Venice, Italy

Venice is EXACTLY as I had imagined. It's a tiny little island in shape of a fish (which I didn't know before looking at a map of where I was staying) with tiny, old buildings that look as though they are about to tumble over and crumble any minute. There are canals that weeve in and out, with bridges everywhere and tiny cobblestone walk ways that remind you of sketchy allies and look as though someone is about to jump out at you and mug you, but they don't.

Perhaps the coolest thing I saw while I was there that I had no idea existed in Venice was the Plaza San Marco. If you remember the De Beers diamond's commercial where the guy screams "I love this women" really loud and she gets embarrassed until the idiot whips out a diamond ring and then she's like "I love this man." (Yea, Golddigger). Anyways, it's the giant plaza. Or perhaps you remember the opening of Italian job when the old man calls Charlize Theron and he's in this plaza with all these pigeons and he tells her he's bought her a diamond necklace and she asks him if it has a receipt. Anyways, it's that plaza. It's a really neat piece of architecture and there is a church that stands at one end. It's swamped with pigeons that you can feed and they'll swarm you, but with the whole bird flu scare I was hesitant. I did manage to run through them and got the pleasure of kicking a few of them because I fucking hate pigeons. They're like rats with wings, they're so nasty.

We got to Venice at about 1 p.m. on Thursday and we were scheduled to fly out of Venice at 10 p.m. on Friday. We had plenty of time to get to know the tiny little islands that make up this place. Quite frankly there is only so much to do in Venice. Usually when I travel I like to wander the city and get lost, but in Venice you'll almost inevitably get lost without meaning too. Nearly every street looks the same and all the buildings block your view, the streets aren't a perfect grid and sometimes you need to walk down such narrow paths that you can seriously only go one person at a time, single file.

What was nice about Venice for a while is that you actually felt like you were in a different country. At least for Thursday you felt that way. There was hardly any English speaking people there, but by Friday all the tourists started swarming in and you could ONLY hear English by the time I left. It kind of ruined the atmosphere.

Whilst in Venice I managed to contract this Cannoli obsession on which I began what I like to call a Cannoli Crawl (similar to a Pub Crawl, but I scoured Venice for Cannolies). It started in Florence when I learned they weren't native to the Tuscan region, but when in Venice it really kicked in. When I say that nearly every bakery I passed I'd stick my head in and see if they made cannolies. Sometimes I got lucky and sometimes I didn't. I tried different types of cannolies of all shapes and sizes. Some where delicious and some could have used more work. By the end of the trip I ended up becoming an cannoli expert and even brought some back to London with me. To this day I continue to look for cannolies while in London.

Also, while in Venice as we were wandering the streets or allies as I like to call them. We stumbled across this tiny little pizzeria that sold slices for 1 euro. We only initially stopped there because it was cheap, but little did we know that it would become the most delicious pizza that we had ever had. After that slice we must have returned to that pizzeria 4 to 5 times each day we were there. By the end of the trip the owners recognized our faces and new exactly what we wanted and how we wanted it. It was great and I have yet to find pizza that can compete with that delicious piece of marvel. My mouth waters thinking about it.

Now you're probably wondering if I got the chance to ride a gondola (the tiny boats with the guys in the funny hats and striped shirts). The answer is no, well actually not technically. It's a real touristy thing to do and they gondola guys are everywhere trying to get you to jump on one and charge 80 euros for a 30 minute ride. If you can do that math that's nearly $95 for a 30 minute boat ride. So naturally I said no. However, there was a .50 cent gondola ride that took you directly across the Grand Canal (the main canal that runs through all of Venice). It's the same boat, same little dude he just doesn't sing and it lasts maybe 45 seconds to a minute. It's enough time to snap a few pictures and look like you road a gondola while in Venice. So there you have it. When you see my pictures that's what I did.

As you could imagine by Friday I was very upset that my trip to Italy was fast becoming a mere memory. I started getting kind of irritable by Friday afternoon and anxious to leave Venice simply because everything the island had to offer I had done and it was incredibly cold. I was miserable, but in retrospect I think it was just that I was sad to say Ciao to Italy. Never in my wildest dreams as a young bloke did I imagine that I'd spend an entire week in Italy. I remember looking at maps of the big boot and want to visit certain parts so badly and I had at 21.

I made myself a promise on the flight back to London that I would return to Italy next summer. There are still so many parts that I want to see and experience and eat more delicious food. I also made it a personal goal to learn Italian before I return so that my trip could be that much more enhanced by all the experiences. It would be incredible to submerge myself in the culture of this amazing country.

My trip to Italy was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. I have close to 600 pictures from all the girls cameras and tons of great memories. I am so happy that I got to spend an entire week of my spring break in Italy. I think before I return home I'll be traveling back to Sardinia, Italy (an island just west of the boot comparable to Sicily) for a weekend of beach and sun (I miss it so much).

Look back it sort of all seems like a dream. When you are faced with so much history and tradition its like it none of it really happened. It's great because now when I read about Rome, Florence and Venice and the artists that are famous from there, the famous buildings, the history, the stories, the art and the fiction I can relate so much better. Actually going to Rome and seeing the Colosseum or the Pantheon makes understanding history so much easier and interesting. On the train ride to Venice I read up on Florence in one of the guide books and it was easier to retain all the information and interesting tid bits of history because I had been to the places, seen the buildings or art and was able to appreciate it. I wasn't blindly reading about some statue that I had no idea what it looked like. It's the same when I returned to London and went back to the Victoria & Albert museum where they have casts of original pieces of art and buildings from throughout Europe. I was able to go through the room and identify where each piece came from and where I had seen in when I visited it in Italy. I was able to relate to it more because I saw the real thing and read up on it after the fact. That's why I want to reread Da Vinci Code (after I visit Paris though) and Angels & Demons. Maybe after having been to the places he talks about I can visually picture the stories better. Funny how after this entire trip THAT'S what I want to do. lol.

A word to the future traveler.... you can do Venice in one day. There really isn't much else to see or do than eat and shop knick-knacks at outdoor markets.