I am so glad that Venice is the last city I am seeing in Italy. I've been here for about 4 hours, but my brain still hasn't accepted this place. I've seen old and beautiful Italian cities, but this is certainly a different category. I see why everyone talks about it the way they do - Bologna is beautiful, Genova is historic, Milan has a neat church... but Venice is Venice.
The train ride in was interesting. The train was incredibly hot - I was so happy I had bought a bottle of water before boarding. I was genuinely concerned that I was going to be ill from the heat. I watched the mountains and tried to sleep a little. I ended up feeling inspired to start the paper that I plan to write next week. I was in the midst of typing as we left the penultimate station and started crossing the water. Venice isn't a coastal city - it is islands. So, the train passed sailboats on its way into the station.
The station itself is right on the grand canal. I paid for a 2-day transit pass (which costs as much as a Monthly transit pass in Milan) and got on one of the water buses. It was neat! There were a few ways to get to my hotel - I chose the path that had the longest boat ride, which took me through the majority of the grand canal. I felt a little pressed for time since the hotel reception desk was slated to close within 30 minutes of my expected arrival, so I couldn't explore on my way to the hotel.
The guidebooks warn about getting lost in Venice, and I took them seriously after my experience in Genova. I thought I was doing ok, following the map provided by the hotel, until I realized that I had actually gone in a circle. My cell phone struggles to know exactly where I am, but Google maps does an excellent job with street names and detailed walking directions. Google got me the rest of the way to the hotel.
I'm staying at a very small, boutique-style hotel - I think there are about 8 rooms total. Venice hotels have a reputation for being small, dirty, and expensive - but this one is amazing! The location is good, the price was reasonable, and the room/hotel is very nice. A couple were checking in before me - it was interesting to listen to the hotel employee tell them about places in Venice. They spoke Spanish, so the employee was speaking 95% Italian with a few Spanish words thrown in. When it was my turn I started the conversation in Italian, but he switched to English. After a bit - my responses and questions were in Italian - he switched to Italian. I knew I picked a good place when the receptionist told me (out of nowhere) about a great used bookstore and the hotel had left books (along with chocolates) on the bed!
My blood sugar was crashing from eating light today and the train ride, so I knew I needed to head out and find dinner. The receptionist had recommended a few restaurants, but I knew that reservations were probably needed. I opted for the easy thing and found an easy-to-get-to restaurant that I could reserve online.
I again took a water bus (I only needed to get across the canal) and tried to find the restaurant... This time Google was no help. Luckily, I had left very early and succeeded in wandering in circles until I found it. I had an amazing fish dinner and succeeded in speaking in Italian the entire time. The waiter even asked me where I am from, where I learned Italian, etc.
After dinner I decided to take my time and wander through the city and the way back. Multiple people have recommended to see the canal at night and to let myself get lost in the alleys. However, maybe these two things weren't supposed to go together! Many of the small alleys (there are no cars here, so everything is pedestrian-scale) dead end at canals. And there are also many passageways under buildings - some are not well lit. At one point I almost walked right into the canal! I'm sure I wouldn't have been the first.
On top of all of the other amazing things here, the night sky is incredible. The stars aren't quite at a "middle of nowhere" level, but I cannot even remember seeing stars in any of the cities I have visited so far.
I still haven't planned what I am going to see and do the next 2 days - there are more possibilities than I can possibly fit in. So far, I do regret being so tired. I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night - I had gone to dinner with some colleagues from the hospital. It was fun, but I hadn't appreciated that Italian dinners could go to midnight. It was a bit rough to get up for my 7:30 AM Italian lesson! So, I need to get some sleep tonight, but I do wish that I could stay out late (wandering around) and get up bright and early.
Venice has already brought me one heartache - my favorite artist (Damien Hirst) has a new major installation project here. Unfortunately, it opens next weekend. While I hadn't wanted to travel next weekend, I am tempted to come back to see it. It opens on Sunday, which is more difficult. I had looked to see if any of the galleries or museums in Milan had anything from Hirst - while not currently, he previously had a piece in the Fondazione Prada. While his work was no longer there, I loved Fondazione Prada!
Off to bed for me - I'm excited for what tomorrow will bring. Probably more boat rides, some fancy churches, and lots of Italian-speaking!
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