Venice: the Enchanting City

Venice… Where do I even start?! It is just as beautiful as I had imagined from all the pictures. It has its own enchanting personality, different from any place I’ve visited. It is literally a maze of little alley ways and bridges; it’s fascinating. I loved seeing little canals run between buildings with family boats “parked” all along the edges. There were entrances to buildings right off the water (some areas just had canals and no sidewalks), which is something I hadn’t seen before. A little trivia for you: the city of Venice is made up of 95% water and 5% land (hence its development as a fishing village), it is a collection of over 100 islands (each time you cross a bridge, you are coming onto a new island), and the original people to settle the islands did so seeking defense from their enemies (who were not seafaring people).

We arrived Saturday afternoon (5.5 hour bus ride). After checking into the hotel (comfortable bed, shared a room with 3 other girls) we headed to the main city square, Palazzo St. Marco. We met with a tour guide who gave us a 2 hour walking tour of the city and shared a lot of the history with us (let’s just say sometimes I got distracted by taking pictures… glad there wasn’t a quiz!). By the end of all of this, it was dinner time. A group of us girls had a nice sit down dinner at a little restaurant. We then went out to explore the night life of the city, but Venice gets pretty quiet at night. The great thing is that the city feels very safe. At one point, we got lost trying to find our way back to the hotel (don’t go anywhere without a map!!!). A couple in their 50’s noticed we had walked by twice and asked us if we needed help (many people speak English in Venice). We showed them the hotel marked on the map, but after trying to describe directions they just decided to walk us home. It felt like such a supportive community and was a good opportunity to talk with locals (the husband told us to talk with his wife because she “needed to practice her English”).

Sunday was beautiful and sunny with a clear, blue sky - such a welcomed change from Torino weather and from the forecast (we were expecting rain all weekend). In the morning, we went to a PACKED St. Marco’s square; It was the day for Carnival celebration’s opening ceremonies. Carnival is a very famous time to Venice and they take it very seriously. We watched parades of costumes (locals go ALL out dressing up is elaborate outfits… check out pictures on facebook) before the angel “flew” through the courtyard. There is a long cable attached to the top of a high tower on one end of the square. The other end attaches to the opposite side of the square down on the stage area. Every year a woman dressed in an elaborate white dress is lowered along the cable, out over the courtyard full of people. The celebrations continued on all day with bands of costumed people marching through the streets and constantly posing for pictures. It was fun to see the city so lively and festive – an exciting time to be in Venice.

Saturday afternoon we saw the main Cathedral. It is incredible impressive. The exterior is completely covered in marble slabs (“won” from other countries during war times) while practically every wall and ceiling surface on the interior is covered in tiled frescos. The tiles are unique to Venice (made from a thin sheet of gold melted onto the back of colored glass). The gold makes the tiles sparkle in the light. The range of colors is unending; slightly varying shades were used to show gradual shading on each mosaic, demonstrating the intricacy of the work (with tiles smaller than half the size of a penny). I can’t even fathom how the all the tall domes of the church were mosaic-ed with such detail! The church also housed the famous 4 life-size golden horses that originally stood outside on the church’s balcony (which have obviously been moved out of the weather and replaced with replicas while the real statues remain inside). They are believed to be Greek sculptures from around 400 BC that were taken from Greece after winning a battle. To top off the grand church visit, guests walk out onto the balcony (several stories above the ground). It offers a close up view of the façade architectural details and the most incredible view of the entire square (which looks out over the port). The square also houses the Doge’s Palace and was used as the welcoming entrance to the city when guests came to visit the Royal family. We were so lucky to be able to see it all on such a sunny day.

After all this excitement, we wandered through the markets and stores looking at all the local glasswork and the colorful Venetian carnival masks. Around sunset, Drew and I took a ferry boat down the Grand Canal (the town’s public transportation system). It was good to see the buildings and port from the water (after all, it is one of the most unique aspects of Venice). We naturally ended with a late night of Super Bowl watching at a small pub. I left in the third quarter when I started falling asleep at the table (3:30 am)! On our bus ride home today, we stopped for 2 hours in Verona where we saw some Roman ruins, Juliet’s balcony, and a little bit of the town. At 8pm we finally returned to our apartment, all worn out! I have one day of school tomorrow before heading out on my week trip down through Italy. I better start heading to bed!
Ciao!

