When we first met him at the airport, Georgios (our tour director) gave us a few instructions on getting to the hostel, then to make sure we got it, he asked "everyone understand what we are doing? Yes or...yes?" Throughout the trip he has continued to ask, especially when we give a sleepy, lackluster response to his inquiries, "Yes or yes?"
We're finally in Italy. There is a lot I am looking forward to on this trip, but I think from the beginning, the destination I've been most excited about is Venice. Which is as amazing as if not moreso than I expected. But let me go chronologically.
The landscape changed dramatically once we hit Italy on the drive in, or at least it seemed to. As always, I nap intermittently on these bus rides, so it may very well have been gradual. But suddenly, we were surrounded by impossible Middle-Earth-esque landscapes dappled with old world cottages and miles of vinyards:
Sorry for the bus pic. The best view was to the right.
For this visit, we're staying in Mestre and just went into Venice as a day trip. Also, we stayed in a hotel, not a hostel. That was a nice change. The accomodations have been getting steadily better throughout the trip. Haven't been six to a room since Amsterdam.
I didn't take any photos in Mestre, but I can still tell you what happened with my words. Once we got settled into our rooms, we first took a quick side trip to the grocery store to buy good Italian wine on the cheap, then went to dinner. We found a great Italian restaurant a short walk from the hotel and went ham ordering every Italian dish we'd been looking forward to since the trip began. They made their own mozzarella with buffalo's milk, which makes it softer than cow's milk. We also got a few bottles of their house wine. And gelato on the way back to the hotel. Welcome to Italy.
A bunch of people were going out that night to party in Mestre, but I just couldn't. We had such an early start scheduled the next morning, and I knew exactly how I'd feel throughout the next day in Venice if I didn't sleep. I didn't wanna miss Venice for the clubs.
The next morning we took the bus to the water taxi, which is necessary to get into Venice. First glimpse:
Sorry for the grainy boat window photo. Man, I am 0 for 2 so far this post.
Stepped off the taxi into another world:
Venice is impossible. I don't just mean that as in impossibly cool, I mean that physically it seems like it shouldn't be possible. It seems like a city on some far-off planet that has some kind of Star Wars technology holding it together. I've always been curious as to how it got the way it did, with its canals and seemingly foundationless buildings. My guess was that the city was built as a normal town, but erosion slowly filled the canals with water over centuries to give us what we have today. I suppose I could have Googled it but I knew I'd have a guide there to explain it to me, and now, dear reader, I will explain it to you.
Venice is a collection of 121 separate small islands which are now connected only by the bridges of the city. Apparently the ancient Venetians first came to the island fleeing barbarians and set themselves up on what was then marshland permeated by canals. They laid down wooden pillars as a foundation to build their city on, which remain there to this day, now petrified by the lack of exposure to air or, yes, even water. There is a bit of a problem, though, because (as a city built on marshland) Venice is slowly sinking into the ocean at a rate of about 4 inches per century. No one really knows what to do about that yet. Yikes.
So, yes, as you may have guessed the first thing we did was a guided tour. We started at Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square.
St. Mark's Square is swanky. And expensive - this is the place where the cafes serve espresso for €10 and it gets worse from there. But you can sit outside and enjoy the view and weather and live music played by people in vests.
It is also the location of the Doge's Palace:
And St. Mark's Basilica, where the square gets its name:
Supposedly the Basillica houses the bones of St. Mark. I say supposedly only because I didn't see them myself, but hey, why would anyone lie about that, right?
Next we took a trip down some of the winding roads of Venice:
The tour guide took us to a small, silent back alley where this winding staircase was:
And a small cat in a nearby window!
After the tour was over, we went here:
The Murano Glass company, famous for their glass creations throughout the centuries. We saw one of the maestros turn this:
Into this:
In like, two minutes.
Georgios said he knew a great pasta place for lunch next, but it turned out to be closed on Sundays, so we fended for ourselves. Found a good place for pasta and pizza on our own. As you tend to do in Italy. As reparations, he bought us all gelato for dessert. As you tend to have in Italy.
And then next on our very full very busy day in Venice, we had, you guessed it, Gondola rides. As you tend to have in...well, only Venice.
They took us out into the grand canal:
That shot kind of reminds me of crossing the lake in Zork. All of about one person reading this will get that reference. Moving on...
Once the Gondola ride was over, we were set loose until the end of our stay. I stuck with the usual group for a bit of sight seeing, but once the activity turned to shopping, I turned away. I still wanted to see the inside of the Basilica, which we were unable to do that morning due to, you know, church. But in the afternoon it was open to tour. No photos, of course. But the inside walls were covered with that same dull gold at the outside facades, giving it a very dark, cavelike, medieval feel.
It also had a very tawdry feel. You don't get the sense that this is really a holy place. Two Euros to go up the stairs, three to see the "treasure room". More security guards than clergy. Museum to the side, gift shop in the front. Nah. Not for me.
After the Basilica, I tried to get lost in the winding, narrow streets of Venice, but it was actually harder than you might think. Any tiny, quiet alley I found lead to either a dead end or right back into the main thoroughfares. I did eventually find one or two areas that seemed totally off the beaten path:
But here's the thing: getting lost is difficult by design. If you keep going in any direction, you will eventually see a sign pointing you towards either St. Mark's Square or the Rialto bridge, from which you can easily find your way to a water taxi and off the island. And of course, there's only so much space before you hit water that would be impassible without a boat. Venice is a maze, but one with many right solutions.
Bonus pictures from Venice before we leave it, since it is so beautiful:
My initial impression of Venice was that I need to live there, now, and for the rest of my life. But I think I would get a little stir crazy eventually. I'd feel trapped, disconnected from the world. It can get a little Disney Worldish, a little divorced from reality. That's my impression, anyway, for what it's worth.
We met on the dock and took the water taxi back to the mainland, then back into Mestre and our hotel. Most people had signed up for an optional wine tasting that night, so that was next on our agenda. I am so glad I signed up for it. I hesitate to say it was the highlight of Italy or even that day, since it's hard to compete with Venice, but it was easily the best wine tasting I will ever have.
The bus took us out to this vinyard, Vignaluna, which is just like...one family and their fields. They took us into their house and the mother - the only one who spoke any English - explained some of their process of wine making. Then we were seated and served five different kinds of wine, as well as a meal throughout, each course being paired with a corresponding wine. THEN! The grandfather, an accomplished operatic baritone, sang a few songs for us a cappella while we ate. We clapped and cheered for each one. Then he asked if any of us had a song we could all sing. So everyone turned to Chelsey, who lead us all in singing the cups song from pitch perfect. You know the one:
When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
That one.
He sang again, an aria from a Puccini opera I believe, but not one I knew, then handed it back to us. Robyn sang, then all of us began hitting the table in rhythm, chanting "Geor-gi-os! Geor-gi-os!" which quickly changed to: "yes or yes! Yes or yes!"
He was pretty much obligated to at that point. He sang something to us in Greek.
At the end of the dinner, they handed us little shot cups of espresso, then invited us to, of course, purchase any of the wines we had tasted. They were pretty cheap considering how good they are and how small an operation they are. I may or may not have gotten a bottle.
On the bus back to the hotel, Georgios asks, "did you enjoy the wine tasting? Yes or yes?"
No revelry that night. Everyone was still worn out from the night before. Another night, another morning, another continental breakfast, and we're on the road yet again. Georgios gets on the bus microphone and asks how we enjoyed Venice and Mestre. Everyone cheers. He then asks, "who knows where we're going next?!" People point to Josh, and Georgios gives him the mic.
"Oh y'all know I don't know."
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