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| The Scalzi bridge, right next to the train station | On the open water, headed to Giudecca Island, where my hostel was |
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| Some neat rowboats I saw on my way to Torchello (another island in the Venice island chain) | |
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| Some ruins on an island so small it's not even on my map (and I think you have to have your own personal boat to have a chance of getting to them...whatever they used to be) | |
| R, 9 June 2005 (Venice, Italy)
I didn't realize that the church (and everything else) on Torchello closed by about 17:30. :( I just missed getting in, but I did get to walk around and it's very quiet andpretty. I think my best bet now is to head to Murano and see the glas (even if I can't see it being made). It's also time for dinner. Above is me in the throne of Attila the Hun, which was on Torchello Island near the church. |
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I tried a gelatto this afternoon, amaretto flavored. It's everything I've been told. I think I'll end up having several, especially if they stay so cheap!
On the way from the train to the hostel I met Ines (from Argentina) and Hannah (from Texas). In my room I met George, from California. George and I are planning to go to San Marco early tomorrow.
The rooms are the most open dorms I've seen. About 18 beds to a room, which is more like an alcove with a large warehouse door. Within each room it's divided into smaller sections with 6 beds each. I'm still trying to figure out the toilet. But I think I like this hostel if only because it promotes openness, connection, and sharing.
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| A typical scene to be found simply wandering through the streets of Venice | The Rialto Bridge, about middle of the Grand Canal, and the biggest one of the three |
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| Gondolas are actually very expensive,but it's still neat to see them lined up like this | The Academia Bridge |
The "metro" system is great. It's a series of boats and there are routes and maps, like a bus or subway system. They are large and move smoothly: you don't have to hold on to anything to stay standing. The only problem is they are slow. But I think of it as perhaps part of my time in this city should be a chance to relax. Another neat thing about them is how they're run. There are two people (and only once have I seen a woman; not sure why that is) to do it, one driver and one rope guide and door keeper (not sure what the name is). The person that does the rope is amazing! Very quick and skilled and obviously trained in nautical knots. The stations where the boats pick up people are floating docks and really the whole thing is neat.
The city is not just on, but in the sea, so it maintains a sea smell. In some places it's very nice and in others rather disgusting. It's also like a giant, active maze. You can lose where you are quickly, especially with the side streets. You can walk down a "street" barely as wide as a person and even down what looks like a main one only to dead end at a wall, gate, or even the water. Add to this the steps of all the bridges they've built and you're in for one good workout.
While lost today, I passed what I thought was a statue, but was actually a gold carnival man. I was less than a foot from him when I turned around to look and he suddenly moved! Very freaky (and I think he watched me down the road).
To top off my day I treated myself to an evening cruise down the Canal Grande (Grand Canal) and then sat out to watch the sunset from Giudecca Island. I ended up sitting with George and others from the hostel.
Lastly for now, the showers. The shower stalls have only half a door! I'm not so much bothered by the lack of privacy as the water that goes everywhere and the complication of getting through the door. It would probably have been easier to simply have a separate shower room with a bunch of shower heads.
F, 10 June 2005 (Venice, Italy)
So today marks one-third of the way through my trip. I think now is a good time to reflect back on how things have gone overall. I think when I started out I was struggling a lot, getting adjusted to an area that was deceptively similar to my home, but with enough differences to make it confusing and complicated. It's definitely been a learning curve, even with all the research I did before starting, and I think had I not done that research it would have been even worse. After a while, though, I think I've managed to fall into a rhythm of travel. From watching others, this seems to be a common, general thing. I don't know how to describe it except that you get into a groove, you meet up with a pattern and a harmony and a flowl. The Backpacker's Flow, I'll call it.
You learn how to more quickly orient yourself to a city, how to best prepare on the train on the way in. You learn how to quickly find the homebase, what to take care of immediately, and how to drop your stuff and just get exploring. You learn how to look for the gooddeals, spend when you need to, but know how to say no when the price is too high. Probably most importantly you learn how to quickly make friends, how to size up who to trust (most travellers), and how to be open to chance meetings and sudden, casual conversation.
Even city by city there's an adjustment, but with time you get better (and faster) at making it. I'm also learning that no matter who you meet, whether American or otherwise (and there's a lot of both) you can quickly and easily (and often just will) fall into some discussion of American politics, which often includes references to American history. It's a reminder to me of just how prevelant America is in the world. The group I was with last night put it well: America is like the family upstart teenager. Parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, all simply put up with the noise and try to get the kid to grow up (or at least hope it will).
It's really sad in a way. It's just a reminder to me of the general (and pervasive) American arrogance. There's nothing wrong with being a proud people, but we are beyond proud: we are an arrogant and self-centered culture. Before leaving (and before planning this trip) people told me that travel abroad would make me better appreciate what I have in the US. They said the conditions of the rest of the world didn't compare to those at thome, whether because of poverty or lack of freedoms or what have you. Though I'm sure compared to some countries that may be true, such an over generalization simply doesn't hold here. If anything, most of the people I've seen seem more civilized than Americans, with a better respect for rights and freedoms. Americans (because of our foreign policies and in some cases how we treat our own citizens, namely the poor) are tolerated here, but not always loved or respected the way we want to think we are. I don't see how America in any way trumps what I see here. Any differences that I may like America more for are simplycultural differences and the comforts I've developed and gotten used to from my culture. As a society we really don't have it that great. The countries I'm visiting treat their people (including their poor, for the most part) much better than us. Socialized health care is not of the devil! There was more I wanted to say, but I've lost the thought.
