2006-10-29 - 7:15 p.m.
Well, Venice was not exactly everything I thought it would be, but in the end I liked it. A lot of factors, (OK two factors) combined to make the first couple days quite stressful, but after that it was really good.
We got in to Venice in the early evening, and took a watertaxi (€5 a go!!) to our hostel. Our hostel, as I believe I may have mentioned, was less then satisfactory. Actually, it was horrible. It was much better than the alternative, which was the street, (or the canal I guess) but it was very inhospitable, to the point of being a little ridiculous. One of the many things that got me was that there were no light switches in the room- hostel staff turned them on or off as they saw fit. Some mornings they would be on at 8, some at 9, some evenings they would go off at 9, or 11, or whatever they wanted. It was just not a good hostel.
Anyway, I spent the first night fairly stressed over the twin worries of the hostel and my brother. Tim and I were supposed to meet in Venice. That night I found out that we would meet either the next night (the 25th) or the day after (the 26th). I then typed out a nice long blog entry, and lost it all. It was not a good night. I did however, meet a boxer from Australia, who was living in Thailand, and on holiday. He liked the hostel, but he was also still drunk from the night before. He was interesting to talk to, because he kept fading out. He said that he had gone out drinking, and had yet to sober up. I advised him to drink some water.
The next day we each spent €25 on a three day pass for the watertaxis. Our hostel was on a separate island from the rest of the city, so we had to taxi back and forth. We spent the day wandering around, admiring the city.
Venice is a beautiful city, and very odd. If you've never been there, it is just like you imagined it. The streets are canals, and everything is done by boat. It's pretty cool, actually. There were the gondolas, with the guys rowing them, there were the narrow streets, and the bridges everywhere. It's impossible to walk around without getting lost, and we did get lost regularly. It is a great walking city.
We went back to the island with the hostel in the early afternoon. We tried to use the internet down the road from the hostel, but they were closed for siesta. This made me so angry I went and took a nap. After we finally got on, I found out that Tim had e-mailed me with the name of his hotel, and asking where I was. I sent another e-mail telling him. This was starting to get to me. I mean, I had hoped to see him that night! I was unsure if he would be able to check his e-mail regularly, or if we would see him at all. I tried to find his hotel on the internet, but found at least two by the same name, so I gave up in disgust.
Jesse went back over to find supper, and I spend the evening waiting at the hostel, just in case Tim showed up. He didn't, and I got progressively more worried. In the end I did what I should have done to begin with. I e-mailed him, and told him to meet us in the main square at noon the next day.
See, I think the reason it took me a while is that we were raised by Mom. When we were growing up, things worked out. Plans, once made, nearly always worked out, and it wasn't till years later that I realized this was because Mom makes plans. Mom makes good plans, and thinks ahead. It took me a long time to realize that it was her hard work, and not serendipity that was to thank. The end result is that, especially with siblings, I tend to say, "OK, let's meet!" and then forget about the details. So- Mom's smart, but I managed to not pick any of it up. Anyway, this time some of the parenting sunk in, and I made a plan, albeit a little late.
I spent the rest of the night worrying. The next morning we spent wandering around. I would love to give more detail, but it all kind of blends together. Venice is a maze of tall buildings, narrow streets, and old people. Lots and lots of old people, all walking very slowly. Actually, everyone, even the young ones walk slowly, which is irritating if you like to walk faster. There are lots of shop windows, but they all show the same things. There are mask stores, which are usually worth a look, jewlerly stores, which I don't even bother with, knife stores, which are worth a look, and clothing stores, which are boring. The whole city is just more of the same.
So, at quarter to noon, we go to St. Mark's Square. We sit down, and I notice that everyone is videotaping. I don't get it. Why do these people video building? They are not moving. They're neither dancing nor singing. Why not take a still, and leave the video camera for home movies of the kids or something? I'm actually pretty sure at least three people will be taking home videos of Venice with me in the background making fun of people who video buildings.
Anyway, at noon I go for a little walk, and run right into Tim and his friends. Just like that. Mom would tell me that it was not worth worrying about. I know that the reason we met is that Tim, being the brighter of the two brothers, knew to check his e-mail.
