Going, Going, Gondola

As promised, my trip exploring a big city like Venice after merely a week of being in Europe made many, many memories. Our last class on Friday ended at 4 p.m. and our train left at 6:02 p.m. We walked to the station and headed on our way.

Train Trauma

For everyone who has not ridden a train, it does not work the same way as flights. You have to keep track of where you need to get off and when. I thought I had picked the seat next to my friend in the first train, but I got the right seat number in the wrong cart. So, I sat alone. Which means when I got confused with how trains worked and got off at the first stop in Florence no one was there to stop me. Thankfully the sign saying Florence when I stepped off was a big enough hint for me to jump back on. Other than that little misunderstanding that almost left me stranded in Florence, it was a smooth ride. We walked all the way from the station to our Airbnb. I couldn't see the bright colors of the city in the shadow of night time, but I could just make out towering cathedrals and gleaming waves in the canals that hinted I wouldn't be disappointed in the morning.

Venice in a Day

The next morning, we were all packed and checking out of the bnb before I could even catch my breath. Unlike some cities that come alive at night with the blinding lights, street fashion and loud music, Venice, drenched in the morning light, looked like heaven. Tall colorful buildings towered over the bright teal canals speckled with gondolas and ducks. We wandered towards the Rialto Bridge and passed a fresh seafood market. Although the smell made me glad I had a face mask, I loved seeing the bustling market. Shop owners were showing off their best fish to a crowd of onlookers and weighing long slabs of silver tuna they slapped on a scale. The crowd was a moving array of colors as people pushed to get to the front and bartered for the best price before leaving happily with their bargain to a different booth. There was a fresh produce section that was less of an assault on my nose. I could have stayed to look at the rainbow of fruit for hours. One man at a stand saw me staring a little too lovingly at the shiny red cherries and tossed me one as he walked past me with a wink.

We reached the bridge that perfectly encapsulates Venice's larger than life Renaissance style. The bright white stone reflected the sun like a beacon over the grand canal, drawing in every eye. We were able to grab lunch at a table right by the edge of the water. The view of the bridge towering over the wandering gondolas. Eating my spaghetti carbonara after an entire morning of walking fueled by a single croissant made me feel like the Energizer bunny. We had an entire city, minus a bridge, to see and half a day left. We paid for our meals and begrudgingly for water and got on to our next bucket list item: gondolas.

Before this trip, I had two top moments in my life: walking into Harry Potter world in Universal Studios and sitting in the hot springs in Costa Rica. Having visited Venice, I added sailing in a gondola through the winding canals and the tall, stone buildings hiding the next architectural wonder. The seats were hot from the sun and burned for a moment when we first sat down, but soon we were soaking up the sun and the light breeze made from the smooth movement of the small boat. Seeing the city from sunken down water paths of the canals made the historic buildings look even taller. Floating through a city packed border-to-border with photo ops and historical sights is both serene enough to put you to sleep and exciting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what around each corner. If I haven't raved about it enough yet, allow my biased and highly prejudice comment say everything else: I loved it.

We made quick stop into an architecture museum on our way to the Doge Palace, just because we had a few extra minutes of the day not packed with adventure.

One of the hardest parts about Italy for me to wrap my mind around is just how much history is incorporated into daily life. People go to Mass in a church with frescos painting by Giotto or walk across the Rialto bridge on their walk home, or even stroll past the Doge Palace on the way to a water taxi. The Dodge Palace has grandeur and size to overshadow the impressive Venetian Gothic style architecture of the entire square. As the house of the nominal powerhead of Venice, the Doge, when it was Venice was its own country, the Doge Palace immediately catches the attention of anyone who walks into the square. We walked with eyes wide and mouths open, to the vendors and water taxis. I bought a painting from a local artist as a souvenir and hopped on the coolest taxi ever.

The ride to the train station was a Venetian version of speeding through the concrete jungle of NYC in a bright yellow cab. We sailed through the living history book in a boat. The breeze caught my hair and gave me a big main character moment as I stood at the back of the boat with my friends watching the cathedrals and cobblestones pass by.

We said arrivederci to Venice and took a train back to Arezzo, our home base that got a little smaller after our weekend out. The travel bug is a pesky insect that can attack even the most exhausted traveler catching up on sleep on their way home. Fortunately, I brought along my sense of adventure and trip planning hat to cure any bites.