Roaming Rome: Venitian Getaway

Two weekends ago, I traveled 4 hours on a train to Venice. This was known as the express train and stopped through Florence and Bologna. It was still cold and some parts were covered in snow.

One of my favorite things about being here during this time is that I get to see the sites in a completely different framework. The trip was not terribly uncomfortable; I had just finished and Saul let me borrow his book, The Food of Italy by Waverly Root. It is a very informative book that breaks down each region of Italy by its food.

Once in Venice, we took a ferry to our hotel. After an hour nap, we had a guided tour that took us across the Accademia bridge and to San Peter's Square. The church was very cool; what I really liked was how uneven the floor was. It is caused from the water that floods the church, when the swell is high.

And I also liked the mosaic floors.

We then were set free and explored on our way back to the hotel. Being exhausted, I was stupid and slept for a couple of hours and relaxed in the hotel room. Dinner was included on the first night and we opted to save money and eat there. We then tried to find a bar (we had heard that everything closed in Venice at about 10) and found a tiny one. It was overpriced, over cramped, and overly boring. The night then moved on to a club called Piccolo Mondo. It was also overpriced, 10 euro mixed drinks, but was decently fun. I walked back with 3 guys a little earlier than most and all was fine. I then got a called from my hotel mate and he said I needed to let him in the front door of the hotel. I went down to do so, but it was locked from the inside. They initially thought I was joking, but eventually got it, when I couldn't do anything. They tried climbing through the windows, but the were bared shut. I passed them key through the window, but that wouldn't open it. And the night watchman was no where to be found. The director of our program, was woken up by the noise and came down to see what was going on. We eventually found him sleeping in the back room of the lobby snoring his ass off. Pestilli had to shake him to wake him up. And that was the end of the night for me, but it happened to Pestilli again unfortunately. The next morning, we had a scheduled walking tour at 9 am. Saul, Wes, and I were the only three guys to make it to the tour (all Oxy students I might add) and I'm glad we made it. We saw 2 different churches, one on the Grande Canal, and one on the other side, on the outside waters. The first is Santa Maria Della Salute had an awesome floor. The windows lit it perfectly, but it was unfortunately freezing inside.

I really liked it, we were told that it encapsulated the essence of both a traditional church and one on a central floor plan (basically rectangular and circular at the same time). The second, I don't know its name, but it had a mirror in the center to look at the ceiling, and it was fun to play with.

There were two great statues of Moses

and one of his brother, Aaron.

We then went to the Accademia, where we saw some great pieces of artwork. In the afternoon, we were taken to other very famous buildings (forgotten their names).

The woodwork in the seats were unbelievable. Even our tour guide, who admitted that he thinks wood work is a lowly art form, said these always impressed him by their ornate detail.

The late afternoon, we were free. Someone had found a rolled up ball of paper, and we kicked that around for probably an hour until it fell apart. We were having so much fun that we decided to buy a ball to keep it going. We did what all little kids do, ran routes for football, kicked it into crowds so the person going for it would hit someone, and finally, started seeing how far we could throw it. On our way back, we found a bridge that faced another bridge about 40 to 50 yards away. It was actually quite a spectacular view, and I took a picture of the spot before I even knew this was going to happen.

Of course, we sent someone over and then it began. Andrew threw the first time. Before he threw, there was quite the talk about could we do it, is it possible, what if we lose the ball, all of it doubting the possibility.

With an audience around him (about 10 people had stopped to watch), Andrew's threw the ball perfectly. The distance, the angle, and the accuracy were on point; Jamie on the other hand, was not. He panicked; He came forward (from the center of the bridge), hit and cut his finger on the railing, meaning he had over estimated how far he needed to move, the ball hit him in the chest, then the arm, then the hand, and dropped after hit touched him about 4 times into the poisonous moat below. We were so upset that we pooled another 4 euro and bought another one. The next throw was terrible, some how Andrew caved to the pressure and actually hit the houses on the side before it dropped about 5 ft short. We waited about 5 minutes, not knowing what to do until finally a guy on a boat came through and tossed it back up to us. That throw was equally bad, falling short by about 8 ft. We gave up, deeming it impossible (mainly Jamie had ruined) and head back to the hotel. We were about 2/3 of the way home before all of us were so pissed off by it that we went into a store, bought a pack of tennis balls, and headed back. The first of these throws was on the money and caught, but we didn't stop there. Then Jamie tried throwing; into the water.

Then Dano tried throwing; into the water. Then Josh (not me) tried throwing; into the water. At least we had done it once... A gondola came by (the couple on it, looked as if she had just turned down a marriage proposal; I have never seen a couple so unhappy in my life. Why pay for the gondola, about 80 euro, if you're miserable) and manuvered the coffin like boat to the side of the canal and tossed them up to us.

We got them back and Andrew and Jamie got it across a couple times in a row. It then turned into soft toss. I took my shot, and ended up short by about a foot. An american passer-byer said my throw was shit; good thing he wasn't there earlier to see the other throws we had made. But it was an overall accomplished afternoon. I have videos, I don't know how to upload them onto here, so I'm going to work on that.

That night we did pretty much the same thing; dinner, bar, same club. I was less into it that night, and went home earlier to get some rest. The next day we took a water taxi over to Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore to visit the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore. The inside was a very open space that felt empty and cold, the walls were white and bare. They have a bell tower that we climbed; unfortunately, the marine fog hadn't burned off yet, but the views were still nice.

If you look carefully, you can see the tower in Saint Mark's Square

We then had a couple hours to kill (we threw the last remaining ball around again) before it was time to go back to Rome. This train ride was nice, because Jamie let me borrow is book The Alchemist. I had never heard of it, but really enjoyed what I was able to read. I am waiting for him to finish it, so that I can finish it.

It was a good weekend, but not great. The city's magic was lost on me. For some reason, the fact that the city was floating on water/ tiny islands was not impressive. Although it was an incredible feat, once you hear that the water is disgusting, the buildings are sinking, and rats are everywhere (we didn't see one) it's hard to fall for the allure of the city. It did seem like one giant boardwalk, and that was cool, but there are many other cities and towns in Italy that I would rather visit.

I'll finish with a couple random photos that I really liked: