Italy recap, giorno uno
Nov. 13th, 2007 12:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I have tried to take notes about the trip and the recaps will come slowly, as there is much to tell and not a lot of time to talk about it. That being said…
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
I drive to Herndon and, with the help of Quislet, am take to the airport with my one heavy (46 lb) bag, after meeting cat and dog…should have been a second cat, but Boo was hiding. I get to Dulles way before my 3-hour time window. Check in is mostly easy and I am given a form to fill out. They tell me that they think I will get my stamp in Italy, not Amsterdam, and that makes me happy. The line to get through security is INSANE and once through the chaos, it is a long hike to get to the tram and terminal. Once there, I decide to have my last hamburger (American meal) and even treat myself to a chocolate/banana rum shake at Ben and Jerry’s. Decadence, but worth it.
THE LONELY ROAD
I am starting to get nervous and try to make a few phone calls while I sit at my gate. The entire day seemed unreal. I got up early and worked, then just had an ordinary day (though starting early) so I felt disassociated from the reality of the trip. I went to call a few friends to touch base, put the reality and excitement back into the trip. Tchwrtr’s Hubby and Anjabeth were great helps making the specialness of the moment real to me and reminding me how amazing this journey would be. I am beginning to bubble. Next to me is a woman who is beginning her journey to a remote section of Africa for her work. My trip is covering 12 hours, hers is 4 days. I feel lucky. I help a woman from India figure out how to use the pay phone to call her family. Finally, we begin to board. I wait a bit so I am not standing in line too much. I have a window seat (thank god) and put my small odds and ends under my seat, go to pee, and get comfy.
THE WORLD EXPANDS
The gentleman sitting next to me is a computer programmer going to speak at a conference in Aarhuus Denmark. Amazingly, I knew where he meant, at least he was surprised when I noted the country to his city. He was amazed as they were paying for him to speak, which seems to be unheard of in this field. After a bit of conversation, we settle down to enjoy the 7 hour flight.
KLM HAS UPGRADED
Well, The last time I flew internationally, I flew KLM/Northwest. It was a cramped and uncomfy flight. This time, they have changed the plane. There is more room around the seat and each seat has it’s own tv monitor that is showing on demand movies. I know I need to sleep, so I only watch one flick this way. I decide on Hairspray, since I didn’t go see it in the movie theater. John Waters has a bit part as a flasher, that was quite amusing. My seat partner offers me rice crackers, and I do partake of one. I drink more water and, since I was just getting over a cold, abstain from alcohol. They don’t have cranberry juice, this makes me sad. I am tired and find I am struggling to make it through the movie. I do, and begin to nap. Then, we are woken up for a pasta dinner of canneloni, a lentil, legume salad, an odd cake thing, I sleep.
MORNING IN THE NEW OLD WORLD
I am woken a few hours later to enjoy a yogurt and banana muffin. I save the muffin and juice box, eat the yogurt and sort of feel ok. I nap again. As I awake, we are getting close to Amsterdam. My body is fidgety. I look out the window and see the most startling sunrise. It is a rainbow. Truly, the entirety of the light has broken to all the colors of a rainbow across the sky. All the colors of the sky are welcoming me back to Amsterdam. It is stunning. I am still not really believing I am about to land in Europe again. It’s amazing.
TOUCHDOWN, WALKTHROUGH, AND STAMP
We land and I see that I have to cross most of the airport to get to my next gate. On the way, since I have time, I stop and get more Jenever and the chocolates my mom likes, as well as another one I wanted to pick up. They seal the bag and I head over. As I get closer to the gate, I see I have to go through screening AGAIN. HUH? This is rather annoying and I am concerned that the money I JUST spent on the jenever is going to go to waste. Luckily, they just scan it in the sealed bag and I am allowed to keep it. They also send us through passport control and stamp the passport here. DAMN, and I thought I would get an Italian one. Bummer. I head on to the gate and stop for another bottle of “spa” water. I have Euro on me already, because of some very generous friends, so it’s a simple transaction. The woman next to me asks if she can pay in US dollars, and they take them as well.
