Goodbye Venice

  My amazing trip to Venice has come to a close. 

Last night I went to the bookstore and found that it had been recommended to so many people, and it is considered one of the top 10 attractions in Venice.  I would have enjoyed it more had it not been quite so crowded.  There was almost an organizational structure, but it was mostly a pile of books on another pile of books... etc.  I didn't succeed in finding anything to buy, which is probably for the best.

After the bookshop I wandered into a section of Venice I hadn't been to yet.  There was one long road with many bars and small restaurants on the canal.  This seemed to be the place to drink beer as a 20-something year old, but I succeeded in finding a fairly quiet trattoria and had a nice dinner on the canal.  Of course, I was quite cold by the end and was a bit concerned about my cell phone battery lasting me long enough to find my way home.  I succeeded, of course, and was happy to have a good night's sleep after walking over 10 miles that day.

Today I had two goals: (1) see St Mark's Basilica and (2) to La Fenice.  Since it was Sunday, I couldn't get into St. Mark's until after 2 PM.  Hence, I started with La Fenice.  It is Venice's opera house, and therefore one of the most important opera houses in the world.  It was absolutely beautiful - and there was a nice audioguide walking us through the history.  While the opera house is well over 100 years old, it had a major fire in the 1800's and another in the 1990's.  Hence, it is newly refurbished - but a serious attempt was made to restore it to the original condition.  Maybe one shouldn't start off by naming a building after a creature that repeatedly catches fire (fenice=pheonix).

After the Opera House I still had a few hours to spare before St. Marks would open.  I hopped on the water bus with the intent to a stop or two past St. Marks to see a new part of Venice.  I didn't know what I would find, but I hoped to get a reasonably good lunch farther from the main tourist area. 

The first thing I found was the Maritime Museum, which appeared to be closed.  However, there was a "ship's pavilion" that was open - and that was amazing.  They had a range of boats on display, including Venician canal/lagoon boats, military boats, and fishing boats.  They had the steam room of a large freighter - reading the sign, I learned this was the ship where Marconi perfected his radio techniques!  Neat!  I love boats, as do the Venicians. 

After the big room-of-boats, I found a Sicilian restaurant for lunch.  It was good and took the right amount of time.  I got to St. Mark's square just as the church was opening.  The Basilica is big and the inside is covered in phenomenal mosaic work.  I think this is the style that the Stanford Church was trying to copy!  The treasury was filled with amazing Byzantine treasures and an incredible array of relics.  However, the main area of the church was very crowded - there was only a single path for tourists to snake through, so it was hard to stop and get a really good luck at things.

However, the Basilica has a huge museum upstairs that provides amazing views (close up!) of many of the mosaics.  It was fairly empty, including the loggia that overlooks the square.  I enjoyed having more space and time to enjoy the church, which is certainly on the same level as Milan's duomo, but in a very different style. 

Finally I wandered back to the hotel, getting back a bit earlier than necessary.  I headed down the Piazza and discovered a NASA/ESA-sponsored art exhibit!  Pictures from Hubble were mixed with space-inspired Italian artwork (made for the exhibition).  It felt like a very poetic way to end my trip to Venice, an appropriate symbol of the synthesis of my time in Italy: beautiful science and beautiful Italy.  

Venice! Che bella!

I've spent my day touring churches, as I typically do.  I woke up to church bells and was very thankful for the goodnight's sleep that I got.  After a shower and breakfast, I picked a church and headed on my way.  It was lovely, but I think I am starting to get "churched out" after 3 months of the world's most beautiful churches.  This church had a lot of really great art, including a work by Donatello, work by Titian, and Titian's tomb.  Obviously I don't know very much about art, so I don't fully appreciate the subtleties in the different Italian paintings of religious iconography.

I ended up eating lunch at a trattoria that had been recommended by the receptionist at my hotel.  I had lasagna with fish, mostly because I had no idea what to expect.  It was good!  The sauce was a creamy-bechamel that has seafood infused throughout (think creamy chowder), rather than big chunks.  From there, I walked past the Peggy Guggenheim collection and along the water.  At there end there was a beautiful view of a variety of islands, St Mark's square, and San Giorgio - a monastic compound taking up almost the entirely of an island. 

