Vivacious Venice

Friday afternoon we arrived in Venice after a long train ride because of unknown setbacks. When a lady is speaking very rapidly in Italian, on an already slightly noisy train, it's difficult the decifer the exact announcement. Once we checked into our hotel we still had enough energy to at least get out for a drink. The streets around the canals were relatively quiet, but we found a bar close by. That night we headed to bed at a reasonable hour to rest for a day full of walking and shopping. At first the streets that wind through the city around all the canals are a bit difficult to navigate, but once you know your surroundings you realize how small the city really is. We headed over to Piazza San Marco first, after filling up on cappuccini and broiche. We were trying to meet some other friends, but one of our phones was out of credit, and the other did not seem to send or receive messages successfully in Venice. While we waited we were slightly horrified to see that many people enjoyed not only feeding the pigeons from their hands, but also letting about 10 pigeons land on their arms while eating. It was quite disgusting to think of how dirty the birds and now how dirty the people were. We weren't exactly tempted to try it ourselves. I love being in Italy and always enjoy the ambience in the main piazzas. There is just a feeling a comfort and sophistication that draws me in. From the piazza, we took a water taxi over to the Island of Murano where all the famous blown glass is created. We happened to walk into a gallery and asked the owner if there were any factories where we could watch the process. He immediately led us to the back of the store and into his factory, but unfortunately they had already stopped working for the day. He did show us a special showroom where they had displayed these huge totem poles made from the glass and also large chess figures. He said they are in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest chess figures made. They were amazing! At least about 6 ft tall, created all by hand with vibrant colors. That afternoon we did what you do best in Italy, enjoy a bottle of wine with cheese. After walking around all day, we relaxed in the garden of a cute little restaurant and enjoyed the sunshine (a rarity in Venice). For dinner, Mike, another teacher, had researched and arranged a wonderful dinner at a restaurant called I Figli delle Stelle, located on the island beneath Venice called La Giudecca. We had a wonderful 4 course dinner with mussels, clams, tagliatelle with vegetables and swordfish, shrimp scampi and tiramisu. Never a shortage of food when traveling in Italy! After dinner we had a drink and then went to more of a club like bar to experience the nightlife in Venice. We had an awesome time dancing and even met some fun New Zealanders traveling through Europe for work. Even though it was a late night, we were out of the hotel by 10am the next day enjoying as much of Venice before our train departed for Lugano. The ride home was relatively easy, it took about 3.5 to Milan and then an hour from Milan to Lugano. It's always nice to come back to clean and safe Lugano. I can't wait because my mom arrives this week!