GATE ONED
I stop in the rest room, then to the gate area. I see, sitting around me, a number of others looking at guidebooks and the like. After some basic conversation, it turns out at least one couple is using gate one and doing the same tour I am, but at the one step up on hotels. As I tell them what I want to do when there, the wife says “I’m going with her, you are on your own!” They do ask for my hotel info so they can meet up with me. I am a bit concerned, as I don’t know them, and this was to be my trip alone, but I give them the info, figuring they may or may not contact me. That’s Pieter and Luzella. The others (Tim and Kay and another couple) around are on honeymoons and other random visits. When it’s time to board, they want the passports again. They put us on to a bus and bus us to our plane. This is odd, but not awful. We get on the plane and I have been placed in a middle seat. For the motion sick, this is bad. I make the request of the steward if I can be moved and head to the assigned seat.
LANGUAGES, LOST IN TRANSLATION
Eventually, the steward is able to move me up one row to a window, next to a German couple. I figure it out by their newspaper choice. I sort of understand the sound of a few words, but not much at all. I sleep through most of the flight, but wake up to view the alps below me. Sadly, many of them were NOT snowcapped. That site was kinda scary. There was beautiful snow though. It made me happy. I took pics. Near the end, the couple asks me in English, where I am from. I tell them America and they tell me they are visiting the country next year. Not in my area, but others I have been to. It is very nice to know. They are excited to hear I perform. (I had brought some stupina pics, as I read that its good to have pics of family or the like. For me, WHAT I do is the interesting stuff that needs to be shown, and I wasn’t bringing her out.
FINDING THE WAY IN
Once landed, I am still not really sure I am there. We leave the plane and I see signs in Italian. I know what many say, but not all. I find the carousel where our baggage is coming out. I am also looking for a place that sells phones, since the phone company screwed my order up and I didn’t get one in time. Which sucked. I see nothing. I do see signs that note that while they are trying to be careful with luggage, there is an outside company dealing with the bags and they can’t guarantee anything, um, ok. I see Pieter and Luzella (the older couple from the airport) and we all take a deep breath and hope our bags arrive. Theirs do, I am still waiting. A few minutes later, my bag arrives. I breathe a sigh of relief, grab the bag, and head out. I see an information desk and find out that they don’t sell phones and the closest place they know is in the center of Venice near the Rialto. Um, great. I may not get one.
THE ROAD TO SOMEWHERE
I head outside to the blue ATVO bus mentioned by the guide books and purchase a ticket from the bus driver outside. He stamps my ticket and places my bags on the bus and I get on, after one of the other drivers makes eyes at me. It was a compliment figuring how tired I must have looked. I get on the bus and wait for the departure from the airport through Mestre to Venice. Soon enough we take off. Some of Mestre is very sad and run down, other parts are charming or pretty. We start heading toward the bridge to Venice. I am now starting to get excited. Wow. I had seen Venice from the air, but didn’t have my camera out in time, or I would have had aerial pics, and this angle isn’t good for pics, but it is lovely. Once in Piazzale Roma, I grab my bags. I was going to tip the bus driver, but he headed to the other side, and I didn’t reach him. Ah well. I see my hotel nearby.
GETTING IN THE WAY
So to get anywhere in Venice, you have to cross a bridge. No other option, you just do. I roll my suitcase down off the piazzale toward the pathway I think I need to go, and have to back up a bit. I find the right path and the bridge…no way around it. Up and over, kathud, kathud…lift and lug. Remember, it was 46 lbs (one case inside the second). I am breaking a sweat in the slightly chilly air. I get over and see the door is on the side, down another 10 steps. I am trying to keep to the side and out of the way of those that live or work here. I don’t want to be in their way. I get to the hotel lobby filled with suitcases. I give my passport and voucher to the hotel desk clerk and she tells me my room is ready. She gives me a very heavy key. I can go up, get sorted and when I come down, it will be ready for me.
