Advertisement
Published: August 14th 2008
Venice after dark
This is the time to be roaming the streets and bridges of Venice...Mercoledi (Wednesday), 13 Agosto 2008
I walked home from class this evening under a full moon, a cool breeze, and some distant rumblings of thunder. The sky was magnificent - a full moon- and I was thinking of the days to come, my upcoming flight to Sicily, and leaving Venice.
After the sun sets, most would say that Venice is dead. The majority of tourists have packed it in and the walkways are breathable again. A few adoring couples walk slowly, mano a mano, and the canal echoes the quiet rumblings of local speedboats, some playing thumping techno beats. I stand on the large wooden bridge over the Grand Canal next to the Accademia, entranced by the swelling winds and watching the red, white, and green lights from the boats dance across the ripples of the lagoon. I smile- red, white, and green are not only the colors of the Italian flag, but symbolic of the three cardinal virtues: faith, hope and charity.
I take some deep breaths and stand peacefully, not even minding the interruptions from the few tourists who nicely distract and motion for me to take their picture over the lagoon. I smile sincerely and
Cafe latte
If you drink it at the bar, it's cheaper than Starbucks... graciously, as my blind contempt for tourists has cooled with the day’s heat, and I am suddenly sympathetic and happy to oblige. People come and go, and I remain, trying to let the moment, this memory, imprint on my mind, my senses. I surrender to the knowledge that my camera can’t truly capture this, so I tuck it back into my bad, relieved from the pressure to capture every memory of the city.
It’s only natural that I would be homesick for the comforts of home (knowing where all the inexpensive but tasty restaurants are, picking up the phone or checking my email whenever I please, scheduling that much-needed pedicure, hot showers, etc.). Venice has only exacerbated my outsider status- I’m certainly not one of them (Venetians), but somehow I’m also not quite like THEM (all the flipping tourists). Not that I’m that special, just, outside somehow. Regardless, I decided to make a list of all the things I would naturally miss when I left Venice; so here goes, in no particular order…
No cars. Smaller food portions. Wine being cheaper than Coke. Always walking. Water everywhere. Inexpensive trains. Seafood. Really good seafood. Amazing art every 30 feet.
Maddalena
The Querini Stampalia Biblioteca still has its original pre-1990 books on card catalog. Crazy! Waking up to church bells. Cheap Prosecco. Café lattes. Marble on every inch of the city. Churches that unapologetically require modesty. Little old Italian women on cell phones. Not understanding people's cell phone conversations in public. No discussion of Britney Spears. No window screens. Hanging my laundry dry. Margherita pizza. Strange local delicacies. Always being within spitting distance of a beautiful historical church. Having a boat being the quickest means of local transport. Titian. Tintoretto. Veronese. Tiepolo. Bellini. Giorgione. Having someone mistake me for a Venetian. Flashing some paperwork and getting into a closed library or access to a stored painting. Saying “Ciao” without sounding pretentious. Matteo. 😊
It may be a very silly list, but it makes me smile. Anyway, off to Sicily in a day - Ti voglio bene! Ciao!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.076s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0539s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Renee
non-member comment
How sweet!
I loved you list of things you'll miss! What a great idea. It really captured the cultural niceties.