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Published: April 9th 2007
I didn't think Italy could get any better... but then I got to Venice. Such a beautiful, unique, romantic city! Monday, April 9 Travel to Venice and get settled at Mary's cousin's apartment. The Florence-Bologna train ride was absolutely awful! Half the tickets were reserved and half not, so we got gradually kicked out of our nice little compartment as people claimed their seats, into the 18-inch-wide aisle -- trust me I know the measurement after being crammed in their for an hour -- with all of our things and crowds of people. Trying to ignore the lack of personal space, I sat on my backpack and finished my novel and a bag of crisps. The changeover to Padova didn't come soon enough! We had (luxury of luxuries) our own seats for the last, hour-long leg of our journey to Padova. There, we were welcomed by Mary and her cousin Caileen, and Caileen's husband Dustin, who is in the army and works on the base near Venice. Caileen is 25 and Dustin is 32. They make a very cute, good-looking couple and I instantly liked them both a lot for their openness and friendliness. We loaded our stuff
in their car and drove home.
Back at their lovely little apartment, they grilled us chicken, made a fresh salad (I haven't had ranch dressing since the U.S.!!) and even had Oreos (another American delicacy) with milk for dessert. Heavenly. I also love their little terrier, Moxie, who makes me miss my dogs back home with his playfulness. I fell asleep on the pull-out couch almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Tuesday, April 10 Explore Venice, take a gondola ride and enjoy a high-class Italian dinner. All in a day's work. I woke up feeling groggy and not quite "well," a feeling that lasted most of that morning, even after a shower in the pretty blue bathroom and strawberry Pop-tarts for breakfast. But I wasn't about to let nausea and dizziness spoil my only day in Venice!
The city is so pretty -- I just couldn't get enough of it. So picturesque; many of my pictures look like postcard from a city frozen in time. We took the 9 a.m. train after Caileen dropped us off at the station. It's a one-hour ride to Venice, and we shared it with morning commuters and
two adorable little girls that climbed up close to Mary, asking us questions in Italian, even after we discovered they spoke English, too. Just €3.80 for the ride, even though we probably used our Eurail passes for it. The Venice train station is the nicest yet, with wide, clean steps facing the canal. It's the only thing that connects the city with the mainland. No cars or motorbikes clog Venice, just canals and dry-land alleys that are now main walking streets for thousands of pedestrian tourists. Walking through the city is an absolute dream, with the perfect little bridges crossing winding canals and offering pretty views of the adorned side of the old buildings -- the canal side is meant for show, and the alley side is more funcitonal, though old shops and homes are now turned into high-class boutiques, tourist shops, cafes and restaurants, these days.
The 45-minute walk to San Marco square went by quickly. I was immediately dazzled by the Basilica's ornate, detailed exterior, though it wasn't as big as I've imagined. The huge piazza, flanked by other important buildings like the Doge's Palace and several museums, is long and filled with people and pigeons at
midday. People selling corn seed mix for €1/bag are apparantly a very prosperous family that has a special permit to leech money off tourists this way. Too funny. Of course, I later insisted that we be among those typical visitors -- I bought us a bag of corn so we could hand-feed the birds. I was the bravest, letting them land on me and crawl on my hand and arm. It actually didn't hurt or feel creepy... just unusual. You wouldn't died, Mom!
We got in line for free entry to the cathedral, though to climb upstairs, we paid €3. Mary didn't come in because she had been there when she came to Venice over the weekend, so Betsy and I enjoyed it by ourselves. Beautiful! The museum upstairs has all sorts of cool mosiac remnants from the cathedral. It also has my favorite part of the building's history: the original, majestic four horse statues, since the ones outside are a replica because of pollution effects. They are part of a quadriga, originally, which has a fascinating history: first looted by Venetian crusadors from Constantinople, then stolen by Napolean for a time, and now they are back at St.
Mark's. It is the only surviving set from ancient times. All modern replicas are based off of this one. I was very impressed by their imposing size and history. The museum also has a collection of ancient tapestries taht I couldn't believe wasn't falling apart and old-time choral books with just bars and words written in.