SMALL BLESSINGS
The elevator is very small. My bag and I take up most of the space, but no one else needs it, so it’s ok. I head up to the 3rd floor (which is the 4th for us) and find room 803…yes, I know, it’s an odd backwards number system in the hotel, but at least the room is there. Small hallways too, I find my room and go inside. It is small, and, ironically, the one I knew, from the website, that would be the one I stayed in. A single bed against one wall that is the width of the room. The length is better, but there is no place to set up my large suitcase, so I take out the small one and leave the empty large one on the side. The bathroom has a bidet, but I have forgotten to find out how to use one, so I just use the regular toilette. I sort through what I need, change clothes, wash up, and prep for the day. About 20-30 minutes later, I head downstairs. She still hasn’t had a chance to get my stuff copied, so she asks me to wait and she runs off to the sister hotel next door. 5 minutes later, she is back and I ask her where to find a phone. There is a closer plans on via de Pantalone. I am amused. She then tells me she keeps the key in the hotel. I just ask for it when I enter. That makes it a bit better. I step out the door, and I am on the streets of Venice.
DISCOVERING THE CULTURE
I start to wander and, within minutes, I am rather lost. I am trying to figure out where street signs are and where I am turning, but perspective is difficult and streets don’t often go where you expect. I have no plans for the day officially, so it’s ok to be vague. I find a large square where I see a few gelaterias and pizzerias. There is a large central area in the piazzale where a crowd gathers and puts a few of their own, in green leafy headdresses, up on blocks. There is a small ruckus of singing and picture taking, I can’t figure out what it is, and the group moves on singing. A little later, I run into another group singing “Dottore” over and over. A young woman is dressed up with a tshirt stuffed belly, odd glasses, a similar headdress and lots of “dirt” of makeup. This group is running through Venice and I hear their echoes most everywhere I end up going.
FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONFUSION
I find a church like building holding a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibitions of sorts. It’s about 20 of his machines made for people to try. I am starting to get hungry, so I don’t go in. I am stopped by a backpacking couple from Indiana who ask me, after seeing my Rick Steeves guide book in the distance, if they can borrow it to find the hostel they are looking for. We guestimate where it is (I am off a bit) and I send them off, in possibly the wrong direction, but not too wrong. It’s a twisty turny island, so you will easily get lost no matter what you do. I am really getting hungry, so I head back to the big square. There, I head into the pizzaria, concerned about how the foods will affect me, but not having a great choice in this area, I get a slice, which I order in Italian. It has American pepperoni (Italian is actual peppers) and the most thinly sliced eggplant I have ever seen. It is very tasty. I have it with my bottle of Dutch water sitting on a picnic basket. The Dottore folks walk by.
FINDING THE MASK UNDERGROUND
I head back to that square and figure out which way I need to walk. I had been informed of a mask shop in this area, so I hope to find it, but have no guarantees. I head under the overpass and down the street and see a shop. It’s the one I heard about. I go in. The woman speaks a little bit of English and I ask her about Brighella. They have one leather and no paper mache here. She tells me there is another main workshop for this group and sends me back the way I came, to JUST over the bridge I turned away from. There I meet more people who speak a bit of English and they don’t have masks with nose holes, nor do they seem willing to let me talk with the mask maker about getting something done that way. I end up leaving disappointed, but they do mention another mask shop JUST around the corner. So I go around the corner.
WALKING IN CIRCLES
I turn and don’t see it, I go back and try one more street, but nothing, so I go to the first and turn, and turn, and another street to turn, but if I go the way I came, I am turned, again and again until I find myself in front of the main mask shoppe again. She tells me just turn x and y and it’s there. I do what she says, there is nothing there, I give up. I keep wandering and find myself by a phone store. I go in. The woman speaks NO English whatsoever. Ok, let’s make it work. We find me a phone, a sim card for it, do the paperwork and teach me how to use it, without any English at all. Yes, I am proud of myself. I next ask to borrow the computer (rent internet) and sit down to give the phone number to my emergency contacts. I also posted to you guys. Damn writing on a keyboard when things aren’t where you expect them is a bear. It also takes me a while to find where @ is as you have to hit multiple keys to get it (it’s one of 3 options for that key). I have to hit ctrl alt @. Made me smile. Then, I sign off, pay my bill, and take off into Venice again.
