in my tree: Eurotrip '05: Venice

Thurs, June 22, 2005 (Day 22)

Greetings from Italy! Here I sit on the floor of the Venice train station as we wait for our departure to Florence. Venice was so beautiful! I can’t remember another time in my life when I enjoyed being lost so much. St. Marco square doesn’t even look real… it’s as though there’s a giant canvas in front of you, and all you can see is painting. We went for Gondola ride in honor of Ginny’s Bday. That was very cool!

Our first day (21st), we lucked into a 25euro each per night accommodations at Locando Novo, an absolutely beautiful 3 star hotel. By far, the nicest place we’ve stayed yet. Once we took our boat taxi down the main canal to the hotel and got settled, we decided to walk around for the afternoon and just get lost in the maze that is the city. Then, we hit the Gondola as I said, and went for a nice birthday meal for Ginny. Unfortunately, I think she and Steve went a little too overboard on the food, so they were ready to crash. Kay, Ricketts and I decided that we couldn’t very well let an evening in Venice pass us by, so we went for a stroll around. On the way home the full moon broke through the clouds. I swear I’ve never seen it so big in my life… beautiful.

The next day (22nd) was much of the same – Getting lost and loving it. The girls went off to shop, and we boys attempted to find a convenience store we found yesterday that had really cheap bottled water. After much searching (because we were too stubborn to go to a different store where water was slightly more expensive), we finally found it, only to be thwarted by Siesta!! For anyone who’s unfamiliar with the southern European way of life, Siesta is a 2-3 hour period in the middle of the day (say 1pm-4pm) where most all shops close down. It serves a dual purpose of not making people work during the hottest part of the day, as well as giving time for people to be with their families. I like the concept, usually. Eventually the store opened again, and we gladly stocked up on lots of H2O. Had a delicious Calzone for supper and walked around this beautiful place until we felt we’d seen everything. With exception to all the tourists who swarm in the day time, this place is really amazing. It feels very safe, and I think the true character really comes out at night, when all the tourists take off and the locals fill the streets with laughter and music.