Snapshots: Venice and Florence

We left Rome in a near downpour to arrive in Venice, Venezia, La Serenissima, in another near downpour. All right, that's a bit of an exaggeration. The downpour actually commenced the day after we arrived and continued until the night before we left, but that's beside the point. The point is: Venice during a ceaseless rain storm is not all that fun.

Let me preface the rest of my recollection of Venice by saying that I absolutely loved it. There is nothing like Venice anywhere, nor will there ever be. Steeped in romantic tradition and slightly twisted Venetian culture, Venice is a one and only. My recommendation for those wishing to plan a visit to Italy: stop in Venice. It's worth it.

After we disembarked from the train, we boarded the vaporetto water bus and rode it to the Rialto Bridge.

The Famous Rialto Bridge

From there, we entered the labyrinth of Venice. Everyone gets lost in Venice at some point. It is a wonderful inevitability. The narrow streets, narrower than in Florence, wind and twist into ridiculous confusion. Some end in postage stamp piazzas while others drop off into a canal. While our friend Rick (Steves) guarantees that the best way to see Venice is to get lost within it, advice which I heartily agree with, there is a time when it is not advisable to get lost, which would be when you have all your luggage with you. Of course, we did just that. Mom marked a spot on the maps she packed and assured the navigators (Dad and I) that it was the location of our hotel. However, her conviction in her map-marking skills disappeared altogether when we began to wonder why we hadn't yet found it. A kindly Venetian attempted to help us, but the best he could offer direction-wise was: "Two bridges . . . Mi dispiace. Non so." Italians always give vague directions, as demonstrated by this episode. Often it's better not to ask, that's how confusing their directives can be, even without a language barrier. That being said, we crossed one other bridge and thankfully spotted the beaming "Best Western Hotel Monte Carlo" sign. We then checked in, noted the ugliness of our light fixtures, and set off in search of lunch.

B-e-a-utiful?

After admiring the awesome facade of San Marco we sat down at the famous Cafe Florian. While our snack was overpriced, it was pretty cool to be eating in the same restaurant as infamous Giacomo Casanova! We took it easy the rest of the afternoon, resting up in the hotel after the long train ride and the panic of getting lost. Dinner was spent at a nearby pizzeria were the waiters again marveled at my limited Italian, which I suppose is better than whatever they receive from most of their foreign customers. Makes me feel kinda special. 

The next day we took a tour of the Signoretti glass factory on the island of Murano. Just a (water) taxi ride away from the inner city, Murano is world renowned for its glass blowing. Our extremely friendly "guide," Massimo lead the way through the workshop and show rooms hoping some piece would attract our eyes and our wallets. Unfortunately for him, we weren't willing to shell out €100 or more for pieces like the light fixture in our room, which we discovered was made by the factory and could be purchased for only . . . you get the picture. Some of the pieces we saw were spectacular, but nothing was really our style. In the end, I dropped a little money on a pair of earrings from the "bargain basement" and called it good. Upon returning to the main island, we decided to lose ourselves in the city and just started wandering. We wound our way through the streets and over the canals, past various churches and countless shops selling Murano glass (for much less than the factory, I might add) until we stopped for lunch at a tiny family owned and operated cafe where I finally satisfied my craving for seafood! Delicious. Unfortunately the weather worsened throughout our afternoon wanderings, so we found ourselves ducking in and out of shops and churches until we reached the Accademia. The building was filled with pieces from the Venetian Renaissance masters, from Titian to Tintoretto, and various less famous artists in between. The coolest part was seeing Venetians depicting Renaissance Venice itself in massive landscapes of ornate buildings and murky canals—neither of which had changed much since the paint dried on the canvas.

The next day we braved the uncooperative weather to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Modern Art Museum. It was a nice change for me having been inundated with Renaissance artwork since my arrival back in January. Most of the artwork went right over our heads, but the converted palazzo provided a welcome shelter from the rain. That ceaseless precipitation brought a rare occurrence for springtime: acqua alta! The storm cell brought high tide and the waters of the Adriatic seeped into Piazza San Marco, submerging the area in several inches of unpassable water. The oddly-placed foot tall platforms that began to invade the walkways earlier that day turned out to be walkways themselves, allowing us to cross the flooded square for a soggy passegiata.

We left La Serenissima the next afternoon when the skies finally cleared up, of course! There are numerous enough writers who rave about Venetian sunlight, and I'll not claim to be to be any different—it was absolutely brilliant! Who knew that the simple presence of sunlight could change the constitution of an entire city! How wonderful that a picture is worth a thousand words, because I think I'd run out of adjectives before properly describing the marvelous sight...

Grand Canal

The Winged Lion of Venice

Gondole in the sunshine

Masks!! I really wanted one but couldn't
bring myself to buy one that probably wouldn't
make it back to the States in one piece.

Our return to Florence was less than arrestingly beautiful. I stupidly told Mom and Dad that I would meet them at the Duomo, which happened to be swarmed with Italians on holiday for the celebration of Italy's unification. Luckily I was able to spot them, the two lost tourists in the darkly-complexioned crowd, and proceeded to walk their feet off past all the famous Florentine landmarks. Although it seemed like we did more walking in Rome while the transportation strike was going on. Bless their hearts (and their toes) for being such troopers, though. In just a few days I took them all around the city, stopping at: the Duomo, San Lorenzo, the San Lorenzo Marketplace, the Accademia (to visit my love, David), Santa Croce, Piazzale Michelangelo, the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace, the Boboli Gardens...

The Duomo, Santa Maria Del Fiore

Santa Croce

Galileo's Tomb
(For Dad)

Michelangelo's Tomb
(For Me)

Cloisters of Santa Croce

Piazzale Michelangelo and the Florentine skyline

Piazza Della Repubblica

Palazzo Pitti

The hills of Tuscany from the top of the Boboli Gardens

Boboli Gardens in the rain

Mom and Dad insisted that I take them to all the eateries that I frugally frequented with my friends, so I didn't ever get the chance to try bistecca Fiorentina (the local equivalent to a New York steak). They really enjoyed Il Gatto e La Volpe, a favorite haunt of GIF students because of its free focaccia bread. The same restaurant served me my final Florentine meal last Tuesday when my friends and I went to celebrate the end of the semester. Chin-chin, Italia!