ART AND ARTISTS
I wander and see some beautiful buildings and sculptures, but mostly small streets, some just barely taller than my head. I see an art shop, Scribe, and go in. It turns out that many students and teachers at the Academy in Venice have their word sold here. One rather famous illustrator who had done the Alice in Wonderland and Grimm Fairy tale illustrations in Italy in collage and pastel. She showed me much of his work, but the one that grabbed me was a stage with Shakespeare, Moleire, and Goldoni. I would have LOVED to have gotten it, but it was 320 Euro and I couldn’t justify that at that point. I was seriously thinking of it and thought about coming back, though, for other reasons explained later, I could not. She also shows me the originals and prints of the official carnivale poster designer with the art from the past years back. I can’t remember the year that Kitteblue and RedSteve got married, but that tempted me too. She also tells me that the amazing oil painting that drew me in was from an artist who is, now at age 33, a professore at the Academe. I can see why.
LOST IN THE DARK
I exit the store and see that I am just behind Frari Church. It is a lovely view and I take a pic or two from the outside. I continue to wander streets feeling a bit lost and lonely. I am starting to need a bathroom and see signs for the public WC. I keep following them, but just don’t see the actual toilette. I eventually see signs pointing to the WC from where I came…and I still can’t find it. Must have walked right by it. I give up. I see more frequent signs for the Rialto and find myself in a closing fruit market. I also see signs for the vaporetto. I get there, but don’t see a place to buy tickets and ask a person where I can go to get tickets, in Italian (Dov’e il bigletti?). She tells me on the ship I buy the tickets. I board when it arrives and ask the man in charge. He pulls out a ticket and punches the holes. I sit down in the warmth of the main part of the boat near a window.
BLIEBE, RESTE, STAY
On the ride, finally warm again and sitting, the jet lag is finally catching up with me and I start falling asleep on the ride. This is not good as I don’t know if I will go past my stop. Luckily, I find out that my stop is the end of the line, so I won’t “Miss” my stop. Eventually, we are back and I jump off and walk back to the hotel, get my key and head up. My feet are achy a bit, so I pull out the recommended foot crème (just to bring it, not the type I have). It has honey, shea, and (I found out a few days later) arnica, which is great for my tired feet. I set my alarm and take a nap for the next 2 hours. I fight to get up, but I know I need to reset my clock and force myself up t o get dinner. It’s 8pm and I find out that most of the restaurants around me are closed. I find that odd since I was told most Italians don’t eat till 9pmish. I wander around a corner past the place they thought was open and find a little restaurant called Cambria. It has a menu in 5 languages and mostly spaghettis, which worries me, but I go in and ask to sit inside.
DINNER, ITALIAN STYLE
I am given an appertif of campari with white wine (which looks like a pink wine, but tastes better). I order mussels in white wine, which are only eh, a vegetable soup, which is lovely (in a chicken broth), and Venetian Style Liver (sautéed in onions) which was over a polenta and very tasty. Desert is a panne cotta with an odd sauce, which I think might have been campari again. I order a small bottle of prosecco to toast the recently passed mother of a friend. Her funeral was today and I was not able to attend, so I honored her playful spirit with a bubbly one. I also had a bottle of water (non gassata) and a decaf espresso. They finish my meal for me with a glass of limoncello. I am full and ready to sleep. I head back and see the next door restaurant is open. Ah well. As I get to my hotel, I see others with windows open. I call up to ask how they managed to do that, because I was unable to do it with mine. They speak French…I figure I will just ask inside.
TRAVELING TO SLEEP
I ask about the windows and they say they will send someone up. They also leave me a message from Pieter and Lu from the airport. I call them back (in the US for their phone). We make plans to meet after our morning tours at St. Marks at the Campanille to find a place for lunch. I begin to sort for the night and unpack, write and sort some postcards. The gentleman shows me what I was doing wrong with the windows and I get some shots outside my room. I review the pics from the day and delete the blurs, write notes for myself and crash to sleep.
Thus ends my first day in Italy, first in Venice and beginning of my exploration.
Day two, when I have more time.
