Venezia and International Festival

Venezia!!! Had a wonderful weekend in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! Took the Eurostar from Firenze to Venezia and arrived in just 2 hours. I love train travel. Luckily, the train strike that was to take place last weekend never materialized. We stayed in a little hotel just outside of Venezia and I had my own little room with a twin bed. It was positively tiny but the perfect size for a single traveler. The day was a little gray and it rained for a short time while we were at the hotel.

We headed to Venezia (about a 10 minute train ride away) in the afternoon and emerged from the train station to see our private water taxi waiting for us, complete with drop dead gorgeous skipper. He took each one of our hands and helped us on to the boat. Needless to say, we all swooned. The short boat ride took us to a dock near Piazza San Marco. We disembarked (with a hand from the skipper- yeah!) and walked a short distance to the square passing the Bridge of Sighs along the way. Venezia is constantly undergoing preservation and restoration. Currently, they have scaffolding etc covering every inch of brick and mortar around the Bridge of Sighs so the bridge seems to float in mid air. Sort of disappointing. There is also a ton on work going on around the Campanile in Piazza San Marco which mars the view. But NOTHING could damage the overall aesthetic of the exquisite square.

Snapped some quick pictures and then we hustled into the Basilica to look around before it closed. The wealth of mosaics and marble was absolutely staggering. We climbed the steep steps to the balcony to view the Greek horse statues and get a little closer to the mosaics. Pictures were forbidden but I stole a couple here and there. We stepped out onto the exterior balcony and snapped some more pictures of the beautiful view.

After exiting the basilica we had a couple of hours to ourselves to sight-see, and Kate, Justyn and I wandered off into Venezia. We browsed the narrow passageways between buildings and watched gondolas glide past. We did a little shopping and eventually found the Ponte di Rialto. Justyn talked a gondolier into letting us walk out onto his little dock to take pictures. Then we headed back to meet the group at Piazza San Marco.

From there we walked for about 40 minutes, snaking our way through the streets and past the canals of Venezia, to a restaurant for a group dinner. Venezia is much larger that I expected! The group meal was great: mushroom risotto and pasta duo, stewed pork with roasted potatoes, salad, wine and molten chocolate cake for dessert. I'm not sure how Venetian it was but it was certainly good.

For all of you who are wondering if I got on a gondola -- the answer is no. They were (surprise) insanely expensive -- about 60 euro for 20 minutes -- and I could not stomach the cost. I am doing a lot of traveling in the next couple of weeks and have been doing a little too much shopping and the costs are piling up! I would rather spend a day a Versailles this weekend for half the cost of the gondola. Decisions, decisions.

After dinner we walked for another 4o minutes back to the train station, waited around for a ticketing crisis to be sorted out and headed home. I sat up half the night coughing my head off and was grateful that I didn't have any roommates to annoy with my hacking. But I had CNN so it was nice to catch up on the news.

The next morning had a continental breakfast at the hotel then took the train back into Venezia. The group broke up and I headed to the Museo dell'Accademia with a small group and a guide. Most of the kids wanted to explore the streets and I have to say I wanted to as well, but I can never pass up a museum. I wasn't disappointed. The collection was amazing.

From there, the guide took us over to the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, which houses a few important works by Titian as well as tombs and relics. It had an absolutely massive reliquary case housing 6 or 8 whole hands and various bones. So interesting! No pictures though. They never let you take pictures of the really weird stuff. The church also houses a statue of St John the Baptist by Donatello. Loved, loved, loved this church and its amazing funerary monuments to a few doge's and other Venetian notables, including Titian himself.

We grabbed a quick pizza and gelato lunch. I finally got my hands on spicy chocolate gelato. I guess it had cayenne powder in it or something and it was so good! Headed to Peggy Guggenheim Collection next. I quickly browsed the collection of Modern/contemporary art which includes Dali's, Picasso's, Kandinsky's, etc and spent the rest of the time standing on the patio overlooking the canal behind the villa. The view was absolutely exquisite. Took more pictures, shopped a little more, then started the long walk to the train station. I don't know how any one finds their way in Venezia! There are so few landmarks and the little alleys prevent you from getting a lay of the land. Thank goodness for our guides because I never had any idea where I was. Hopped back on the Eurostar for a lovely trip back to Firenze. It was a great weekend but I really feel like I needed WAY more time. The good news is that I will be traveling to Venezia next semester as well. I want more time to explore the city.

When I got back to town, I headed back to my house and stumbled upon yet another awesome fair in Piazza di Santa Croce! It was an international food fair! I browsed the stalls of French, German, Spanish, Polish, Greek, etc stalls all offering food and products for sale. There was lavender from Provence, paella from Spain, Crepes, pretzels, wool products, jewelry, etc, etc, etc. I finally settled on a bratwurst and ate it as I walked around. I debated about having a crepe but then remembered that I will be in Paris on Friday and will wait until then. Finally, headed upstairs and collapsed into bed.

The next morning, Kate came over and we looked around the international fair some more. I bought a ridiculous hat and we ate some German sausages and shared a weird pretzel. We shopped around my neighborhood a little more then headed to the San Lorenzo market to um... shop some more. Tried on a million pairs of shoes --nothing fits my giant American feet -- bought a little belt, scarf, and fun Firenze tourist crap. Then we headed to work for the afternoon. Ate dinner at lovely corner bistro where I had tartufo (truffles) once again. This dish was soooo truffle -y that I probably won't eat truffles again for a very long time. It was good but I think I've tired my tastebuds out. Went back to Santa Croce to people watch and talk then finally headed to bed.

Here I am today finishing up my work day. Finally booked the hostel for my trip to Dublin and tickets to Versailles for Saturday. I am really excited about Versailles and hoping that it won't be overrun with people. Yeah, Paris!