v for venizia

the second day of my trip i made it to venice, which had been my initial reason for going in the first place. i had planned on staying there three days but with the cost of the hostel i opted to couchsurf instead. if i hadn't i wouldn't have seen some of the smaller or towns or met any of the people i did so it turned out to be a good decision.

i got on the train early to enjoy a full day in venice. on the hour-long train ride i was trying not to notice the overcast sky and hoping it would clear up. italy once again came through as the skies cleared just as i was crossing the scalzi bridge from the train station. venice is interesting because on the one hand it's very easy to get lost, with all the meandering canals and dead ends; but on the other hand, it's difficult to go anywhere without running into signs that direct you to san marco or the rialto bridge.

i headed towards the rialto first where i saw the fish and vegetable market down below. on the way i passed all sorts of stores, some interesting but the majority peddling the same kitschy carnevale crap.

since i had been to the city before i didn't feel obligated to hit all the usual highlights and opted instead to visit the islands. murano, the glass-blowing island, was just a short boat ride away. i don't know that i've ever been in a place where the 100% of the stores sold the same product. the glass was fun to see of course but i was disappointed that i wasn't able to see more actual glassblowing. good thing i don't have a weird glass fascination or anything. after walking to my satisfaction and seeing a number of public large scale sculptures, i island-hopped over to burano.

the process was more strenuous than hopping; the boat ride was at least half an hour. but when i arrived i was not disappointed by the cuteness of the island. as promised, it was full of canals lined with colorful shops and houses. i had only a little over half an hour but i found that was ample time to eat my sandwich and explore the entire island - it's tiny.

boarding the boat to return to the main island i got my first taste of the carnevale madness. there were several people (generally pairs) in costume who seemed to be trailed by either personal photographers or very accomodating friends with large cameras. other people were surrepitiously taking pictures of them; it was a little strange. once we arrived i continued on foot towards piazza san marco, where i was hoping for more carnevale excitement. i was not disappointed. the square was beginning to fill up with people in costumes and masks. i'll say this for the masks: they are certainly beautiful and detailed but it is a little creepy to see the same hollow face everywhere. that didn't stop me from taking pictures, however. as far as i can tell the festivities (on an admittedly uneventful day) consist of people in costume posing endlessly for onlookers to take pictures. i can't understand what would motivate a person to do that, but i took advantage of it anyway. also there were three large bird/dinosaur/dragons on stilts, complete with sound effects.

once i had had my fill of the carnevaliers, who continued well on towards the grand canal and past the palazzo ducale, i begrudgingly paid 1€50 to go the bathroom (that's the "low season" price) and walked on. i wandered through the canals, popping out occasionally for a view of the grand canal at dusk. i also made one stop (and one of the few purchases of the day) for gelato. the flavor? nutella. how quintessentially italian can you get?

i wandered back to the train station where i came across the canal just as the sun had set and the lights were coming on. then it was back to vicenza for another dinner filled with home-cooked food, lively conversation and other couchsurfers.