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
I drive to Herndon and, with the help of Quislet, am take to the airport with my one heavy (46 lb) bag, after meeting cat and dog…should have been a second cat, but Boo was hiding. I get to Dulles way before my 3-hour time window. Check in is mostly easy and I am given a form to fill out. They tell me that they think I will get my stamp in Italy, not Amsterdam, and that makes me happy. The line to get through security is INSANE and once through the chaos, it is a long hike to get to the tram and terminal. Once there, I decide to have my last hamburger (American meal) and even treat myself to a chocolate/banana rum shake at Ben and Jerry’s. Decadence, but worth it.
THE LONELY ROAD
I am starting to get nervous and try to make a few phone calls while I sit at my gate. The entire day seemed unreal. I got up early and worked, then just had an ordinary day (though starting early) so I felt disassociated from the reality of the trip. I went to call a few friends to touch base, put the reality and excitement back into the trip. Tchwrtr’s Hubby and Anjabeth were great helps making the specialness of the moment real to me and reminding me how amazing this journey would be. I am beginning to bubble. Next to me is a woman who is beginning her journey to a remote section of Africa for her work. My trip is covering 12 hours, hers is 4 days. I feel lucky. I help a woman from India figure out how to use the pay phone to call her family. Finally, we begin to board. I wait a bit so I am not standing in line too much. I have a window seat (thank god) and put my small odds and ends under my seat, go to pee, and get comfy.
THE WORLD EXPANDS
The gentleman sitting next to me is a computer programmer going to speak at a conference in Aarhuus Denmark. Amazingly, I knew where he meant, at least he was surprised when I noted the country to his city. He was amazed as they were paying for him to speak, which seems to be unheard of in this field. After a bit of conversation, we settle down to enjoy the 7 hour flight.
KLM HAS UPGRADED
Well, The last time I flew internationally, I flew KLM/Northwest. It was a cramped and uncomfy flight. This time, they have changed the plane. There is more room around the seat and each seat has it’s own tv monitor that is showing on demand movies. I know I need to sleep, so I only watch one flick this way. I decide on Hairspray, since I didn’t go see it in the movie theater. John Waters has a bit part as a flasher, that was quite amusing. My seat partner offers me rice crackers, and I do partake of one. I drink more water and, since I was just getting over a cold, abstain from alcohol. They don’t have cranberry juice, this makes me sad. I am tired and find I am struggling to make it through the movie. I do, and begin to nap. Then, we are woken up for a pasta dinner of canneloni, a lentil, legume salad, an odd cake thing, I sleep.
MORNING IN THE NEW OLD WORLD
I am woken a few hours later to enjoy a yogurt and banana muffin. I save the muffin and juice box, eat the yogurt and sort of feel ok. I nap again. As I awake, we are getting close to Amsterdam. My body is fidgety. I look out the window and see the most startling sunrise. It is a rainbow. Truly, the entirety of the light has broken to all the colors of a rainbow across the sky. All the colors of the sky are welcoming me back to Amsterdam. It is stunning. I am still not really believing I am about to land in Europe again. It’s amazing.
TOUCHDOWN, WALKTHROUGH, AND STAMP
We land and I see that I have to cross most of the airport to get to my next gate. On the way, since I have time, I stop and get more Jenever and the chocolates my mom likes, as well as another one I wanted to pick up. They seal the bag and I head over. As I get closer to the gate, I see I have to go through screening AGAIN. HUH? This is rather annoying and I am concerned that the money I JUST spent on the jenever is going to go to waste. Luckily, they just scan it in the sealed bag and I am allowed to keep it. They also send us through passport control and stamp the passport here. DAMN, and I thought I would get an Italian one. Bummer. I head on to the gate and stop for another bottle of “spa” water. I have Euro on me already, because of some very generous friends, so it’s a simple transaction. The woman next to me asks if she can pay in US dollars, and they take them as well.
