Venice...wah wah

I had not originally planned to go to Venice.  I was there in 1998 and didn't love it. But the flight to Venice was 200 euros less than Florence, so I decided to give it another shot because even with a 17 euro train and a 30 euro hostel, it was still cheaper than flying into Florence.

 

In 1998, Linda and I visited Venice in August, during the peak of tourist season.  The water was greenish brown and emitted a thick fishy smell likely because of the humidity.  So, that was the mental souvenir I collected from Venice.  I had this fairytale vision of blue canals and gondoliers weaving in and out through the city and when we arrived, the gondoliers were overpriced and I didn’t want to be anywhere near the stinky canal.

So, this time, I was prepared for green water with a stink and what I found was that it was beautiful.  Perhaps it was because my expectations were set so low, or perhaps, I am just older now and have a more sophisticated idea of beauty.  What bothered me then, enchanted me now and what I had failed to collect as a memory then, was the thorn in my side now, tourists.

The canals were beautiful.  Watching the shipping boats come and go transporting goods from the port to the tiny maze of streets was fascinating.  The gondoliers would unload their boats onto rickshaws and pull giant loads of boxes and goods through the narrow mazes that encourage you to get lost through the city.

The water is still green, but its actually beautiful...

Gondolier!

Venice is the perfect city for wanderers. I think the city actually encourages you to get lost with limited street signs and locals that would prefer to direct you with “first left, then the second right, then turn the corner and go right again“, rather than actually giving street names or pointing to it on a map.


Take my hostel, for instance, I'm not exactly sure how I found it because the address was 2929 San Marco.  I looked everywhere for San Marco, but San Marco is an area of town.  There are no street names in the addresses.  I just had to wander up and down the alleys until I found numbers close to 2929 and then experiment until I found it.

This was the alley that I found my hostel in

 Upon approaching, I was totally skeved out...what the hell did I book. I couldn't recall what I had booked, but I don't recall booking anything sketchy....at least not this sketchy.  Oh well, here goes, its only one night, right?

Creepiest door in Venice?  How did I find this place?

 I opened the door to an oasis.  This hostel had a beautiful courtyard and I had completely forgot it was pink house!  This would totally teach me to judge a book by its cover... (www.veniceparadise.com/it/)

Venice Paradise Hostel Garden

The hostel was sufficient.  Clean beds and a nice staff. I didn't actually meet any of my roommates because after finding the beauty in the canals, I was on a mission to debunk my previous assessment of Venice.

Bustling streets full of tourists

walk to this building, then past the premium stores to San Marco square....

Premium shopping, open late...

 I had been abstaining from pasta everywhere since I fully plan on overindulging on pasta for the next month.  My first meal in Italy??? Tortellini with a Gorgonzola cream sauce and prosciutto.  YUM!

So, the Nigerian Purse Mafia have huge balls in Venice.  They sell knockoff bags right in front of the actual luxury brand store right after closing....seriously?

Piazza San Marco was lovely.  It's a giant square with restaurants that house full string orchestras that play for diners.  The music is lovely and rings throughout the entire square.

Piazza San Marco

For dinner, pizza of course.  What's interesting about pizza in Italy is that if you have multiple toppings on your pizza, they separate the toppings.....mushrooms here, ham there, artichokes there....oh and its a good thing I asked for eggplant, I only got a single slice right in the middle.

It tasted better than it looks.  Kinda lame, though.

So, for the most part, Venice was nice.  Obviously, I don't have the funds or the space in my bag to do a whole lot of shopping, but if I were carrying my home on my back, I would have had a field day in Venice just like everyone else.  So. Much. Shopping to be had.

My biggest complaint about Venice was that it is apparently the "it" place for blue haired's.  I swear it was paradise for the over 60 crowd.  Maybe they got half off lodging or AARP was offering a killer deal, but I swear to God, I was the only person under 65 in Venice.

When it was time to go home, I knew I was in for a treat.  How the hell was I going to find my hostel?  I know it was somewhere near the Accademia water ferry stop, but if I was walking, I was not quite sure which square was mine.  So, I just wandered, as I usually do.... one square, two squares....

Oh wait, I recognized this statue.

Once I find this statue, I need to look for the church and turn right down the alley before the church....

 

...go over the bridge, then turn down the creepy alley after the "arte gallery".... a voila, I'm home.

Venice Paradise 

The next morning, I decided to grab breakfast and try to find one of the shops from the day prior. I ducked into this cute little coffee shop and had a traditional European breakfast....so cute... until the check came, they charged me an extra euro for my pastry AND and extra euro for my orange juice because I sat down and didn't take it to go.  F U Venice.

11 euro breakfast... ($14 USD), what a rip off.

Miraculously, I found the glove shop that I had stumbled upon the day prior.  Blew my budget on a Christmas present for Sabrina....hope you like it gurrrrrrl.....surprise, you're getting gloves!  Oh, if they don't fit you, I want them back, they are soooooooo awesome.

I stumbled upon an amazing art installation by Simon Ma (www.simonmad.com).  He is a Chinese artist that has collaborated with photographers and others to create an amazing Ink Brush Heart exhibit in La Biennale di Venezia, the square where I am staying.

This is the installation that caught my eye to enter the exhibit

Waterdrops installation in Palazzo Pisani courtyard

This is a collaboration of Julien Lennon's photography and Ma's Feather painting series

The gallery, itself, was incredible....

 

This was not the installation that I saw, I photographed this from his book, but I love this version of his raindrops much better!  A-mazing.

"Compatibility"

Boo, the other crappy part of living in Venice.... the canal water is still so the mosquitoes are savages!  I woke up with 7 mozi bites on my face, the only part of my body not covered by the sheet.  I heard them during the night, but failed to cover my head before they feasted on my face....WTF?  Who needs a bindi?

 

I still don't love Venice, but maybe I'll try again when I'm 63 and will have a different perspective.  It seams to get better with age....maybe my golden years will find Venice as exquisite as its fairytale implies. If at first you don't succeed..... 3rd time's a charm....