The Sinking City.

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So I can now say that I have been to the "Sinking City", better known as Venice. Even though I only had one day to tour around and see the main sites, I left with a better understanding of how people live daily in a city with streets of water. I am amazed that people have boats for transport instead of cars. Where you can see front doors of palazzo's starting to dip below the water line because they have been there for hundreds of years. Leaving Florence and becoming a tourist in another city in Italy was not something to forget as well because in Florence there is more room for the day-tripper to walk around and not be in the congestion of the city. While in Venice, the streets are narrow and full of dead ends that come to the waters edge or Piazzas where you are competing not only with people but also with birds as well for space. Also it seemed like the churches were closer together than in Florence, but I could be wrong since my roommates and I were "lost" almost the entire day, and around every corner a new church would appear.

We left Florence at 8:30 in the morning, leaving by train and starting our first adventure outside of Florence inside the Euro star. Which I will say was not too bad, considering what some of my friends have experienced while traveling Europe. The two and a half hour journey took us through picturesque landscapes ranging from hillsides full of houses to flat farmland where wheat is grown. Mostly I read my new novel, the second book as part of the Outlanders series, which for me is somewhat parallel to my experiences in Italy thus far. Since I am entering a foreign world where the rules and lifestyles are different than what I am used to.

Although I normally would not like to travel on weekends, since most stores are closed and most tourists are in the city. Venice was still an inviting atmosphere, with wonderful people and places to see. The first thing on our completely empty agenda was to take a gondola ride through the canals. After walking through the winding streets we came upon a back street with a gondolier who spoke almost no English and had to talk to us with gestures. In fact we had seen him and knew instantly that he drove a gondola because of his outfit, wearing a red and white striped shirt with solid black pants and a straw hat in hand. That alone was enough for me to choose him as our tour guide. For most of the 40-minute journey he was silent and let us take in the new view of the city and see what it must be like to live there. At one point the entire boat was quiet while we listened to someone nearby playing the piano. The silence was like being in a church when everyone is praying, because none of us wanted to break the classical piece the person was playing, which really solidified our love of the city. I can see now why people call it the city of love because had I been traveling with a lover, that one experience alone would make me fall in love with them again. It is difficult to explain the ride other than to say that everyone needs to go on a gondola though the backwater of Venice where few people actually go, because it sums up the city as a whole.

After the earth-changing ride through the green waters of Venice, we went in search of San Marco Square. Where the pigeons co-exist with tourists. Taking us through narrow pathways and empty streets we came upon a mask shop (they are everywhere in the city though) and purchased a mask for which the city is famous. Of course mine was a pink glitter and feather combination, with a plume that reached at least a foot above my head. While wearing it, a person could spot me in any large crowd to be sure. Daisy, Molly and I them proceeded to wear them for a few hours while walking around the more crowded parts of the city including San Marco. The mask Daisy was wearing reminded me of the Nutcracker Ballet, when the dancers are wearing plaster masks. San Marco was crowded with tourists, making it impossible to really appreciate the piazza or the church. However I was able to make new friends with the pigeons that live in the square. Having rather large birds land on you was an experience to remember. They weighed quite a bit and ate the bread out of our outstretched arms, even landing on Daisy's head at one point, which made her laugh so hard she almost had an accident. Mind you I still was wearing my mask with the plume coming out of my head so I think it was a deterrent against them landing on my head. San Marco was a huge piazza, however part of it was under repair to remove the blackened from age parts on the side of the building. It is crazy to think of the number of people who have been in that same square before, like the famous writer Hemmingway. Not much has changed there except the name of establishments and the color of the buildings. The facade of the church is beautifully painted with sculptures and carvings across the front. We did not stop to really admire the church because the line to go inside was so long that we knew we couldn't appreciate it as much as it deserved. Leaving San Marco we walked along the waters edge and observed the huge palazzos along the walkway. It would be like taking the first 5 floors of a large hotel and making its own building, complete with an inner courtyard.

We then proceeded to make our own way back to the train station, very slowly. The map that we had all gotten was only brought out once, just to see if we were actually heading the right direction. The rest of the time was spent taking the scenic route. Small backstreets and bridges that led to non-touristy restaurants, which we later stopped at to have the best seafood pasta ever created in Italy.

All in all Venice has now become one of my favorite places on Earth, coming in next to Seattle and New York.

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Photos

Ivy canal
The canal where we had our own piano performance to listen to.

Lost
Molly wandering San Marco.

First wearing the masks
Incognito in my new mask.

New face
Molly's new face.

Bird Feeder
One of the pigeons eating out of the palm of my hand.

Statue in San Marco
Daisy had the birds land all over her.

Piazza
San Marco.