GATE ONED
I stop in the rest room, then to the gate area. I see, sitting around me, a number of others looking at guidebooks and the like. After some basic conversation, it turns out at least one couple is using gate one and doing the same tour I am, but at the one step up on hotels. As I tell them what I want to do when there, the wife says “I’m going with her, you are on your own!” They do ask for my hotel info so they can meet up with me. I am a bit concerned, as I don’t know them, and this was to be my trip alone, but I give them the info, figuring they may or may not contact me. That’s Pieter and Luzella. The others (Tim and Kay and another couple) around are on honeymoons and other random visits. When it’s time to board, they want the passports again. They put us on to a bus and bus us to our plane. This is odd, but not awful. We get on the plane and I have been placed in a middle seat. For the motion sick, this is bad. I make the request of the steward if I can be moved and head to the assigned seat.
LANGUAGES, LOST IN TRANSLATION
Eventually, the steward is able to move me up one row to a window, next to a German couple. I figure it out by their newspaper choice. I sort of understand the sound of a few words, but not much at all. I sleep through most of the flight, but wake up to view the alps below me. Sadly, many of them were NOT snowcapped. That site was kinda scary. There was beautiful snow though. It made me happy. I took pics. Near the end, the couple asks me in English, where I am from. I tell them America and they tell me they are visiting the country next year. Not in my area, but others I have been to. It is very nice to know. They are excited to hear I perform. (I had brought some stupina pics, as I read that its good to have pics of family or the like. For me, WHAT I do is the interesting stuff that needs to be shown, and I wasn’t bringing her out.
FINDING THE WAY IN
Once landed, I am still not really sure I am there. We leave the plane and I see signs in Italian. I know what many say, but not all. I find the carousel where our baggage is coming out. I am also looking for a place that sells phones, since the phone company screwed my order up and I didn’t get one in time. Which sucked. I see nothing. I do see signs that note that while they are trying to be careful with luggage, there is an outside company dealing with the bags and they can’t guarantee anything, um, ok. I see Pieter and Luzella (the older couple from the airport) and we all take a deep breath and hope our bags arrive. Theirs do, I am still waiting. A few minutes later, my bag arrives. I breathe a sigh of relief, grab the bag, and head out. I see an information desk and find out that they don’t sell phones and the closest place they know is in the center of Venice near the Rialto. Um, great. I may not get one.
THE ROAD TO SOMEWHERE
I head outside to the blue ATVO bus mentioned by the guide books and purchase a ticket from the bus driver outside. He stamps my ticket and places my bags on the bus and I get on, after one of the other drivers makes eyes at me. It was a compliment figuring how tired I must have looked. I get on the bus and wait for the departure from the airport through Mestre to Venice. Soon enough we take off. Some of Mestre is very sad and run down, other parts are charming or pretty. We start heading toward the bridge to Venice. I am now starting to get excited. Wow. I had seen Venice from the air, but didn’t have my camera out in time, or I would have had aerial pics, and this angle isn’t good for pics, but it is lovely. Once in Piazzale Roma, I grab my bags. I was going to tip the bus driver, but he headed to the other side, and I didn’t reach him. Ah well. I see my hotel nearby.
GETTING IN THE WAY
So to get anywhere in Venice, you have to cross a bridge. No other option, you just do. I roll my suitcase down off the piazzale toward the pathway I think I need to go, and have to back up a bit. I find the right path and the bridge…no way around it. Up and over, kathud, kathud…lift and lug. Remember, it was 46 lbs (one case inside the second). I am breaking a sweat in the slightly chilly air. I get over and see the door is on the side, down another 10 steps. I am trying to keep to the side and out of the way of those that live or work here. I don’t want to be in their way. I get to the hotel lobby filled with suitcases. I give my passport and voucher to the hotel desk clerk and she tells me my room is ready. She gives me a very heavy key. I can go up, get sorted and when I come down, it will be ready for me.
