Venezia

The train ride to Venice took about three hours, a perfect amount of time to zone out to my iPod, take a nap and make small talk with those next to me. I was aroused from my train trance when I began to see signs of Venice approaching. “Holy cow, we’re on a floating bridge!” Duh, Claire. Venice is an island. My world geographical knowledge is horrible, but improving slowly with incredible discoveries such as this.

Wir waren den Zug ausgestiegen, and were immediately presented with The Grand Canal. The feeling I got at this moment was similar to the way I felt one short month ago when I stepped into Vienna for the first time: absolute captivation. Little stands of merchandise dotted the street, gondolas drifted through the water and the sun was red as it said goodnight. The atmosphere was somehow quiet as there weren’t many people out and about—just a few casual diners lingering over their pizzas and watching the sunset. I had arrived in Venice, Italy… and I was speechless.

That state of not speaking didn’t last very long though. We began jabbering away about everything we saw and how it was almost unbelievable how truly beautiful the city was. A group of us went and found a restaurant: outdoor, softly lit with a lamp on every table and of course, had a very Italian waiter. I decided to be brave and ordered something besides pizza or spaghetti, Penne e Siciliano. Siciliano ended up meaning sauce with eggplant and green olives, or atleast that’s the translation I came up with once I had taken a few bites. I’m not the biggest fan of green olives, but the dish was sehr lecker otherwise. After our dinner, we got some more gelato (naturally) and wandered about the city. It was a wonderful night.

I awoke with a great burst of energy, ready for a full day of Venice exploration. Our entire group followed the Brewers (my professor and her hubby) through a windy maze of alleyways and ended up in a beautiful square by the pier. There we met our tour guide who proceeded to lead us around the city (did I mention that the weather was perfect? Oh, well the sky was empty of clouds and the temperature was about 70 all day long. Someone must have ordered it especially for us). We, of course, had great fun while on this tour. Someone extremely important, though we’re not sure who, walked by our group with a huge pack of security guards and cameras surrounding him. I paid a Euro to go to the bathroom. A pigeon was murdered by a seagull. That sort of thing.

Finding our way back to the hotel without the help of the Brewers was quite the adventure, but we managed. I had thankfully met up with Kasia who is quite good with directions. Lisa, Cassandra and I kind of followed and didn't help much, but it was my idea to ask the guy in the hotel for help! After re-filling my water bottle, grabbing snacks and changing into better shoes (cute footwear is something I'm learning to give up on days like this), the four of us girls set out for more adventure. We took a ferry, stopped for gelato and an hour later arrived at the island of Burano. Its inhabitants are known for making lace, but I was more intrigued by the multi-colored houses and strung up laundry. The pictures describe it better.

We saw a Bollywood movie set, posed for many pictures and watched some townsfolk line dance in the town center. We spent quite a while sitting on the dock, staring into the sea and getting lost in our thoughts. I really enjoyed being with those three girls that day. We are similar in that we appreciate moments of silence and don’t have to be hurrying to see every site. Our evening was spent meandering around the island and soaking in the culture of it all. I so much prefer that. An accordion sang somewhere in the distance as we twirled spaghetti around our forks and inquired about each other’s lives and families. We missed the first ferry back, but I’m so glad we did. The sunset was incredible and the town quiet. What an evening.

For our final day in Italy, that same group of girls (plus Kristen, my roommate) and me boarded the ferry again and went to Murano, the island of glass making. For a euro we entered the glass making factory, which was more like a shop with six or seven guys in grubby clothes making glass statues. It was way sweet. The oldest of them all made a glass horse right before our eyes in less than five minutes. After touring around and purchasing some glass jewelry for ourselves, we headed back to Venice. We bought fantastic peaches and grapes at the outdoor market (purple grapes that tasted exactly like grape juice), bread and cookies from a cute little bakery, and of course, Italian gelato one last time. The train ride back to Wien was about seven hours, but the magnificent view of the Alps kept me occupied taking pictures and daydreaming.

I’m going to add pictures to this tomorrow, because I’m so tired of staring at my computer. This took way longer than I intended. For now, gute Nacht alle. Or good day. This time difference thing can be so confusing.