World Wanderings

So, I'm in Venice. As I said in my last post, it seemed a bit intimidating, but how I was wrong. Part of the stress that was on me was making sure that I had a place to stay. I was pretty sure I would be set, as the camping grounds that I had been looking at, had not booked up any night yet. Lo and behold I arrive to find plenty of space, and a tent all my own. Not a bad tent at all, mind you. This one is made for two, tall enough to stand in, and holds two cots. So, I get the comfort of sleeping on a cot, and extra space and privacy to myself.

It's not a bad camping ground either. Outfitted with a pool, jacuzzi's, a restaurant, bar, and internet cafe, it has pretty much everything I need. Besides free wireless, a bit annoying I might add, but I can deal without it for a few days. I've figured out that I'm only charged for the time that I'm online in the internet cafe, but I can use the computer all I want. So, this blog post is being brought you courtesy of WordPad (I won't waste my 'online time' typing a blog). And while I'm typing this I'm remedying a slight problem with the tents, in that there is no power in them, so I'm also charging all my electronics. Ah, it's been a while since I've multitasked.

Anyway, back to Venice. What a georgious city. Unfortunately my first impression was of amazement, a minute whereafter I had to head straight to the bus stop to pick up my ride to the camping grouds, leaveing Venice. Due to an odd break in the bus schedule (which runs every hour), I was forced to wait another 2 hours before I was able to get back into Venice, and actually get to see the city. When I did return, I set right off to loosing myself in it. With only a poor copy of a map, with no names on it, I figured it would be best to just go. Plus, it's an island and not a very big one at that, how could I get lost. I have to admit, there are signs everywhere pointing to Saint Mark's Square and to the Train Station, so there really is no way of getting lost. It would just be difficult to find other things in the city.

The first thing that hit me, was the fact that Venice was not smelly at all, unlike what I've been told by several sources. I'm not quite sure what they were smelling, but I didn't smell anything. Maybe my nose just isn't quite up to their level of odor sophistication. I was free to enjoy the sights and sounds of Venice smell free. And enjoy them I did. Like I've mentioned many times by now, I'm a big fan of the sort of beautiful decay that many European cities find themselves in. Venice is no exception to this. Paint is peeling, plaster and brick are showing, the wood is sun bleached, grass grows in small cracks, and it's all just so lovely. The vibrant colors of the buildings, reds and oranges, yellows and pinks, all add to the auroa of the city. Plus, how can you forget the water. While I would not want to set foot in it, the lovely green murky hue adds to the color pallete as well as reflecting the light and color of it's surroundings. The endless bridges that cross it are ever different, each one a little unique in it's own way. Some residences even have thier own private bridge.

Ah, but Saint Marks Square, what a captivating space. It's filled at any point in time with hundreds of tourists, at least double that in birds, amazing architecture from the surrouding office buildings, and from St. Marks itself, and restaurants with deuling orchestras. Yep, for the cheap price of 5-7 euros for an expresso (plus 6 euro orchestra fee) you too can sit in the square at a table, enjoy your extreamly overpriced coffee, watch it as one of the four different small orchestras (6-8 piece) try to outdo each other, and probably have the best people watching experience ever. I decided to go for the even cheaper option of free, and just wondered around the square, stopping to enjoy the music, and people watch.

St. Marks was amazing. I had forgotten about the interior of the church since I studied it in college, but wow, it all came back as soon as I stepped inside. It's five domes, and many of the walls are filled to the edge with golden mosaics. It is instantly overwhelming when first entering the cathedral. As exciting and interesting as the ceiling was, the floor was also a sight to see. As the foundation was laid on the outside, the ground below the floor was free to undulate as it felt. It almost looks like the floor became fluid for a moment, and then froze into a set of waves.

Other than those two main sights, I spent my two full days in the city wondering the streets, stopping into cathedrals and checking out the artwork inside, and seeing what I could find. It was fun, because it was like stumbling upon treasure every so often with these various churches. Also randomly placed throughout the city were art exhibitions, as Venice holds a city-wide art exhibition every odd year in the summer. These were little gems to find, both for the interesting artwork, and also for the water closets. I am proud of the fact that I did not have to pay the exhorberant price of euro 1.50, to use the public bathrooms spread throughout the city. There are always plenty that are free, you just need to know where to look. Plus, I don't think it really costs the city 1.50 in maintainence and staff, every time someone uses one. Kind of rediculous.

Before I end, one interesting tidbit. I met a fellow traveler in Ferrara, whom we had mutually convinced me to stay for the concert, and I left a day earlier than her to go to Venice (also her next destination). As I was wondering through Venice yesterday, I thought it would be rather ironic if I ran into her. Venice is small, but there are tons of small streets, and actually running into a person in Venice could be quite hard. Well, odds be thrown out the window, on a small street we just so happened to bump into each other. A pleasant surprise, as the company was greatly appreciated for the rest of the evening, where we stumbled upon a small bar/cafe with a live band. Of the course the best part of the band, was the fact that they were all Italian, but where singing all american songs. It's really interesting to note how accents really dissapear when a person starts to sing.

Ok, well enough rambling. Since I am 2/3rds of the way done, and have one month left now, I plan to have a post up soon looking back. But as for now, I'm done.