SMALL BLESSINGS
The elevator is very small. My bag and I take up most of the space, but no one else needs it, so it’s ok. I head up to the 3rd floor (which is the 4th for us) and find room 803…yes, I know, it’s an odd backwards number system in the hotel, but at least the room is there. Small hallways too, I find my room and go inside. It is small, and, ironically, the one I knew, from the website, that would be the one I stayed in. A single bed against one wall that is the width of the room. The length is better, but there is no place to set up my large suitcase, so I take out the small one and leave the empty large one on the side. The bathroom has a bidet, but I have forgotten to find out how to use one, so I just use the regular toilette. I sort through what I need, change clothes, wash up, and prep for the day. About 20-30 minutes later, I head downstairs. She still hasn’t had a chance to get my stuff copied, so she asks me to wait and she runs off to the sister hotel next door. 5 minutes later, she is back and I ask her where to find a phone. There is a closer plans on via de Pantalone. I am amused. She then tells me she keeps the key in the hotel. I just ask for it when I enter. That makes it a bit better. I step out the door, and I am on the streets of Venice.
DISCOVERING THE CULTURE
I start to wander and, within minutes, I am rather lost. I am trying to figure out where street signs are and where I am turning, but perspective is difficult and streets don’t often go where you expect. I have no plans for the day officially, so it’s ok to be vague. I find a large square where I see a few gelaterias and pizzerias. There is a large central area in the piazzale where a crowd gathers and puts a few of their own, in green leafy headdresses, up on blocks. There is a small ruckus of singing and picture taking, I can’t figure out what it is, and the group moves on singing. A little later, I run into another group singing “Dottore” over and over. A young woman is dressed up with a tshirt stuffed belly, odd glasses, a similar headdress and lots of “dirt” of makeup. This group is running through Venice and I hear their echoes most everywhere I end up going.
FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONFUSION
I find a church like building holding a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibitions of sorts. It’s about 20 of his machines made for people to try. I am starting to get hungry, so I don’t go in. I am stopped by a backpacking couple from Indiana who ask me, after seeing my Rick Steeves guide book in the distance, if they can borrow it to find the hostel they are looking for. We guestimate where it is (I am off a bit) and I send them off, in possibly the wrong direction, but not too wrong. It’s a twisty turny island, so you will easily get lost no matter what you do. I am really getting hungry, so I head back to the big square. There, I head into the pizzaria, concerned about how the foods will affect me, but not having a great choice in this area, I get a slice, which I order in Italian. It has American pepperoni (Italian is actual peppers) and the most thinly sliced eggplant I have ever seen. It is very tasty. I have it with my bottle of Dutch water sitting on a picnic basket. The Dottore folks walk by.
FINDING THE MASK UNDERGROUND
I head back to that square and figure out which way I need to walk. I had been informed of a mask shop in this area, so I hope to find it, but have no guarantees. I head under the overpass and down the street and see a shop. It’s the one I heard about. I go in. The woman speaks a little bit of English and I ask her about Brighella. They have one leather and no paper mache here. She tells me there is another main workshop for this group and sends me back the way I came, to JUST over the bridge I turned away from. There I meet more people who speak a bit of English and they don’t have masks with nose holes, nor do they seem willing to let me talk with the mask maker about getting something done that way. I end up leaving disappointed, but they do mention another mask shop JUST around the corner. So I go around the corner.
WALKING IN CIRCLES
I turn and don’t see it, I go back and try one more street, but nothing, so I go to the first and turn, and turn, and another street to turn, but if I go the way I came, I am turned, again and again until I find myself in front of the main mask shoppe again. She tells me just turn x and y and it’s there. I do what she says, there is nothing there, I give up. I keep wandering and find myself by a phone store. I go in. The woman speaks NO English whatsoever. Ok, let’s make it work. We find me a phone, a sim card for it, do the paperwork and teach me how to use it, without any English at all. Yes, I am proud of myself. I next ask to borrow the computer (rent internet) and sit down to give the phone number to my emergency contacts. I also posted to you guys. Damn writing on a keyboard when things aren’t where you expect them is a bear. It also takes me a while to find where @ is as you have to hit multiple keys to get it (it’s one of 3 options for that key). I have to hit ctrl alt @. Made me smile. Then, I sign off, pay my bill, and take off into Venice again.
