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Published: February 27th 2013
Once again (and this a rare thing for me..) I am almost lost for words to describe the absolute magic that is Venezia, especially at night. Now if I had written this blog Monday morning you would have heard a very different tale. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in life, I was hit with a pretty bad case of the Mondays. Everything sucked, I was tired, I was cranky, and I was about ready to throw in the towel. As I stepped off the bus last night from Mestre to Venice I almost laughed out loud thinking back at my "bitchy" moment. That is just the way it goes some times. We have good days, we have bad days. But the only thing I need to remember is that even on the bad days.. I AM STILL LIVING IN VENICE! I know that sounds pretty stupid perhaps, but when I am technically living on the mainland, a very grey industrial wasteland on the best of days, its easy to let the reality of this blessing to fade away at times.
But yesterday morning when I awoke to see sunshine streaming through my window, I was hit by that, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" feeling. Yesterday sucked. Well ok, but guess what? Thankfully it's over! And Tuesday was a whole new day to begin anew. So off to class I went, a task I often find a struggle first thing in the morning. Even my commute to school gave me a whole different perspective though. Instead of stressing about the crowded-sardine state of the bus, the jostling of the people, I sat back and really took in the amazing view on the short 8 minute ride. Most mornings there has been a foggy haze over Venice, so it is actually not always that easy to see the island emerge as we approach. Not yesterday though, it truly was a perfectly clear sunny day here in the lagoon. So as the bus raced along the bridge, I looked out over the water and saw it all! Gondoliers training, pushing themselves up and down as swimmers would do laps in a pool. Even the water sparkled a little more clear (ok, not CLEAR.. but I was trying to imagine it this way). Tiny little islands covered by nothing but by clumps of odd-looking shrubs seem to float out of no where across the Sea. And then I really did laugh out loud, drawing much attention from the locals as I usually do when this occurs. They were all busy texting, ready the paper, doing the typical "on the way to work routine", and yet here I was, this strange little Canadian laughing at the irony of it all. This is one of the most gorgeous commutes anyone in the world could ask for, and it was mine! And these people had probably been doing it for 10, 20 some even 30 years. It had lost its captivating newness to them all. It's just like any place you live for so long though. To be honest, the view of downtown Calgary as I drive along Crowchild Trail to work is also pretty dang spectacular. But the last time I thought it was probably the first time I drove it haha.
Good vibes really must be contagious, because when I arrived to class my friend Alexandra met me with a big smile and happy news of her own. It was then decided that we had better turn this average Tuesday in to a special one.. dinner date that evening in Venice, Prosecco & pizza to celebrate! After class I decided to really take advantage of the exceptionally sunny day, and of course grab a gelato from my new favorite Gelateria. "Frutti di bosco" (basically forest fruits, berries etc) is my highly recommended choice to anyone that hasn't tried it. Although lets be honest, all gelato is usually pretty tasty. This is just my personal fave on any given occasion! And as we strolled back to the bus station to head back to Mestre, I just had that sense again of unending possibility. It's strange how being totally outside of your element can do that sometimes. I have been here now for two months and every day I still walk around Venice with my jaw to the cobblestone pavement, ogling at the ancient beauty that surrounds me. How is it possible that this girl, from Vernon, BC has landed herself here?? Incredible really.
And the good news decided to continue, a friend of mine here finally got the job he was looking for! Sort of a Venetian "dream job" really (or at least so I think) at a glass blowing factory in Murano. You can be assured I will probably be making more than a few trips there to visit him on the job haha. And at that we really knew it was an evening to celebrate! So later in the evening I met with Alexandra again to jump back on the bus and head for Venice. There really is nothing I love more than returning at night to find the city you left a few hours earlier in a totally different atmosphere. Hardly any people, definitely not tourists around. Especially now that we are in the off-season as well of course, but for me this is what I am really loving the most about being here at the time I am. This is the side of Venice that so few people get to really see. I know many people have had a wonderful time here, while others have nothing but terrible things to say about this confusing, often stinky city. But please let me promise you this, if you ever return, or come here for your first time.. please, please take one evening to walk around Venice at night! It is neither scary, nor unsafe. You may get a little lost (try your best not to at night!) but there will always be a bar around the corner to direct you back to where you need to go.
