After my adventures in Napels, I headed up to Venice. As the title of this blog states, DO NOT confuse with Vienna. When I went to book my reservation on the train, I went to the ticket desk and kindly asked for a ticket to Vienna. Now in defence of my blondeness, Venice in Italian is called Veinza, sounds suspiciously close to the Austrian counrty! So the ticket guy promtly looked up the information and informed me that the train was full for today but could get me on a sleeper train. A sleeper train!?? But i am in the same country?? As i was throughouly confused and concerened as i had to get to get to my hostel or pay a fine, i looked at his computer as if to will it to magically find me a spot on the train, when i read Wein, Wein is the Austrian name of Vienna (for some reason in North America we have changed all the names of the cities in each country and insist on confusing the locals when we call them by our name. Its like someone deciding San Fransisco should be called Wonderland, and insisting on that is its real name!? Why are we so wierd!) Realizing my blonde blunder i quickly informed the man of my confusion and assured him that i really wanted to go to Venice, in Italy. He found me quite amuzing and laughed with me at my stupidity! I insist that he laughed WITH me, and not at me. He may have laughed a little harder than me though...
Either way i was lucky the train was full to Vienna, so i could go to Venice, and not accidently end up in the Austrian city. I arrived in Venice and immediatly found the city to be beautiful, bustling, and touristy! Just what i like! Filled with shops that are brimming with Venician Masks, i felt like i had fell into the 1800's and should be preparing for a masqureade ball! They were lovely with fans of feathers, shimmering with glitter, and lined with ornate cord or lace. The canals stretch out before you with twisting grace, snaking through the city and bridges with thick marble banisters arch over them, so boats and gondolas may pass beneath.
The city is filled with people wandering through, bustling about, or marching over the unfortuante tourist who has stopped on the wrong side to snap a photograph. Even though the roads and pathways are without cars or scooters, you still stay to the right, as if driving, otherwise risk being run-over by an agressive buisnessman in a hurry, and a scowl!
The hostel I was staying at rocked as it offered cooked dinners of pasta everynight at 8:30. As i was patiently starving, i met a girl from Belgium who has also just arrived, and had not been impressed by the slew of 19year old americans who were showing they could drink just as well as....., well , an alcoholic. As the wine bottles became emptier, the volume became louder. Annemere, the Belgian girl and i struck up a quite conversation and waited for dinner. We decided over shoveling pesto pasta into our mouths as if afraid the american girls would spot us and steal our food, we decided that we would wander the canals and streets of Venice the next day.
And that is what we did. Venice is a perfect city to get lost in! It is pointless having a map, because the roads and addresses don't make anysense unless you are on a boat. So you just wander the streets and when you come to a dead end, which is where the path ends at a door, or a dock, you turn around and try again. Eventually all paths lead to major squares, and even when you have seen the major squares and are trying to go somewhere else, you end up back at the major squares. It is only until you are trying to find your way home, that you discover a whole other side to Venice, that you didn't see, and at the end, didn't care to see because you just wanted to sit down, or eat! Have i mentioned yet that all i did in Italy was eat. And when i was not eating i was thinking about eating. Even when i was eating I was thinking about what i wanted to eat next, or how my current meal compared to a previous one...
We wandered all day, found our way back to the hostel, bought some wine (i also bought some pastries!!) and ate dinner, chatted with another 2 Canadains who joined us, and rested our tired feet.
Annemere left the next day, and i was taking a train out to Milan where i was to fly out the Greece, but first i went down to Murano, one of the Venician Islands where they make all the pretty glass. It was really fun to wander the island, but i soon realized that all of the island was dedicated to touristy glass shops. I found a demonstration where they were making a vase and blowing the glass, and then another artist, took the bit of molten glass that was left from the original mans vase, and pulled (and i really mean pulled) a horse out of the glass by using some mega sized tweezers and a clamp. Within 3 minutes he had made a horse, and the other man took about 20 minutes to melt, roll, pull and blow a vase. It was all pretty crazy!
I controlled my impulse purchase desire and only 2 pieces! Yey me, then i made it back to Venice, and forgot my control and bought a bloody Venician mask that is delicate so i have to carry it around in a seperate bag, and keep blowing up the first plastic bag that it is wrapped in so the art and feathers dont get all squished. Damn impulse buying!
I made it safely to Milan, where i stayed only a few hours before i flew out to Greece!
PS Went to Capri, It was Beautiful!!
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