Italy, Chapter VIII- One Last Cappuccino (For Now At Least).

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Note: All events mentioned in this entry occurred back between March 3-March 4, 2007. For more updated trips and events, please refer back to this blog at a later date. Thanks and enjoy!

March 3, 2007- My last day of sight seeing in Venice. My bus was scheduled to leave at like 9 PM GMT I think so I had plenty of time. As I ate my breakfast I began talking in French to the two strangers that had arrived the night before, who were husband and wife. After greeting each other with melodic bonjours, the wife asks me, "de quelle region est vous?" (What region are you from in France?)
I was taken aback by this, especially since no one had given comments on my French speaking abilities since I was living in Dijon (please refer to all my blog entries written related to Dijon for more details) when I was told that I sounded British or just plain awful according to my host mother there until I moved into the international student resident hall.
"J'habite au Provence, Madame, dans la ville Aix-en-Provence, mais je suis americaines pas francaise." (I live in the Provence region, in the city Aix-en-Provence, but I'm American not French!)
She looked at me, perplexed and shocked.
"Vraiment? Votre francais est parfait-je ne pensais une fois que vous etre americaine! Mon mari est moi son du normandie." (Really? Your French is outstanding! I never would have thought once that you were American! My husband and I are from the Normandy region of France.)
I smiled, felt like crying and probably blushed. Hearing that made my day because here I got evidence from a native French speaker that my four years of studying French and 7 months sojourn in France was paying off! The young lady from Minnesota wakes up now and begins to eat breakfast. She also talks to the couple in French and gets asked the same question: "De quelle region est vous?"
"J'habite en normandie, mais je suis americaine!" (I live in Normandy, but I'm American!)
Once again, both husband and wife are impressed that they have met two Americans that speak French like native speakers and give her the same compliment. The four of us then begin a long conversation in French about why the two of us speak such good French and life in France. My Minnesotan friend had lots of information to exchange because she and the couple lived in the same region, however she began to recount some of her experiences living in Paris about two, three years ago. However they spent a lot of time talking about the primary and secondary education system in Normandy. I told them about my so far 7-8 months in France and that I had lived in Dijon, the capital of Burgundy region 6 months prior to moving to Aix-en-Provence, Provence where I had now lived for almost a month and a half (Please refer to my blog entries entitled "The Arrival," "Cathedrals, Dukes and Monasteries," "First Taste of Wine," and "A Day in My Life" as well as "The Holidays in France-the Basics" and "The Move to Aix-en-Provence" for more information.)
While we are talking a young woman about the age of myself and the lady from Minnesota comes in. She's rather quiet during our rapid French conversation so I decide to talk to her in English while my Minnesota friend is engaged with our new Normandy acquaintances.

She tells me her name and tells me that she's an Australian currently working for the BBC and living in London. After talking with her a bit the lady from Minnesota turns to her and talks to her in English, but then she asks to all of us: "You're all from France, right?"
The lady from Minnesota and I laugh. "They're from France- I'm from Minnesota and she's from South Florida!"
"All be damned!" The Australian exclaims. "I thought you were all French because of the language! How are you two able to speak French like that because I studied it for years and don't remember a thing!"
We both explain that we were study abroad students, and that my friend fro Minnesota had been living in Normandy for a year as an English teacher.
"Blimey, that's pretty impressive because you two sound like you ARE French when you talk."
She then asks us what we do back in the US. "I'm still in college but she's in between undergraduate and graduate right now." She then asks us what our majors are.
"Mine was French," replied my Minnesota friend.
"I am double majoring in Political Science and Music," I reply.
"Mine was history," replies the Australian.
This peaked my interest because if you haven't noticed yet from reading my blogs I love to study history. She and I then begin a long conversation regarding our favorite historical periods and how our interest in travel correlates to our passion for history.
She tells me that she would very much like to go to Russia because she loves studying the history from there. She and I then begin to talk about Russian history.

Once the conversation begins to wain, I decide to say my goodbyes and check out of my hostel. I decide to spend my last hours in Italy by heading towards the Piazza di San Marco for one last time because I was unable to see the museums there and my guidebook said really great things about them that made me feel that missing them would be a mistake.

In order to prevent from getting lost, I just take the water bus from outside the train station to the PIazza di San Marco. I decide to head first to the history of Venice museum, located at the far end of the arcades along the piazza. On my way, however I passed by a group of young Americans, primarily girls surrounded by a young man lying on the ground and pouring bird seed all over his body. The girls were cheering him on, cooing at him "oh do it please do it!" He's shouting, "yeah ladies yeah!" Sure enough I saw the pigeons come and the only thought on my mind was "what an ass hole! He's going to hurt after they peck at him, especially near the crotch-then who'll be the big man then?"

I arrive inside the museum-I am told that I will have to pay 12 euros for a ticket that would take me to all the museums in the piazza. I could not find my dodge's palace ticket, which sucked because that's exactly what I needed to help get me in without paying more. He then asks if I'm studying in Italy and I tell him I'm actually studying in France-for some reason I end up receiving the 6 euro discount for EU citizens and I think it's because I was speaking Spanish to the receptionist and I guess I spoke well enough to where there was no question that I was not a citizen of an EU state!