ART AND ARTISTS
I wander and see some beautiful buildings and sculptures, but mostly small streets, some just barely taller than my head. I see an art shop, Scribe, and go in. It turns out that many students and teachers at the Academy in Venice have their word sold here. One rather famous illustrator who had done the Alice in Wonderland and Grimm Fairy tale illustrations in Italy in collage and pastel. She showed me much of his work, but the one that grabbed me was a stage with Shakespeare, Moleire, and Goldoni. I would have LOVED to have gotten it, but it was 320 Euro and I couldn’t justify that at that point. I was seriously thinking of it and thought about coming back, though, for other reasons explained later, I could not. She also shows me the originals and prints of the official carnivale poster designer with the art from the past years back. I can’t remember the year that Kitteblue and RedSteve got married, but that tempted me too. She also tells me that the amazing oil painting that drew me in was from an artist who is, now at age 33, a professore at the Academe. I can see why.
LOST IN THE DARK
I exit the store and see that I am just behind Frari Church. It is a lovely view and I take a pic or two from the outside. I continue to wander streets feeling a bit lost and lonely. I am starting to need a bathroom and see signs for the public WC. I keep following them, but just don’t see the actual toilette. I eventually see signs pointing to the WC from where I came…and I still can’t find it. Must have walked right by it. I give up. I see more frequent signs for the Rialto and find myself in a closing fruit market. I also see signs for the vaporetto. I get there, but don’t see a place to buy tickets and ask a person where I can go to get tickets, in Italian (Dov’e il bigletti?). She tells me on the ship I buy the tickets. I board when it arrives and ask the man in charge. He pulls out a ticket and punches the holes. I sit down in the warmth of the main part of the boat near a window.
BLIEBE, RESTE, STAY
On the ride, finally warm again and sitting, the jet lag is finally catching up with me and I start falling asleep on the ride. This is not good as I don’t know if I will go past my stop. Luckily, I find out that my stop is the end of the line, so I won’t “Miss” my stop. Eventually, we are back and I jump off and walk back to the hotel, get my key and head up. My feet are achy a bit, so I pull out the recommended foot crème (just to bring it, not the type I have). It has honey, shea, and (I found out a few days later) arnica, which is great for my tired feet. I set my alarm and take a nap for the next 2 hours. I fight to get up, but I know I need to reset my clock and force myself up t o get dinner. It’s 8pm and I find out that most of the restaurants around me are closed. I find that odd since I was told most Italians don’t eat till 9pmish. I wander around a corner past the place they thought was open and find a little restaurant called Cambria. It has a menu in 5 languages and mostly spaghettis, which worries me, but I go in and ask to sit inside.
DINNER, ITALIAN STYLE
I am given an appertif of campari with white wine (which looks like a pink wine, but tastes better). I order mussels in white wine, which are only eh, a vegetable soup, which is lovely (in a chicken broth), and Venetian Style Liver (sautéed in onions) which was over a polenta and very tasty. Desert is a panne cotta with an odd sauce, which I think might have been campari again. I order a small bottle of prosecco to toast the recently passed mother of a friend. Her funeral was today and I was not able to attend, so I honored her playful spirit with a bubbly one. I also had a bottle of water (non gassata) and a decaf espresso. They finish my meal for me with a glass of limoncello. I am full and ready to sleep. I head back and see the next door restaurant is open. Ah well. As I get to my hotel, I see others with windows open. I call up to ask how they managed to do that, because I was unable to do it with mine. They speak French…I figure I will just ask inside.
TRAVELING TO SLEEP
I ask about the windows and they say they will send someone up. They also leave me a message from Pieter and Lu from the airport. I call them back (in the US for their phone). We make plans to meet after our morning tours at St. Marks at the Campanille to find a place for lunch. I begin to sort for the night and unpack, write and sort some postcards. The gentleman shows me what I was doing wrong with the windows and I get some shots outside my room. I review the pics from the day and delete the blurs, write notes for myself and crash to sleep.
Thus ends my first day in Italy, first in Venice and beginning of my exploration.
Day two, when I have more time.
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Date: 2007-11-13 05:56 pm (UTC){{hugs}}
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Date: 2007-11-13 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-13 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-13 09:55 pm (UTC)I agree with the others -- you write wonderfully! Not suggesting you mess with what you have going, but I wonder what two imaginary friends of yours would have to say about the whole adventure. I sense an award winning semi-autobiographical travelogue in the making!