After the pizzeria we went to Piazza San Margherita, where the young folks go.  The bar scene was way different; there were open-faced little bars you would walk in, order, then go stand out in the piazza with everyone else.  We got our drinks, then stood and talked like all the other under 40-somethings on a Venetian Saturday night.  Ashley and I tried montenegro, which had a black liquorice taste, and grappa, which tasted like alcoholic fire.  They are both popular Italian drinks, which I think I will only try once.

This couple was so cute; Ashley had to reset the camera for a minute and they just kept right on kissing!

Some interesting artwork we found on our walk:

The Other King

King of Pop (and angels?)

King of Tasmania

 It was interesting finding hints of local life in the backstreets:

Sunday we took a ferry out to Murano, which is famous for its Venetian glass artists.  We took a free tour, then hit the shops.  It wasn't long until we had gained a judgmental eye; we saw the same items over and over again in a multitude of shops.  We were on a seemingly hopeless mission of finding a necklace that was different.  Just before turning back we walked into a tiny one-room shop run by a beautiful older woman.  You could tell she put a lot of love into her work; when I asked to try on a necklace she also brought out matching earrings, and would only allow me to try the ones that matched PERFECTLY.  When I spoke a little Italian with her she was excited, and told me the story of how she was able to visit New York City during Christmas time one year.  She really was a dear.

"The Tour" which was 5 minutes of watching this man blow glass, then we were asked for donations.

It was actually really cool watching this horse be made.

Sustenance!!  Pasta Bolognese to the left and all'Amatriciana to the right (a Roman dish with bacon).  YUM

There were very impressive glass sculptures on Murano.

A cross-canal picture of the shop where I finally found my necklace.

I wonder how different the Venetian experience would be if I went in the summer, with lots of people and the stench of the city.  I think I'll keep believing that situation doesn't exist, and allow Venezia to remain as perfect and magical in my mind as I witnessed it to be last weekend.