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Published: February 3rd 2013
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This past weekend my roommates and I decided to head to Venice for the day. Carnevale di Venezia was going on and it sounded like an excellent opportunity to see the city as well as experience some Italian culture. Carnevale is known around the world for elaborate costumes, brilliant performances and thrilling atmosphere enhanced by the location on the water. Needless to say we had some high expectations for our trip and we were very excited for the adventures we were sure would soon ensue.
Our expectations were not met to say the least. We got off the bus and it was pouring rain. At this point our spirits were still quite high and could not be dampened. Excuse the pun. We made our way to the island of Murano to view some of glass which made the island famous via water tax. We decided to grab a quick lunch to warm up before trekking over the island. This turned out to be a glorious idea and it elevated our spirits close to their previous heights. Our glass tours began with us fighting the wind and doing everything possible to keep our umbrellas from turning inside out. The first
shop we entered was probably my favorite because they had demonstrations going on as well. Watching the artistry and craftsmanship that went into making a single piece was breathtaking. We watched one man create a horse in less than five minutes. It was beautiful. I could have stayed and just watched them work for hours. Their techniques seemed so intuitive and fluid. I simply could not wrap my mind around how a hot piece of glass could be molded so seemingly effortlessly in a matter of minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon dodging in and out of shops in an attempt to stay out of the rain but also to admire all of the beautiful glass. Our efforts to stay dry were not successful and slowly throughout the day we became more and more damp. It was also only slightly above freezing all day which made matters so much worse. We tried to remain positive but it’s incredibly hard to stay positive when your feet are soaking wet and you are chilled to the core. And let us not forget the ever persisting wind which insisted on turning our umbrellas ever which direction. By this point we were
all noticeably miserable but straining to stay positive. We took the water taxi back to the mainland because we wanted to visit San Marcos Square where all of the festivities were supposed to be centered. It probably took us about an hour to reach the square from the time we arrived at the island because we were so cold and damp and had to take frequent breaks to get out of the cold. Our feet were all nearly numb by this point. When we finally reached the square there was no one there. The wind whipped us around and rain came at us from every direction. We screamed profanities into the wind as we tried to tame our umbrellas. I have a vague memory of my roommate Ryce slamming her umbrella into the garbage because by this point it has been warped inside out so many times that it wasn’t even functional. We gathered under a crevice of St. Mark’s Basilica and unanimously voted to find a restaurant and stay there for the remainder of our visit. We had been broken. No use trying to be positive. We found a restaurant and I immediately went to the bathroom, stripped off
my boots and proceeded to dry my socks under the hand dryer. This was a low point. But the wind and rain and cold had taken away my dignity so I felt no shame as Italians coming to wash their hands shot me curious and disdainful glances. We sat in that restaurant for close to three hours but the time passed quickly as we acquired our various courses. I chose the daily special which was sea bass because I figured I should probably get seafood when in Venice. Our spirits seemed to rise in accordance to the temperature of our feet and by the end we were semi-discretely dancing to the old popular American music they had playing in the background. We made our final trudge to the bus with one thought on our minds --warmth. After the uneventful bus ride back to Florence we power walked to our apartments and climbed into bed. It was a miserable experience but looking back I have to laugh. Even though it was terrible weather Venice was still beautiful, maybe even one of the most beautiful places I have even been. I just wish I could have appreciated it more on my visit.
As I write now from my warm bed it’s easy to say I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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Rachel
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Sounds great :)
Once again I'm laughing out loud at your stories!! You should take up writing or journalism or something, these posts are great! I'm glad you're having fun