Venice: The Daily Breakdown

On the day I arrived, after meeting new friends Andrea and Luis, I headed into Venice to do some exploring. The first day consisted of me walking the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's basilica, wandering to find peaceful old churches, and just allowing myself to get lost.

                                                        The Grand Canal                          

          
                        

St. Mark's Basilica

Saturday was moving day for Andrea and Luis so after saying goodbye to them (with hopes to meet up again soon) I went off to do the tourist things such as seeing the inside of St. Mark’s basilica and Bridge of Sighs (which in my opinion is a bit overrated). I was specifically looking forward to seeing the Bridge of Sighs because a week before I had seen a “replica” in Oxford inspired by the real bridge that filled me with higher expectations. However, the bridge itself was tiny and I quickly moved on. I wandered to mask shops, art galleries, and art-filled areas such as Teatro Goldoni and Museo della Musica, a museum showing the inner parts of string instruments. Being a former violin player myself, I of course felt connected to the inner parts of the violins and took in the beautiful classical music in the background. Next I found myself in the Portuguese Pavilion observing an exhibit on Portuguese architecture. This one was purely to feel connected to my best friend whom I had been longing for this entire journey.

         
                  Seafood Cichetti                                         Mask Shop


                               
                                                 Teatro Goldini                              Museo della Musica
                          
Throughout the day I felt so guilty for being in a place I've dreamed of all my life and being in my head too much. I needed to have a memorable trip. I needed this time and space. I love the way the sun shined on me and how I could wear shorts and a tank top on October 13th. Despite the warmth, however, I'd been shaking a lot lately. Camping is supposed to be therapeutic and get you away from the real world like retreats when you grow closer to God. My "camping trip" consisted of me waking up shivering, but hey, at least it forced me to get up and embrace the day. That night I decided to treat myself by walking to an edge of the city to watch the sunset, seeing an opera and ballet show, and Italian dinner. When I arrived at the bus stop to go back to the campground, there was "yellow tape", red in Italy, surrounding the bus station and police all over the scene. I'm not entirely sure what happened but the next thing I know the bus I needed was departing from a different stop across the crime scene, left without a huge group of us behind, and we waited another hour for the scene to be cleared and take another bus back to the campsite. On top of this, the public buses in Italy don't typically say which stop is next like they do in London or Chicago so it is very confusing when you are not from the area and it is dark so you don't know which stop to get off at. So the bus ride back was eventful, to say the least. Once again, I laughed, at all of the craziness that was this trip.

                              

On Sunday I decided to get a water bus pass to Murano and Burano, two nearby islands of Venice, both unique and beautiful. My theme song for the day was "You gotta keep your head up" by Andy Grammar, stuck on replay in my head on the water buses from island to island. Murano is known for their blown glass art galleries and shops everywhere. The island was filled with color and a quietness I couldn’t find anywhere else. I wandered into more churches, glass art galleries, and a famous cemetery. Afterwards, I continued to Burano, known for lace and their colorful houses everywhere. The entire island can be walked in less than an hour but this one is more crowded with tourists. From Burano, I wandered to Mazzorbo, known for it’s vineyard and orchards and very high class restaurants and then walked back to the colorful houses of Burano. The tourist and local areas are not so far apart, given the small space, so I walked the streets aimlessly and headed to the edge to watch the sunset. On the way home, I met some lovely American women who were headed in the same direction as I was. After bonding over the rude bus woman who shoved me away and made me miss my stop, the women showed me an alternative route to getting back and turns out they were all friends from New York having a women’s trip around Italy. They inspired me and made me feel empowered and happy to have such strong women in my life that someday we can take more trips together. It was my last night in Venice already and the first time my mind was finally beginning to be there, present.

Murano

                                         

                      

                                                             

                                                 


                                                                    Burano


                                 

                                                             Mazzorbo