Thursday, October 20, 2011

Batezzo in Venezia

Oh, magical city! Seriously. We stepped of the train to see Venice's veins–the canals that run intricately like streets in and between buildings.

Many incredible adventures: St. Mark's square and basilica, getting lost (it's impossible not to), watching gondolas row about, visiting the incredible Guggenheim art museum, time spent on the vaparettos (water taxis), visiting the Murano island famous for its glass, and the colorful homes on Burano island, seeing a concert of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons."

Had a sweet tour of the Doges' Palace with Anna, a sing-songy old lady with a lot of spunk. I think my favorite part of our walk through the quieter streets was seeing her birthplace. She made us laugh with her tales of Venice's floods, and bets they place on fat tourists falling into the water.

Anna (who sang "yoo-hoo" to grab our attention and the palace

tried squid-ink pasta, a specialty. kinda fishy

blurry shot from the Rialto bridge

St.Mark's square, taken from St.Mark's basilica (it's covered in gold & mosaics, Byzantine style. so so impressive. also houses the body of Mark, the writer of the Gospel–which the Venetians stole from Egypt way back when)



Speaking of dumb tourists falling into water. Yes, friends. I took an unintentional and miserably cold dip in Venice's canals. My precious friend Travis was with me; any other person would have laughed at the sight of a girl slipping on a step and getting her boots, legs, and butt wet. Not Travis! I think he was more concerned than I was for myself: "What can I do to make this better?!" I thrust him my camera, "Document this!" So here is the series of the aftereffects of my Venetian baptism:






Needless to say, Venice and I have a special bond. And even though its canal ate my ricotta cake, and forced me to buy new shoes, I still love that mysterious, romantic place. I'm terribly sad that it is sinking.

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