I hopped on the water bus and went to San Giorgio.  The church was ok, but there was a belltower with incredible views.  Unfortunately, it was required to take the elevator - I didn't get to climb the stairs like normal.  Next to the monastery is the Venice Sailing Club (I think) and I oggled the sailboats for awhile.  If I won a billion dollars, it would be very tempting to live on a sailboat here.

I left the tranquility of San Giorgio and took the water bus to St Marks Square: tourist central.  I did a bit of shopping, saw a minor church, and then went to the San Zachary church.  This place was quite interesting - while other churches have paintings on the walls, this church has huge oil paintings completely filling the walls.  They also have an old crypt, which is half-filled with water. 

Strangely, the highlight of my day was seeing a big jellyfish in a canal.  I feel quite bad for it - I'm not sure that jellyfish would want to be in the canals of Venice.  It was eye-opening for me to realize that these canals must be salt-water since the Adriatic Sea is right  there.  These aren't like the canals back in Milan...

With my time in Europe nearing an end, I am going into gift-purchasing mode.  Today, I bought a suitcase-worth of gifts (and they weren't all for me...).  Given that I was already worried about how I was getting things home, I also bought a suitcase.  I need it to just get things back to Milan, but I had planned for some time to buy a European-sized suitcase.  I may have some ridiculous baggage fees in my future, and I'm still not sure I will have enough space!

I'm back at the hotel, letting my cell phone charge and enjoying a pot of tea.  The breakfast room also doubles as a coffee/tea room in the afternoon.  While espresso isn't available, I can sit and have tea and pastries.  I will head back out soon to wander the city more.  Most churches are going be closed, so I don't know how many more I will see.  I do want to see St Marks, which is incredibly impressive from the outside.  Unfortunately, it is in an ocean of tourists.  If I can't get in today, I will make it a priority to go tomorrow.  Otherwise, I do just want to wander and let myself get lost.  It was a pain to navigate the alleys when I had a lot of shopping (and a suitcase...) but it is a pleasure when unburdened.  The challenge will not be to do much more shopping!  There are so many interesting shops here (masks, jewelry, art, glass, paper, leather goods...) and I haven't yet made it to the recommended bookstore.  I can't buy much more before I need a second suitcase just to get back to Milan!

Best for Last!

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!  

Finally, Venice!

I'm about to catch a train and head to Venice.  I have this evening in Venice and all of Saturday and Sunday.  Originally it looked like there would be rain this weekend, but it has fallen off the forecast now.  It has been an incredibly busy week, so I haven't succeeded in planning any aspect of the trip (other than hotel and train).  I have an hour before I head to the train station, so I now will "cram" from my guide book.

My trip to Italy is drawing to a close, which is a strange feeling (and which my mind sets to the song "Gethsemane (I only want to say)" from Jesus Christ Superstar).  2 weeks would be a long time for a vacation, but 2 weeks from a major move is not a long time!  This feels much more like the second situation: I need to eat the food stored up in the fridge and cabinets, figure out packing, and wrap up projects at work.  I had my last Italian lesson this morning, and this trip to Venice will be my last big trip.  I might do a day trip next weekend, but I think I will have too much to wrap up to attempt more.

Obviously I'm excited about Venice, but my mind is largely on work right now.  I made some great progress on my primary project over the past few days, but I am still a few simulations from seeing whether everything is working very well or only somewhat working.  My other collaboration has reached the point of a paper draft - I plan to work on my section on the train to Venice.   In addition to these two projects (near the end stages), there are 2 more simulation project for me to get started on!

My Italian collaborator is now back at the hospital and we had an incredibly productive conversation this week.  It turns out that he and I have both had an interest in the same (very specific) idea for some time.  It would be completely novel, and we both had some specific suggestions for different things to try.  I've written an (unsuccessful) grant application on it before, but in our conversation we ended up on a modified idea that I am fairly excited about.  I'm eager to get started on the simulations - the Monte Carlo data would serve as the initial data in a future grant application.

