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Published: October 19th 2011
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Church of Santa Lucia
This is the church where I saw Santa Lucia's body. It is magnificent inside with marble, but I did not see as many frescoes on the walls as I did in churches located in Florence. Note: All events mentioned in this entry occurred back in late February 2007. For more updated entries and trips, please refer back to this blog at a later date. An updated entry or trip will NOT include a caption like this. Thanks and enjoy!
I get up around 10 AM GMT and take the bus to the train station. My train ride was not very pictoresque, however it became obvious that we had arrived in Venice because the tracks were immediately surrouded by water. When the train finally stops and I get off I notice that my platform is completely surrounded by water, and is the only thing in sight for at least a mile or two. I finally enter the busy station, following the signs for the Grand Canal. Once I am finally outside of the station, all I can do is stand in silence with my mouth open. Before me I see the Grand Canal, busy with water buses, motorboats and gondolas. I see iconic, yet colorful peach, yellow, orange, pink and beige 15th century buildings, as well as a huge white bridge. The site is so surreal and stereotypically Venice that I decide to pinch myself in
order to make sure that I wan't dreaming about this. However, I was also very hungry, therefore I decided to take the time to go to the trattoria next door. I end up ordering a simple lunch of seafood risotto, garnished with a huge langostine on top. The risotto had a wonderful, creamy flavor that was balanced well with flavors of saffron, seafood broth and parsley. For dessert, I order tiramasu, actually the best I had ever had. I think the secret to this tiramasu's greatness was the use of angle food cake rather than lady fingers, and a higher percentage of whipped cream in addition to marscapone for the filling. Before leaving, I begin to talk with the waiter (or I think he might have been the proprietor), who thought I was from Cuba or Argentina because of how good my Spanish was. When I told him I was American, he couldn't believe it. "My maternal grandmother is from Puerto Rico," I replied, " so Spanish was spoken often at home." He nodded his head in understanding and then we parted ways.
After leaving the trattoria I headed over to my hostel. In order to get there I
had to walk over the bridge and take a right, and walk the edge of the street until all I could see was Aegan. On my way, I passed salesmen along both sides of the bridge with rather sketchy merchandise, which included Vutton bags, jewelry, and watches, placed on white sheets and sold at ridiculous prices like 20 euros or less. Once I left the bridge and took a right, I passed by four shops that sold Murano glass, so I decided to look and see what they had. For more on Murano glass, please refer to one of my upcoming blogs that will be entitled "Murano, Island of Glass."
I finally find my hostel, which was located in a business building that had no sign. This unfortunately made me afraid because it was too similar to my horrible experience in Krakow (for more information, please refer to my blog entry entitled "My First 48 Hours in Krakow") nonetheless the experience was in comparison the opposite. Despite the lack of a sign, I did find a reception desk. The receptionist gave me my room keys, a map and my free Murano glass piece which was one in the shape
Gondola
This was one of the ubiquitous gondola stands found all throughout Venice. of a wrapped candy. I am then told how to get to my room and also given recommendations on how to get to San Marco Square (or Piazza di San Marco).
First, however I decide to go up to my room, which is a 6 bedroom mixed dorm and put my things away. I then make my way to the Piazza di San Marco by following the ubiquitous signs. On my way, I visit a church which contains the remains of Saint Lucia, who is one of the patron saints of Venice. Seeing her was an incredible sight because her body is well preserved. I also encountered several gondola stands, as well as several gondoliers rowing people along the various canals.
Once I finally arrived to Piazza di San Marco, I decide to take pictures and walk around. Words cannot describe how I felt to actually see this Piazza in reality.
I don't spend a whole lot of time there, only 30 minutes. I then head back to the hostel and up to my room. Upon my return, I begin talking to two of my roommates. The first is a young woman from Finland who is visiting for
Random Canal 2
For those of you unfamiliar with Venice, one aspect that makes this city unique are its many canals which act like roads. This is a picture of one of them only two days, while the other, who is from Minnesota, USA, would be in Venice for 3 days. The girl from Minnesota invites me to join them for dinner at a pizzeria recommended by her guidebook. I decide to join them, especially since they also had plans of of going to the Piazza di San Marco.
We find the restaurant down a small street about 4 blocks away from our hostel. Our food was served in copious portions but was really good. Both of my new acquaintances ordered pizza, the most memorable was the beautiful presentation of the Finnish lady's with sausage, red and yellow bell pepper slices, mozzarella and pipped swirls of ricotta. I ordered a veal cutlet, fried and served with a lemon sauce and grilled vegetables. My veal was very tender and crispy, and went well with the tangy, yellow lemon sauce and the simple yet delicious array of grilled eggplant, yellow squash, asparagus, tomatoes and zucchini. With our meal we drank two bottles of the house wine, cheering to our fortune to be in Venice, at this moment and in each others' company.
By the time we leave the restaurant it's 8 PM GMT,
Gondolier
I could not help but to take this shot, and during my trip here I did make an attempt to take photos of gondoliers in action. however we were determined to see the Piazza di San Marco for evening entertainment. In front of the Dodge's Palace, we encounter a classical guitarist playing Baroque, Renaissance and Classical pieces of the standard repertoire under candlelight. The three of us sat together on the bleachers that were provided, and listened for a good twenty minutes. We finally decided to leave and go back to the hostel, which was good because the Piazza di San Marco had started to flood horribly. Our only way out was to cross the bleachers until we were out of the square. I estimate that there were probably 5 inches of water on the ground-I couldn't get over it. I've seen flooded streets before because I grew up in Florida, where we often see floods when a hurricane or tropical storm comes, but there was no storm that night! It was a calm night weather wise, however there was a full moon so this must have been a high tide. Still it was sad to see a visual confirmation for myself that Venice is indeed sinking.
On the way back to the hostel, I learn more about my companions. The Finnish lady was preparing
to go to university somewhere in Germany I think. The lady from Minnesota had just finished her undergraduate studies in French, and was now living in the Normandy region teaching English. She had lived in France before, studying in Paris as an undergraduate for a year. During this second period in France she had lived in the Normandy region for close to two years now. She and I had a lot to talk about, especially since at time I had lived in France for close to 7 months now. I told her about my experiences in Dijon (for more information, please refer to my blog entries entitled, "My Arrival," "Cathedrals, Dukes and Monasteries," "First Taste of Wine," and "A Day in My Life.") I also told her a little bit about my new life in Aix-en-Provence (for more information, please refer to my blog entry entitled "My Move to Aix-en-Provence.") Once we get home, I decide to take a shower, go to sleep and get ready for bed. However, we do make plans to meet back at the hostel tomorrow around 7 PM GMT to eat dinner together.
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