I Have Landed in a Box of Crayons

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There is no wondering whether you have arrived at the right place when arriving in Venice. As the train makes its entrance into the Santa Lucia train station, you see water around you but it is nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary. Then you step out of the train station and then all doubts that you may not have made it to Venice are erased! Right in front of you is the Grand Canal. There are vaporetto stops. There are tourists. There are souvenir stands. There are gondolas.

Now all I needed to do was to get to my hotel. I knew that it was just past the Ponte de Guglie which is a short walk from the train station. Apart from that I had to play it by ear. I had my hotel reservation close by so I could whip it out and ask someone if need be. How hard can it be … it’s a hotel, right? So I crossed the bridge and then looked for a bit. I relented and asked one of the fish vendors. He didn’t know where “Sotoportego Ca’Pozzo” was so he proceeded to ask around. If he didn’t know … how was I expected to find it??? An older woman mumbled something to him as she was eyeing some salmon he was selling and he proceeded to tell me to turn right at the bridge and walk until I see fish. Being a ridiculously literal person, I thought that he meant that I would see fish in the water. Heck I am surrounded by water, aren’t I? I know … as I type this I am thinking how ridiculous it sounds. But I’m weighted down by luggage and I am lost as can be so I am looking for swimming fish!!! So I asked someone else … an older gentleman … he vaguely knew where it was so he proceeded to grab my arm and walk me with me until we found it. Molte grazie!!!

There is something quite disorienting about moving from one city to the next. There is always that uncertainty as to where you are. And it just takes a few hours to get some kind of bearing as to where things are, how certain things work and how best to get around. I always thought that I was really bad with directions and maps but I am realizing that I am actually getting relatively good at it. It’s kind of an asset when you travel!!

So where to go first … that’s also the thing that I have found on this trip … I never know where to start. I guess it’s part of the whole initial disorientation. There is something a bit jarring about coming straight off a train and then …boom… you are sightseeing. Seeing that I get to places relatively early, the rooms are never really ready so it means hitting the pavement straight out of the gate. I guess that I am just one of these people that needs time to "regroup" as my mother would put it. But I think that I have managed to make the best of it.

So the first thing would be to buy my vaporetto pass and hop on … didn’t really matter which one as long as I got to somewhere. So I took the first one I could find and ended up at the Rialto Mercato stop. Just by the name, you can guess that there was a market close by that had fruit, fish and souvenir vendors. I then walked some of the little side streets and eventually found myself in front of the Rialto Bridge. There is a part of me that sometimes wonder why certain things are popular and this is kind of a good example. It’s a bridge … I am not quite certain what the big attraction is. The only difference from the others here is that it has little boutique in the middle. I will say this though … you do get a great view of the Grand Canal … you have to elbow your way among throngs of tourists to get it but it’s a great view.

So by that time, the stomach was grumbling and pasta was calling. I stopped at a small café just off the Grand Canal and had some marvelous ravioli with a little bit of wine. I just love being around water and I just love the sound of it. There is just something so energizing about it … I can’t quite describe it. So it was during lunch (and sipping that espresso that always seems to top off a nice meal so well!!) that I decided where I would go next.

So I could go where everyone expected me to go … Piazza San Marco … but no I decided to hit up the one place in Venice that I had been looking forward to the most and that’s Burano. It’s one of the islands that make up Venice (it’s an archipelago after all). It is just a tiny little island but what sets it apart (except for its reputation for lace making) is the brightly coloured houses that can be found there. The guidebook said something to the effect that you can see hundreds of budding photographers heading to this island so I decided that I would join them. And I was not disappointed.

To get there, I had to take one vaporetto to the Fondamente Nove pier. As I got on, a group of school children very excitedly got on as well. There were about thirty of them and they were just being kids. Running around on this small boat, being loud and just being overly excited. The decibel level definitely went up when they got on! There were three little girls that were sitting in the benches right in front of the area where I ended up standing. One of them said something to me in Italian and I replied that I did not understand Italian. She then asked me “can I practice English with you?” How can you turn that down??? She told her two little friends so that prompted the barrage of questions … where I was from, my age and so on and so on. So I had a lovely chat with Andrea, Julia and Alicia. They were 11 and were out on a school trip. Julia went beet red when I told her I loved her freckles … she had freckles exactly like I did when I was little. She seemed relieved when she saw that you could barely see mine anymore. I remember hoping that mine would just vanish at that age!! Andrea was a force to be reckoned with. Her hair was shaved and she had a bandana … I am guessing that she had been ill at some point. She had her head and arms sticking out of the window and would sporadically turn around and look at me and say “this is just so … fantastico!” and then give me a big grin and two thumbs up. She also got quite a big splashing when we headed out into more open waters and hit some waves. I got big hugs when I told them that I was getting off at the next stop.

So I then hopped on the LN line which would bring me directly to Burano. Even as you see this tiny island in the distance, you can start seeing the brightly coloured homes. There I met some Quebec tourists who gave me a few ideas of things to visit. I was also very highly entertained by a couple from France.

Arriving in Burano feels literally like you have fallen into a box of crayons. There are green houses. There are blue houses. There are red ones, pink ones, yellow ones. There’s the rebel who painted his house grey but apart from that … name the colour, there’s a house. I am guessing that it’s like those people who live on Taffy Lane. It’s understood that you are going to decorate your house for Christmas like you were a member of the Griswald family. Here the deal is that you need to pick a dayglo colour to your house!

This is also where I met Egidio. I was walking along in Burano minding my own business and just taking photos when I heard someone call out. It was Egidio who was sitting at his kitchen table. I had literally just moments before wondered about what the inside of these small homes must look like ... now would be my chance!! He must have been about 80. He just wanted me to go over to say hello. So I did … he’s about as old as Venice so how much harm can he do!!! So he proceeded to show me photos of his mother and father, his sister and his deceased wife. But as more time was going by, I was starting to think that Egidio was starting to get just a little too close for comfort. But again … he’s as old as time … how much harm … seriously he has about half his teeth and walks with a limp. I can take him if need be! So I edged my way to the door … okay thanks Egidio, nice chatting with you … buon giorno … ciao… arriverderci … and that’s when it happened. Egidio said ciao bella and pinched my ass!! Benvenuti a Burano!! So what else was there for me to do … I laughed hysterically and took his picture. You will see … he struck quite a pose for me!! Just as I am writing this I am reliving it and just laughing all over again.

So on that note, I hopped back on the vaporetto and took the 40 minute ride back to Venice and made my way back to the hotel. I hadn’t unpacked my suitcase in a while … I know they say that when you roll things they don’t get wrinkled … that doesn’t work when they have been rolled for a week and a half!!

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Comments

[Francine]

Burano is beautiful!!! I love all the colours!!! As for Egidio...hhmm...me think he must have been quite the character in his younger days *wink wink* :)