I won't be taking my laptop to Venice (in order to work on simulations...) since past trips have shown me that I do stop thinking about work once I get on the train to somewhere exciting.  But it is nice to have research going so well.  Not only do I think I can have a second paper submitted before I leave Italy, but we have 2 major collaborative projects going where my simulations will be paired with experiments done in Italy.  Along the way we've encountered some interesting questions that I'd like to explore in more detail.  One would be a stand-alone simulation project that would certainly yield a paper - and that could be really good for an undergraduate student to work on!

It is nice to have so much promising science to think about, but I better start planning my Venice trip... poor me! (-:

Back to Lake Como...

While I didn't feel up for traveling this weekend, the pope is visiting Milan.  I expected that this would bring crowds and chaos and that I wouldn't want to head into the city.  Faced with staying at home all weekend, I looked into heading into the mountains... after some recommendations from my Italian instructor, I decided to stay on Lake Como and booked a hotel from my cell phone.

I'm currently in Varenna, which is half-way up the lake.  I left work a little early and was able to see the scenery from the train (before the sun set).  After checking in to my hotel, I wandered the streets.  I love ancient mountainside towns - it is difficult to tell what paths are meant to be roads and what ones are sidwalks/alleys... all of which incorporate stairs!  My plan for tomorrow is to take a ferry to Bellagio.  There are villas with beautiful gardens both here in Varenna and in Bellagio - and the weather is supposed to be 70 degrees.  It is supposed to begin raining tomorrow evening, but I hope to have a nice day tomorrow. 

The last time I was on Lake Como, I was in Lecco in January and it was freezing!  Now there are flowers in bloom, even though I can stll see some snow on the more distant mountains.  Tourist season begins tomorrow - yet everything felt very empty here, which was a bit surprising for a Friday evening.  There are some tourists around - British, American, Russian.  Hopefully things will still be quiet and peaceful tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow - I've been exhausted all week, but the magical combination of mountains, lake, and ancient streets should re-energize me!

I've earned a break!

I started my paper on Saturday and made good progress sitting in a wonderful cafe (that caters for foreigners who want to work in a cafe).  On Monday I sent the first draft to my collaborators and on Tuesday I sent the next draft... which was close to a "final" version.  I ended up staying until almost 8 PM in order to get it done, and there were a final few details I wasn't happy with.

With a few final e-mail exchanges yesterday and today (Thursday), the paper has been submitted!  We'll see what the reviewers say.  I'm very happy to have turned it around so fast and to have it be relatively "easy" compared to past papers.  It still might get rejected, but we'll have to see why, if that is the case.  We might need to expand the data and make it a bigger paper, for instance.

After submitting the paper, I tackled the core of the simulation that is supposed to be my primary project.  I've been struggling with a very specific aspect, but finally had a few breakthroughs yesterday and today.  My breakthroughs actually involved reading papers on chicken meat.  I have some strange Google Scholar searchers in my history now.  So while I told my colleague (yesterday) that it might take me a few weeks to run a certain simulation, I actually was able to run it today.  I have data - in a way, I'm done!

Part of me feels like I'm really on a role with this simulation work (which is why I'm still going at 9 PM...), but I'd also like to take a break.  Luckily, a friend is coming to visit for a few days!  This might actually be my favorite weekend of the whole trip.  I get to show someone around Milan like it is "my" city.  Having a friend here means that I can do a bunch of things that are super awkward for me to do on my own, like go in fancy stores or go out to dinner.

With a month left of my trip, I've submitted a paper and made great progress on a number of my research projects.  My Italian is vastly improved and I've done a bit of traveling.  I even had one of my Italian colleagues compliment my outfit today, so that might be my biggest achievement.  Now I get to have a fun few days and wait for the response on the paper!

Cimitero Monumentale: Pictures of one particular family grave

I spent a few hours back at Cimitero Monumentale today and managed to see just about all of it.  I even saw a cat and some lizards!  Most importantly though, I saw this:

I'm not entirely sure if this is information on how to contact the aliens, or a note for when the aliens land.  Either way, Dan Brown should stop making things up and just write all of his books about Cimitero Monumentale.