We also headed outside of the basilica, on the balconey overlooking the square and the water beyond. Besides the great views looking out, this also offered an opportunity for a close-up view of the beautiful outdoor mosiacs that depict scenes from the Passion, and the horse replicas. Next, downstairs to the actual sanctuary. BEAUTIFUL -- I just can't find the right words! This is my favorite cathedral from the inside, by far, with its amazing gold interior, mysterious mosiacs, dizzying domes and dazzling altars. We paid €1.50 to see the Golden Altar Screen -- a truly precious treasure, a piece of art made up of innumerable precious stones -- but passed when asked to pay to see some artifacts/icons. I liked this church interior the best, also, because it wasn' t TOO overwhelming in size or height, so I could get a better
grasp on what I was seeing and not just be completely overwhelmed -- like at St. Peter's, for instance. We finally left the building and I came away very satisfied and impressed with what I'd seen.
We wandered further down the Grand Canal, checking out oil paintings (just too expensive) and souvenirs, and finally settling on a place to eat after wandering down many side streets. I had a Fanta with my ham calzone: my typical Italian meal. We ate with our feet hanging over the edge of the dock -- not quite in the water, but overlooking it and watching the watercraft.
Time to find a gondola! We had made this one of our priorities before coming on the trip, and weren't going to let cost keep us away from doing something that unique. It's possible to haggle for price, so we found one for €80 (divided by the three of us), then went to a different central gondola point and got one for €75 (so I paid €25: not bad). The good-looking, charming driver told us we were getting the "American student" discount -- OK, whatever, just take us on the water! The driver, named Andrea,
was efficient in taking us on our amazing half-hour glide through the winding canals. The building fronts facing the canal are actually decorated, so we got a whole new view of the city that we couldn't have gotten from walking. Views going under the bridges, with the sparkling water reflecting on their undersides, were also mesmerizing. Andrea showed us landmarks like Marco Polo's house, Casanova's house and the oldest church in Venice -- he said there are over 100 churches in Venice. Some more stats: only 70,000 people live here -- most who work here commute in, and many homes are owned by rich foreigners who never stay there. We took a lot of pictures to capture this totally awesome, once-in-a-lifetime experience, including one with Andrea when the ride seemed to end too soon!
We wandered around the city for the rest of the day, soaking in the atmosphere. I like how the canals hold everything you'd normally see on a city street, like water taxis, a water bus service, and even water ambulances. All three of us ended up getting matching Prada (er, "Prada") purses from street vendors. Theirs are black and mine is red, yellow, black and
cream, and cost €20/each, though Betsy got hers for €10, thanks to Mary's haggling with a different vendor.
We met Caileen and Dustin from the water bus a little after 7 a.m. They brought Betsy' luggage, and we all saw her safely off on her overnight train to Paris to meet a friend. Then, Mary's cousins took the two of us to dinner at a cute little restaurant overlooking the canal. We opted to eat indoors because it was getting chilly outside. I felt guilty, but relieved, that they paid since the portions were small and ridiculously expensive. We started off with bread dipped in olive oil and pepper and mineral water. I ordered ravioli with bolognese (meat) sauce and though there wasn't a lot of it, it was absolutely delish and I savored every bite. The place also had a great Italian atmosphere.
We took the taxi back to the car garage, and drove home. We hung out before heading to bed, and Mary took the pull-out so I had the bed in the private yet VERY VERY hot guest bedroom.
Wednesday, April 11 A day to do absolutely nothing! What a concept. It was
amazing today, because I truly did nothing. We slept in, got ready, then went with Caileen around noon to meet Dustin for lunch on-base and do a bunch of errands. Dressed cute though we were, we still had trouble getting on the base because the Italian guards were suspicious because Mary and I didn't have military IDs.
Lunch at Subway -- Dustin paid, again -- and then we stopped at a store that is the equivalent of Wal-mart, then the post office and grocery store. American brands and American prices and American cash and American accents. Kinda surreal, which I think is what it's going to be like when I experience culture shock coming back home...
I took a nap in the afternoon and then spent some time filling out scholarship applications for UW-Eau Claire, which were due the day before but I got an extension because of my circumstances. We had lasagna and salad for dinner, and turned in fairly early.
Thursday, April 12 Travel day: through the Alps and into beautiful Salzburg, Austria. We had salads for lunch before Caileen took us to the train station around noon and helped us buy our tickets.
Canal in front of the train station
A water taxi is in the foreground, and a water bus in the background.It turns out that we needed to take a coach, then a train, to get to the Venice train station. Then we had some time to kill before the 2:45 train to Salzburg, so sat on the station steps overlooking the canal and had our last taste of Italian gelato -- mine was my three favorite flavors: coconut, chocolate and cookie.
It was an uneventful trip... unless you count the AMAZING views offered between Italy and Austria! I was sad to leave the country I'd lived in the last 10 days, but was eager for the next adventure -- not to mention a new language!
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