Exploring Venice with Amy

Amy and I took the train to Venice today and had such a great time. We got an early start to the day, took the metro to the train station, hopped on the train and 2 ½ hours later we were in Venice. It’s amazing how different it is from Milan.

First of all, you walk everywhere! We got off the train station and walked around from 1130am until 6pm. And as tiring as it was, and at times my dogs were barkin’, it felt great to be outside and active for so long. There aren’t any cars in Venice because you get around everyone on boats! I resisted the urge to go on a gondola ride. Not because I don’t love Amy and not because I didn’t want to do it, but because I hope to go back one day with Steve and share that experience with him (Amy if you are reading this, you can’t take it personally!). So yeah, boats and water everywhere which means you walk all over the city.

It was very beautiful and picturesque. I think in total we took close to 200 pictures. The super awesome present from Kara came in handy today and at this point has become something that I love to whip out just to see how other people will react. We used it all over Venice and got so many stares that we orchestrated taking pictures with us (using the Molly Pole) on my camera while sly’ly taking pictures of other people’s reactions of the Molly Pole with Amy’s camera.

It’s so much fun to go to a place where you’ve only ever seen in beautiful pictures. The canals and gondolas were great to see in person. It’s not like it’s any different then what you see in the movies or anywhere else, but it’s cool to see them yourself. Eloquent words are failing me a bit right now, but hopefully you get the point. To see this stuff in person is obviously way better than getting it through pictures and movies! Except if they're my pictures.







In Venice we went to the top of Campanile di San Marco. It was originally built as a lighthouse to assist navigation in the lagoon, but now visitors can hop on an elevator to the top. You get incredible views of Venice, the lagoon and the Alps in the distance (on a clear day). We got amazing pictures of the entire city. It was beautiful to look out and see the city in all her glory. Rebecca had asked later that night if I enjoyed it and without any hesitation I said “YES!” She asked because some people find it depressing. When I asked why, she reminded me that the city is technically sinking due to the water rising and that when some people go there, it’s all they can think about.

I had the opposite reaction. I really loved Venice. The city is so vibrant. Full of people who appeared to be much more friendly than any of the “locals” I encountered in Milan. This is probably because it’s a much smaller city and the chances of being surrounded by massive amounts of tourists is much greater. But it was the architecture and the small walkways and canals that really moved me. I loved the hanging laundry from people’s balconies. The dogs walking around without leashes following their owners around without hesitation. The Venetian glass (jewelry) everywhere. The people who spoke Italian and English and who humored me by smiling when I would say “por favore” or “gratzie.” The Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square and Basilica, The Grand Canal…

It was just perfect. Me and Amy finally catching up after spending a long time apart and getting into a very comfortable groove talking about everything and nothing. The timing was also perfect. It was the perfect amount of time to arrive, walk around, eat, shop, explore, talk and meander back through the narrow moonlit streets to the train station. As we made our way over the Grand Canal for the last time as we walked to the train station, we were treated with an amazing nighttime view of Venice with my favorite moon!



And maybe what I loved the most was that we didn’t have a map at all. We just walked around and followed the signs pointing us in the direction the Rialto & S. Marco and had a perfect day.

The train ride back was incredibly relaxing and provided me with enough time to try and catch up on my personal journal and I also feel in love with a little Indian girl who kept smiling at me. And on the way home, we swung by the place we had pizza the first night and capped off the evening with some insalata mista no pomodore and pizza margherita and coca cola light por favore.