Satisfied with my linguistic skills at this point, I enter the museum's exhibits. The museum contains lots of paintings done throughout the ages of Venice, as well as artifacts and trinkets from noble men and women who lived here at the time. Here's what I learned about Venice from this museum. Venice was first inhabited by I think deserters of the Roman army during the Roman Empire. At that time I believe it was a swamp. A city was not constructed until the 11-12th century I believe, which is when the canal system was first created and the swamp was filled in. The architecture of the city primarily dates from the 15th century, however many areas have been rebuilt or altered because of fires. For example, the Clock Tower was rebuilt three times after fires, the last time during the 19th century. Rialto used to be the location of the Dodge's Palace I believe, but then it was moved and rebuilt as the current structure seen today at the Piazza di San Marco during the 15th century. Venice has a close association with the sea, becoming a formidable naval power as well as economic power. This was exemplified through its ever prominent navy, that was always practicing and active in the field.

The dodges of Venice ruled for most of its history I think up to the 19th century but I don't remember exactly unfortunately. However what I do know is that they and the nobility were patrons of the arts. Mask making existed originally for the nobility, who would wander the streets wearing them. Music and painting became important as well, and also blown glass. Originally Venice was the center of glass making, however this changed I think in the 13th, 14th century after a nasty fire was caused by this industry. Therefore, the industry was moved to Murano, where it has stayed ever since and therefore the tradition of family members of glass blowers to guard the tradition and remain on the island became common practice. The museum does contain wonderful examples of Venetian and then Murano glass chandeliers, drinking glasses and vases. The gondola was at one time the traditional mode of transportation; everyone had one and it was common to see them on the canals. The traditional methods for making gondolas still exist as they did centuries ago, however they are now strictly a tourist attraction. The winged lion was the symbolic animal of Venice and of the dodge.

This information was very informative and the pieces it contained were also quite beautiful and significant to the history of this fascinating city. Therefore I spent 3 hours there. All I had time for was to visit the Basilica di San Marco, or Saint Mark's Basilica in the piazza. The basilica has a really nice museum that explains the history behind its existence. It was first constructed in the 8th, 9th century AD when Saint Mark's body was absconded and brought to Venice. At first a simple church was built to house the body, but then around the 10th century the structure you now see today was built. Before Saint Mark, there was a different patron saint, however he soon was declared the new patron. He is symbolized by the horse, which is a common theme throughout the basilica's art. There are also exhibits behind the techniques and materials used to construct and decorate the basilica. Tiling techniques seemed to be the popular interior decoration, using both ceramic and also copper/gold ones, giving it a very Byzantine look. I'm not sure of what the exterior materials were used, but the museum does go over this. You can also go to the top, which is where you can see St. Mark's horses uptop and also get a fantastic view of the Piazza di San Marco. I end my afternoon eating a late lunch of canneloni, which is ricotta stuffed rolled up pasta covered in a bechamel, or cream sauce. I ended my meal with a cappuccino, and watched the people walk past. I then begin to reflect on my trip to Italy as a whole, and the people I had met. I then think about the last two museums I visited and how much I would miss it here. I was looking forward to a return trip in the future for sure. Italy was everything I was told it would be and more. The food incredible, people gregarious and warm, the history, art and architecture rich and incredible. I could not get over the emphasis on art and artisan-ship, like the glass blowers of Murano, to the leather jacket artisans of Florence and the parmigianno reggiano and proscutto di parma makers of Parma- Italy is filled with artisans who love their craft and desire the make the best product possible completely from scratch. This is something that impressed me and seems to be a common theme throughout history and the region, and this in summary best expresses the Italian spirit: art is life.

It was finally time to take the water bus to the main station, which was also near a strip mall where I was supposed to pick up the bus. My Eurolines bus finally arrived, and I got on. After leaving Venice the bus stopped to pick up passengers in Verona and Padua, however I was supposed to make a connection in Milan in order to head back to Lyon. We make our connection in Milan around 8, 9 PM GMT, ironically with the same bus drivers I had during my trip from Paris to Warsaw back in September 2006 (for more information, please look at the blog entry entitled "My Arrival into Warsaw.") However they did not recognize me it seemed, or maybe they did and just didn't say anything in order to be professional. The most memorable part of this trip was the fact that we got to pass through the Italian and French Alpes a little bit. We passed through Turino and after we left we went down a highway that took us through the iconic, jagged, angular, snow covered Alpine landscape. the mountains towered over our bus, glistening in the moonlight and road lights. We also passed a few villages within this Alpine landscape, glistening like jeweled villages or little decorative Christmas villages.

We arrived in Lyon around 5 AM GMT, however my train for Aix-en-Provence would not leave for another 2-3 hours, so all I could do was eat breakfast at the only open cafe in the train station and watch the TV, which was playing music videos on M6, one of France's major television stations. Finally 8 AM GMT came along, and it was time for me to find my platfor and take my train back to Aix-en-Provence. Three hours later, I was greeted at the TGV station by Camille, who took me home, ad we both began to discuss and compare our travels to Italy.

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Photos

Piazza di San Marco 1
This photo was taken from up top the Basilica di San Marco (Or Saint Mark's Basilica).

Clock Tower, Piazza di San Marco
Was taken from up top the Basilica di San Marco

Saint Mark's Horses, Piazza di San Marco
The hose is the symbol o Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice and also the name sake of this very famous and well photographed and painted church in the PIazza di San Marco.

Basilica di San Marco 1
The building in far center is the Basilica di San Marco

Piazza di San Marco 1
This photo was taken from up top the Basilica di San Marco (Or Saint Mark's Basilica).

Clock Tower, Piazza di San Marco
Was taken from up top the Basilica di San Marco

Saint Mark's Horses, Piazza di San Marco
The hose is the symbol o Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice and also the name sake of this very famous and well photographed and painted church in the PIazza di San Marco.

Basilica di San Marco 1
The building in far center is the Basilica di San Marco

Pigeons, Piazza di San Marco
Pigeons are found all over the Piazza di San Marco, these are just a few of the "residents" you will find.