| Venezia |
| 06/30/01: Still cloudy but muggy. Slept a lot yesterday, so I feel well rested. I walked around a bit and looked at the shops, they all sell glass things and carnaval masks and decorations, it's all very, shall I say, PRETTY? So there, Kristin. ;) (and I will have to talk to you in person for real for these stories.) So this morning I lazed around and switched hotels. Kinda sucks lugging luggage all over the place every day. But that's okay, everything is nearby, so it's not that difficult. I followed the signs to the Ponte Rialto through a literal maze of little streets. They are much narrower than I am tall. But it's neat anyway. Lots of little shops hiding here and there, and restaurants of course. I love how there's water everywhere! I know, it's Venice, duh, but still, I had no idea what it would be like. It's easy to tell when you're near water though because it quite suddenly smells quite strongly of fish. But other than that, I enjoy it. So I made my way (shocked I didn't get lost!) to the Piazza San Marco. I had no idea it was like that! It reminded me of Orthodox churches, with all the gold and the five or six domes. It was lovely. Definitely unusual, and not your average Notre Dame. Also toured around the neighboring Palazzo Ducale. It had lots of paintings and things. Went through the prisons, too! Fascinating. The cells seem pretty big, but apparently there were six to ten men in each. And some of the doors were only three feet tall. Don't know what's with that, people couldn't have been that short! There was a wine bar in the central courtyard. Dry bread, soup, water and wine were the main dietary staples in the prison. Interesting! I think I must go; I'm getting hungry and I want some ice cream. Yesterday for lunch I had some splendid chocolate gelato, yum. Today I'm thinking more of that. |
| 06/30/01: Almost my last day. My night train to Paris leaves tomorrow evening, can't wait. This morning I went to the palazzo where Peggy Guggenheim used to live and where her modern art collection is on display. Some of it I actually liked. I've never really been able to get into modern art, most of it seems like BS to me. For example, there were three Pollock paintings, and I'm sorry, but that's just made-up crap, you know? There was a painting I liked that at first seemed to be just a bunch of colors and weird shapes, but when you looked a second longer, the shape of a bicycle and rider became visible. The colors were nice. Altogether a neat painting. I certainly have to admire these painters like Picasso and all the others who could take normal things and distort them so much but still make them recognizable, you know? That has to take some skill. Walked around some more. I am enjoying Venice, it's a lovely place and ever so much calmer than Florence and especially Rome. Nice to not have to jump out of the way of crazy cars and mopeds. Plus, I don't feel bad about being completely lazy and unproductive, it seems like that's the way of Venice. In fact, the tourist hordes this morning went so slowly I could have slept on my feet. Once again, had more chocolate gelato for lunch. Wish I could explain the heaven that is chocolate gelato. And, interestingly, raw green beans. Yum. |
| 07/02/01: Yahoo, welcome to Paris. The exclamation point button does not work, or I would use it. Back to the joys of the french keyboard. Last night I took the overnight train from Venice to Paris. I actually slept pretty well, and my body kept feeling as if in a train for an extra two hours, too. Interesting. So I got to the hotel at 9,30 and Maureen and Sara got here at noon. I led them on a short walk, and then we went to the ever-fabulous Gibert-Jeune and got stationery stuff, yay. I love new pens. Then I showed them Shakespeare and Co, and gawked at Notre Dame-so clean it practically sparkles-it is gorgeous. The other two are currently napping; jet lag sucks. It`s so strange to be here again-I don`t feel like I never left, but I feel so at ease and comfortable. I keep forgetting I`m here and out of Italy. I also forget that we have a long time-nearly a week. No rush, there`s plenty of time for everything. Also strange to be not a lone traveler once more. I`ve had three distinctly different experiences so far: with mum in a tour group in greece, alone in italy, and now with relative-people in Paris. I do enjoy the independence of solitude, one has to constantly prove one`s mettle. I feel very proud for getting around Italy and doing so well, on my own. So we`ll see how I adapt. I think I move a lot faster than most people when traveling; this may be an issue. Excited to get to a grocery store after all this time away to have my favorites--fresh bread; crepes; melon, etc. And you all get to hear about it again--bwa ha ha.... |