A Pound of Flesh

Location: Venice, Italy 
Temperature: 15C, overcast
Steps: 30 000 (2 day total)
Gelatos: 2

April 30, 2019

I’m baaack!!! After a 10 month hiatus, or I should say, after 10 months back in the real world, I once again shouldered my backpack (it still fit!), reclined my seat and set off on another adventure. And boy, does it feel good.

A lot has happened since I last traveled: I got a new job, a new home, new car and met some amazing new friends.  And I worked. A lot.  Luckily, I love my job! And surprisingly, I didn’t feel the need to travel for a long time after I returned. I craved normalcy, routine and predictability. And I got it in spades.  Evidently, the pull of the open road beckoned me once more, my wanderlust building until I finally typed the last digits of my credit card number and purchased a ticket to Italy.  3 weeks in one of the countries that had dominated all my travel wish lists since I was a little girl.  Food, history and art: here I come.

Trusting in my well honed travel skills, I left packing until the very last-minute and soon found myself  traveling the now familiar rail route on the way to the airport.  Unfortunately,that’s where the familiarity ended, as I found myself in uncharted territory: the dreaded middle seat.  Even the gate agent was sympathetic to my plight: after an unsuccessful attempt  to reassign  my seat, he kindly stated “I feel for you”!  How reassuring.   I spent the next 7 hrs wedged between two rather broad-shouldered gentleman who not only enjoyed manspreading but also  monopolized the arms rests. Well, guess I don’t have to feel bad about my snoring and cold induced sniffling – that’s what happens when you disregard plane etiquette folks.  To be fair, my evil intents were quickly punished by a wicked earache kindly acquired on the flight – another first for me!

Two coffees later, I hit the ground running.  This go around, time was of the essence and i found myself bound to a schedule.  I knew which city I would be visiting when and even had reservations for accommodations there.  Imagine that!  First stop was Shylock’s old stomping grounds: Venice!  While I had always wanted to visit this canal city, I hemmed and hawed about how much time to spend.  I had heard Venice was a tourist town, the Santorini of the continent so to speak.  However, two of my very wise colleagues spoke of their love of the sinking city, so I opted to add an extra night.

After taking a water bus to my hotel (yup, it’s a thing!) I did what I most love to do while exploring a new city: I wandered.  And ate!  I indulged in a much awaited Gelato at the very first stand I saw – it wasn’t the best, clearly, bit it did the trick.

My favorite flavor: penicillin, ugh, I mean, banana!  Vowing to find Italy’s best gelato, stayed tuned for the score tally of all my ‘research’

Walking along a canal, I realized I was giggling out of pure joy and giddyness. I was here!  In Venice!  I place that had lived in my imagination, shaped by the  immortal words of Shakespeare, the romanticism of Carnival and the sagas of ancient history.

One of the first sights upon me was the most recognizable : Piazza San Marco.  The social, political and religious center of Venice is dominated by the impressive St Mark’s Basilica.  And the lines.  Even in the shoulder season, crowds gathered in the square, snapping selfies and lining up to set their eyes on the wonders that awaited inside Venice’s most famed landmark.

Piazza San Marco

Completed in 1082, the cathedral is named after Venice’s patron saint, Mark, who is credited with the conversion of the Venetians.  While I chose not to queue along with the masses, the church’s beauty is still quite impressive on the outside.  The influences from the east remain quite visible: from the four horses guarding the entrance taken from Constantinople to the onion roofs dotting the skyline.

It’s definetly one of the more unique churches I’ve seen, a mix of east and west, with a little bit more thrown in for show.

The beauty of Venice is its canals, which wind their way through the island, beckoning at every turn.  The Grand Canal is the most recognizable, with shops and cafés lining the banks.

For that can’t resist the romanticism of cruising down the canal but are weary of turning over the required 80euros to hop on board a gondola, can do as I did and ride the bus!   The vaperetto is the city’s public transit system and as there are no streets in Venice, naturally all transportation takes place on water.

I decided early on that my time in Venice would be leisurely and not spent in lines visiting endless mundane tourist attractions; however I couldn’t resist visiting The Galleria Academia when i saw there was a special exhibit on the master himself, Leonardo Da Vinci!  A collection of his personal sketches, studies of movement, anatomy and preliminary sketches of some of his masterpieces (including a study for the last supper) were on display, including the piece de resistance: The Vitruvian Man!  To say Leonardo was a genius is an understatement.  His use of mathematics and anatomy in his painting was beyond his time.  In a letter he wrote to the Duke of Milan requesting a job, he described himself in 11 paragraphs as a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and a writer.  Only in the 12th one does he mention he is also a painter.

No first few days in Italy would be complete without pizza; Margherita of course!

If seeing photos of food annoys you, well, I’m sorry.  This blog ain’t for you!  You’ve been warned…

Venice, a city often described as elegantly decaying, was the perfect start to this whirlwind Italian tour of mine.   Next stop: neighbouring islands of Burano and Murano to escape the masses!