Plans for Italy travel... and random updates!

Written the night of Wednesday, Feb. 3rd:

Tomorrow is a busy day! We have to meet at the police station early in the morning to finalize everything for our “permit of stay” (fingerprints), then we are analyzing our ‘site’ downtown for architecture studio and heading back to school for a few hours of Italian class. All followed by a night a studying for my second Italian exam (lots of verb conjugations to memorize). It was beautiful sunny today in Torino; It was so cheerful! I can also check figuring out another ‘everyday activity’ of my list: pharmacy. I bought cough syrup and nose spray (for congestion). Luckily, the woman who helped me spoke English pretty well (otherwise I think I would have been playing charades in the pharmacy). I have a cold that seems to be clinging on, but it’s not slowing me down too much.
I’m excited for my upcoming travels. On Saturday, we leave for Venice/Verona on a private bus and even get the luxury of a real hotel and not a hostel (it’s a USAC organized trip). I come back to Torino for one day of class (Tuesday) before leaving again to travel down thru Italy with Kate. We will be gone from Wednesday until the next Tuesday night (and only missing 2 classes total, don’t fret parents). We’re calling it our “Tour of Italy”. The plan is to take a train to Pisa (to stop for a few hours and see the tower) and then spend the next 3 nights in Florence. One day we will use to visit small towns in the region (REAL Tuscany), one day for seeing sights in Florence (already reserved two museums… and of course the Duomo), and the last day we are taking a private bike ride tour through the Tuscan country side to Siena with a stop for wine tasting. (Yes, I know what you’re thinking: very expensive… I am splurging. It’ll be so memorable to DO something in the Tuscan region rather than spending everyday looking at art). It is a total of 20 miles (but van supported… meaning when you get tired on the hills you can take the easy way out!). Hopefully my young body doesn’t let me down! From there we stay in Siena and then head down south to see the Amalfi Coast and Naples for 3 days. Hopefully we’ll have some sunny weather… it is supposed to be in the mid-fifties in the south (Fahrenheit not Celsius haha… you have to watch out for all those unit changes!), so a nice break from the cold.
I’m enjoying my classes, but I’ll be relieved when Italian is over. It meets 4 days a week for 2 hours each morning, which means we are covering a lot of material that is all memorization. Let’s just say pronunciation isn’t my forte. I just finished a power point on the Cinque Terre region (and now I can’t wait to go hike there in March when it is warmer) for Italian Culture. Tomorrow we see our site for the semester for studio; that’s where it all begins! And Art History holds my interest… I think I’m enjoying it the most right now. Just the four classes (yay!).
In other EXCELLENT news (I feel like I am an anchor on the 10 o’clock news that is transitioning between updates), we WILL be getting internet at our apartment sometime next week; our landlady signed the contract today! That will be helpful for planning trips, doing homework, and of course keeping in contact. Another random positive: I got stopped on the street last week by two people that looked my age asking for directions… I am excited by the thought that I looked like I belonged, knew what I was doing, and was Italian! Too bad I couldn’t actually help them ;)
I find it really interesting that some moments I’ll be walking down the street and completely forget that i haven’t always been here, that I’m not from the area. I always thought things would be so completely different on the other side of the world, but I keep finding more and more things that seem just like home (passing fields on the train last weekend that were dusted with snow… it’s a scene I could have seen ANYwhere in Idaho). It’s still hard to comprehend that I’m actually in Italy! I’m enjoying city life a lot too… I love being about to walk to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the pizzeria. And I love the effectiveness of the bus system (now that I know where my stop is! Haha). At night when I open the first door into my building and it shuts behind me, it’s always so comforting to be “home”. The apartment is a quiet little retreat from the city (and filled with English speaking women my age!). Not to mention it’s much more relaxing to not be constantly aware of my surroundings (watching my belongings, taking in the sites, making sure I know where I am, observing the people around me… you get the idea).
My meds are kicking in and I’m fading fast! Off to bed… Buonanotte!