I went to San Marco this morning with George and 2 Britans, Toby and Rob. Very fun. We toured the San Marco cathedral, wound our way through the city to the train station (grabbing lunch) and then George and I went to the Palazzo Ducale. Well worth the money! The Doge's palace was huge with some very nice artwork and great weaponry. We had a time getting back, but it all worked out in the end. I'm about to run out to find food and explore Dosoduro for the evening.
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 | Got a little drunk by drinking some (bad) wine on an empty stomach. But then found food, wandered around, and felt better. I finally found my way to Dosoduro...neat, yet much like the rest of Venice. I crossed the Accademia Bridge, meaning I've now been across all three Grand Canal bridges, and in the Campo Santo Stephano I saw an amazing piece of street theater (in English!) about masculinity, male sexuality, and being a man. Apparently it's based on the movie Death in Venice, which seems to be at least 25 years old (so 1980 or earlier). I must find this. |
After leaving that, I came across a very small Byzantine-style church in Campo San Maurizio that isn't even on my maps. It had a free (and very good) display of violins (and a few other instruments) throughout history and (the best part) some writeups on Vivaldi (compoaser, violin maker, and priest). What I read says he and Mozart were put in the same common grave, but that it doesn't exist [any more]. Since I saw what is claimed to be Mozart's grave, I have to wonder.
And now I'm taking a break to write in Campo San Moise while listening to an amazing guitarist. His music is as emotional as Vivaldi's. There's no way I could have planned an evening this amazing. And to think I was originally going to walk some garden on the island next to my hostel's. I'm pretty sure this is so much better than that would have been.
But now I'm very tired and my feet are again exhausted, so I must tear myself away from the guitarist (I think I recognize some of the music, so it may not be his, but he plays it so well anyway!) and head back to the hostel for an early evening.
But apparently the night isn't quite over yet. Just as I'm packing up to leave there's a shout from across the bridge I'm by (and now glad not on) and all the guys I saw a few blocks back selling purses on spread out sheets come running through chased by an officer (I thought there was something fishy there! I think those bags are hot!). More cops come from another direction and the chase goes down another side street. A moment later it comes back this way, but some o the sheets full of bags had been dropped or retrieved. It seems the guys are free to go after the 2 or 3 still around got a good tlaking to by the officers (I don't get that). So, yet another odd and sudden bit of excitement. :)
S, 11 June 2005 (Venice, Italy)
I have established that I'm in love with European apricots. And I found a market here yesterday that sells them for €2/kilo (wow!).
I went to Murano today and got there way too early. But I wandered a bit and eventually ended up watching some glass be made. I caught the end of a pot (or vase?) and then an entire horse. The horse was done as if it were no thing and in no time flat.
I found a shop that seemed to have stuff more in my price range (amazingly, in the showrooms by the kils the prices are exorbitant). I bought a pair of earrings for mom, a clock for dad, a picture frame for Cristine, and the closest thing to a shot glass I could find for me.
When I got back to the main island, I bought 2 scoops of gelatto. One was a kind of vanilla with these gummy-fruit-licorish bits...not bad, but not great either. The other I think was cherry. They were only in Italian, so I'm not sure.
Speaking of, I've been getting to practice a little basic Italian. It's much easier than German since it's so close to Spanish. I have numbers 1-4 down and some basic phrases (and I can pronounce what I read pretty well).
 | Coming across the Rialto Bridge I found a candle shop where a guy was working on a candle. What they sold was very ornate and decorative with layers of color. I watched him dip the candle in a color of wax and then in a tub of water and keep adding layer after layer this way until he had a very large egg with several "points" on the bottom (from where the wax dripped). Once he had what he wanted, he started carving. He used a double-bladed knife that came around to form a V-shape at the end. Since the was was stillwarm it was easy for him to take this "arm", twist it up, and curl it into an arch that he pressed to the sides. He cut and bent and pressed all over the thing, then added little extras, like small paper flowers and butterflies. The drip points he had pulled down into a long handle to help him turn it as he needed to. When he was done, he cut off the handle point (so the candle could sit flat), used another device to drill out a small depression around the wick, and dipped it in clear wax and then a finishing liquid to give it shine. After hanging it up to dry, he took the still-soft handle he'd cut off and mashed and rolled it into a rough ball shape. As he added a wick to it with a small knife, I notied a basket of candles that looked like what he'd just made: small, mostly round, with various rings and splotches of color. They were the refuse from the pretty candles, sold at a reduced cost so that nothing went to waste. So I bouthgt one. I don't know if it's for me or someone else, but I have time to decide. :) (Incidentally, I ended up giving it to my friend Tyler when I visited him in South Carolina upon my return.) |