Our 'simple' pizza & Prosecco night was just that. We met up with another friend for dinner, a water taxi (speed boat) driver. So off the four of us went to eat. This is where I will start failing for words.. I'm not even sure how to really explain HOW tasty my pizza was. All I can say was that I had a serious 'Eat, Pray, Love' moment. I most definitely had a relationship with my pizza last night. It was shorter than I would have hoped, but byyyy goly was it flippin fantastic! Funghi della crema di tartufato con cipolle e rucola. Simple. Onions, Arugula (Rocket) with... TRUFFLED cream of mushrooms. It's bringing tears to my eyes now thinking how badly I would love to go back for lunch right now. That was by far the most succulent pizza I have ever devoured. Succulent & devoured feel almost too mild to express what it truly was like. I spoke about 3 words the entire meal. If you know me well, that should pretty much explain it all for you haha. After we had finished eating, I looked around the table at the happy, full smiling faces looking back at me. It wasn't quite a food-coma moment, more just a group of highly satisfied individuals. This was the point at which we all sort of looked at the clock expecting it to be close to midnight. Nope, apparently we had only gotten to 10:30 PM at this point. Strange as in Venice the time always seems to go by so much faster.
We were all thinking to call it a night and head home early for once, when my friend offered to take us for a little cruise in his water taxi first. Now let me tell you, gonodola rides in Venice are expensive! Budget breaking expensive. Water taxis? They cost even more. So to have this oppurtunity given to us was not only very cool, it was highly appreciated! We hopped in to the speed boat, and immediately cranked the tunes. Hilariously enough Ace of Base decided to accompany us for the beginning of our journey. And as I sang along, "She lives a lonely life..", I thought, if this is living a lonely life perhaps I shall be lonely forever! Did I mention our boat ride took us right down the Grand Canal? Oh. My... insert inappropriate words of shock and awe here. There was virtually no one else out on the water at this point, except for a few vaporetto (water buses) so the serenity of the moment could not be touched. I again fell in to complete silence. And at this very moment I thought.. I am one of the luckiest girls in the whole world right now. All the negativity of yesterday faded away completely. And at that very moment all I knew was that I was currently cruising down the Grand Canal at night, in a speed boat, with my new friends, staring at crumbling buildings that have stood in this very place for thousands of years. I literally could not have written a more perfect moment for myself, even having used all the imagination I possess. It was truly a perfect moment. I will never for as long as I live forget it. In fact I am already foreseeing myself becoming just like my Opa, "Back in my day.." This was definitely one of those stories to file in to the memory bank for safe keeping. Many times I have thought about my friends, where they are in the world right now and what they are do. I miss my friend Madi so much, as she is now backpacking in South America. Many days I have wondered whether I should have joined her there and made so lasting memories of our own. But last night I was reminded that, no matter how far apart we all are, if you love someone they just feel it! And you don't always need to physically be with them to instill this sense of love. I know for a fact that whatever beach she finds herself on today, whatever tree she is swinging from in the jungle.. she is having the time of HER life also. And we are sending telepathic love to one another all over this globe. Last night I had an experience that I bet a very select few have ever, or will ever have the chance to have. And by golly, it really was sheer perfection.
The best part? As we stepped off the boat, I literally just stood on the walkway for a second (still speaking no words) and tried to wrap my head around how amazing this was. And then I turned to my friends to express that. Alexandra agreed of course, she too looked like she was bursting with a sense of pleasure, adventure, and fascination! And my two Venetian friends? They basically just chuckled at us and responded, that was just a quick cruise on a Tuesday. And don't worry, there will be many more to come. Plus, just wait till summer when the weather is much nicer, we will be doing it all the time! This was too much for me in that very moment. I don't know how I got lucky enough to experience it once, and now I am being told this is going to be a regular occurence?! Alright Venetians, I said it before, I will say it again.. I GET IT! I get why you love it so much. I get why you live here your entire life. Even the most "casual" of evenings are still epic adventures to be cherished for a lifetime.
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Alan Reiter
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Britt, your ability to put to paper your experiences, is an absolute gift. You continue to amaze me with your talent. Having the time of your life and sharing it with us, and leaving us wanting to know more!! Love you so much. Dad.