Thoughts of Venice

Our second night in Venice was labled ¨Khakis and Sass¨ since all of the guys dressed up in their khakis and the seven of us girls dawned our newest outfits. Venecians are famous for their squid ink pasta, but since all we could find was the cuddlefish ink version I had to settle. The pasta was really good and cheap since my faithful food sharing friend, Joy, and I got to split the meal and enjoy dessert in St. Mark´s square later that night. Of course, since we were in Venice everyone wanted to go on a gondola ride. We were willing to spend a little more cash than expected for such a memory, so six of us pitched in for a 100 euro ride down the dark canals. Pino, our gondalier, whistled in the quiet night air and showed us the house of Marco Polo and even pointed out some of the river rats. It was peaceful and (as sappy as it sounds) left you longing for the romance that Venice is famous for. A friend behind me snapped some shots of Joy and I in the front of the gondola as we were pondering and praying for those ¨special someones¨.

On Tuesday, Felicia and I went to the famous islands of Burano and Murano. Burano, about a thirty minute ferry ride from Venice, is known for their intricate lace shops. The quaint little town has houses of all different colors and tourist stream down the city streets in search of a perfect little piece of white, delicate fabric. There was a small store at the end called Emilia where a little woman sat making a lace piece. She wouldn´t even budge for the pictures. Apparently, there were amazing wedding dresses and comforters upstairs in her shop. Her work is in all of the local magazines and known all over Italy. After making a few special purchases for family, we caught another ¨vapereti¨to the island of Murano. This Venecian island houses the primary sources for all of the glass for Italy and the world. When we got off of the ferry, we had several opportunities to watch men blowing glass out of the hot furnaces. They gave some tours and even let some of the girls from our group help form the beautiful pieces. The further we walked down the streets, the cheaper the glass products were priced. If I had had the money, ability to pack, and the time to buy more glass pieces for a home someday I definitley would have spent more time on the island. Felicia was feeling a little sick so we made it back to our hotel to nap and journal. We met up with the rest of the group on the beaches of Lido where we lounged in the sun before playing volleyball. It was my first time to ¨pepper¨with a partner and it felt so good to get to play again without all of the pressures of matches and teams.

That night, I saved some money on food by purchasing risotto and tuna from the alamentari (supermarket) down the street. We went back to the guys´hotel since they had a kitchen and TV and ate our ¨put together¨ meal in order to save money for our last night. After showers and medicine for upset stomachs, I joined some friends in St. Mark´s square again for more music and some exploration of the island. We ventured off to find a gelato shop that Nic remembered from his last trip here...that it until he figured out that the reason we couldn´t find it was because it was actually in Nice..and then we made it to the crepe shop just after it closed. We weren´t too disappointed, though....how can you be when you´re still standing by the grand canal in Italy...and we ended up having some pretty reflective conversations on the steps of the bridge. We talked about our favorite trip memories and how we had grown over the trip...these are definitly things that I am pushing aside because I don´t want it to be over, but eventually I will love to dwell on.

Wednesday we left our hotel on the island of Lido by way of the ferry to Venice. After three incredible days in the city, memories weren´t the only thing on my mind. My head was in a constant rocking motion since the entire city, plus lots of hours on the boats, sent me swirling. I´m thankful that my motionsickness hasn´t really been too much of an issue, though. I didn´t want to leave Venice, primarily because I had no idea or expectations for the Dolomites and our time in the mountains. If I could have know what was waiting for me in my time there, however, I probably wouldn´t have believed it!