Venice – Room with a View

Unfortunately last night was not as easy breezy as I had planned it. Instead of a simply night posting my blog and the most delicious pizza ever, I was sad to discover that a) the internet in the hostel was down – so I was going to have to go searching and b) my favorite pizza joint wasn’t open – I needed a new plan for dinner.

So I hopped back on the vaporetto toward St. Mark’s and started hunting for internet. I had seen about a ba-jillion of them while I was wandering all day, so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard. 

While I was looking I quickly found my new residence for tomorrow, so I tried to take note of the direct and speedy way I had gotten there. But it seemed, the more I searched for internet – the more elusive it was.

Eventually I did find it (which you may have guessed, seeing as I posted last night), but I was semi-grumpy by the time I was done. Next was dinner – I just ate at the first place that would take me, and though it was good – it wasn’t as good as the night before.

I had felt pretty scraggly the day before (we’re getting very close to laundry time folks) so I decided today to make a real effort to look cute. I pinned my hair half up, put on a cute sweater (to be “local” – it’s not near cold enough for a sweater yet), and tied a scarf around my waist – my small attempt to appear somewhat not blatantly American.

I left the hostel feeling good and confident that I would find this new place in a snap. I had done it the night before, right? Well the rule of thumb tends to be: if you are looking for it, 45 minutes. If you’re not: 10 minutes. I quickly spotted not only the internet place I had used last night, but several other options. My new home? I wasn’t timing, but it was a half hour at least.

I was so hot by the time I was all checked in, I decided gelato was my best bet for breakfast. I found that no problem and pointed to a pastel, sunshine yellow flavor and asked for one scoop. I asked the man serving me, “Que cosa?” What is it? And he said, “Creama,” which I’m pretty sure means cream…so I’m not really sure if I asked what I thought I asked. So I have no idea what flavor it was (I’m simply terrible at identifying things by taste) and can only tell you it was indeed creamy, and delicious. I think my best guess is some kind of vanilla?? (Which would explain why I liked it so much…)

After that I tried to get in the tourist mood (I haven’t seen a single “thing” yet!) and headed for St. Mark’s. The line wasn’t too long, so I got right in. Again, not allowed to take pictures (which – shockingly – does not deter people. I mean, we’re in CHURCH! Talk about an ironic time to disobey the rules…) but the ceilings were all domed and inlaid with gold mosaics – it was pretty impressive.

Unlike all the other churches I have seen though, St. Mark’s was roped off so that you could only follow one path – you weren’t free to roam around and enjoy the art at your own pace and in your own order. 

This obviously irritated me, as I’ve had nothing but two weeks of uninterrupted “be the boss of me, do whatever I want,” but I tried to make the best of it. Unfortunately we were packed in there like cattle and I kept bumping into people and they were bumping into me. I felt like I couldn’t actually appreciate what I was seeing because between the herds of people and uneven floors, I was going to fall down. Additionally they were charging to get into the optional rooms and suddenly it was too much for me. Something about paying for stuff in church seems wrong to me (Jesus and the money-changers? Anyone heard that one?) and I wasn’t enjoying getting shoved around, so I left. I had been in there all of 15 minutes.

I sat down on a make-shift bench and struck up a conversation with this older woman sitting next to me. She was part of a tour group with some friends/family and soon I was surrounded by older women. But they spoke English and they were nice to me, so I soaked up the opportunity for conversation. Soon they were on their way and I was left without an agenda. I reminded myself this was supposed to be a trip about having fun and enjoying Italy, not a trip of “shoulds” so I decided to wander around closer to the Rialto Bridge and see what I could see.

I found where the “market” was and enjoyed the view from the bridge. Ironically, even though everything is more expensive in Venice, this has been where I am most tempted to shop. I didn’t end up buying anything (though I did come close) other than a cup of huge pineapple wedges for 1 EU. Abby, I thought of you the whole time 

After that I found my way back to my new room and “moved in.” (My things were in storage previous – they’d been cleaning.) The new place is highly superior to the hostel and is well worth the extra 3 EU a night (not even taking into account the lack of vaporetto to get there). In fact, I was so happy with my room change, I took a nap. A huge, 4-hour, nap. Now I’m feeling MUCH better.

Tonight – the pub crawl. Either that, or I’m ordering a really expensive dinner and will not feel bad about it. I slept right through lunch and now I’m starving!! Perhaps tomorrow I will finally feel like touring Venice. Or maybe I’ll just go to the beach instead. We’ll see.