So Tim is with four friends, and a friends Mom. I knew one of the friends, Chris, who I've known for years and year, and the other two, Jessie and Jolene I recognized from high school. They apparently remembered me as well, although I don't ever recall talking to them. Also with them was Cheryl, Jolene's mom. The girls went shopping, and Tim, Jesse, Chris and I went to the cathedral.
The cathedral, St. Mark's is the final resting spot of the famous evangelist, who wrote the Gospel named for him. He was also a traveling companion of Paul. His body was originally in the middle east, but was stolen at one point and smuggled to Venice in a barrel of pork. Now, he resides in the Cathedral. The church itself was very beautiful- the ceiling was gold mosaic, and quite lovely. We paid the €1.50 and went up behind the alter, where we got a good look at the coffin, as well as a beautiful golden alter screen. It was quite moving- this is the first time that I've visited the grave of a Biblical person. I was going to say Apostle, but Jesse corrected me. Mark, although an Evangelist, is not an Apostle.
After the church we went for lunch. We talked Tim and Chris into our most favorite of lunches- bread and cheese. Since Tim was along, he bought us some meat to go along with the bread and cheese.
We met back up with the girls, and spent the rest of the afternoon in a lovely local pub, drinking Heineken and laughing. My brother is a very funny man, especially when he gets going on his travel stories. Tim, for those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of his acquaintance is a year and a half younger than I am. He works in Rocky, as an electrician, and travels whenever he can. I always look forward to seeing him, especially since when I was in Rocky in the summer he was houseboating in B.C., so it had been a while.
After a while we walked back to the water taxi stand. Everyone got separated, and I ended up taking a boat with Chris and Jessie, assuming that everyone else was way ahead of us. Just as the boat pulled out we saw Cheryl waving forlornly from the shore. Turns out that Cheryl and Jolene had stopped to window shop, and Tim and Jesse disappeared to find a bathroom, while Chris and Jessie and I took the boat. We all met up at the train station, but it took a while. Cheryl and Jolene were pretty angry about getting lost (I don't think that, from what I heard, Jesse's rant about how it's good to pillage the environment helped) and they went back to the hotel. The rest of us went for supper (pizza and beer). Tim and co were taking a night train to Switzerland (Zurich, poor souls) that night, so they took off, but not before turning over the books. My wonderful, incomparable mother outdid herself this time. Five books. Five. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Life of Pi, and one about Venice. Five. I was very very happy. I still am happy. Thanks Mom!
Jesse and I, after a little more gelatto, headed back to the hostel. Sure would hate to miss curfew!
Our last day in Venice, we both were feeling like it was one day too many. There's only so much wandering through narrow streets that I can take. I was starting to get very fed up with the crowds. In the morning we found an Anglican church (St. George's!! ) and I was immediately sorry that we were leaving Sunday morning. The outside of the church was beautiful though.
In midmorning, Jesse was hungry, as usual, so we bought some food at a cheap grocery store and sat by a statue. That is where we met Sidney.
Sidney is a pigeon. I had bought some almonds, which turned out to not be roasted, so I was feeding them to the pigeons. I love watching them fight over the scraps. We noticed one pigeon in particular was pretty scruffy, and never won the race to the food. Jesse immediately adopted him, and named him Sidney. We spent the next hour alternately feeding the pigeons and feeding Sidney, to our great amusement. An hour or so later it was lunch, so we took our bread and cheese over to the same square, and found Sidney again. He was awesome. If you gave him food, half the time he would peck at it once, and someone would steal it from him. He was the most incompetent pigeon that I've ever come across. Check out his picture!
In the afternoon, after quite regretfully leaving Sid to the fate nature has in store for him (it's sure to be quick, and probably unpleasant)we went and found a very lovely park, with some very odd statues. About three thirty or four we were tired, and headed back to the hostel. I wanted a bit of a nap, or maybe just to read my book some. Turns out that those morons at the front desk were piping loud, bad, Italian rock music into all the rooms. Seriously, it was the last straw. I don't know what these people have against comfort. I don't know what their problem is with leaving me alone. I didn't know it was them till later, or I would have said something rude to them.
That evening we went back over to the main city one last time. We found some excellent kebabs, and some mediocre gelatto, and managed to get good and sick of the city. By this point Sid was asleep (we looked for him) and I was tired, so we headed back to the hostel.
Today we made it to Florence. It is a very beautiful city, almost incredibly so. In the morning, when we got to the train station, all the clocks were an hour early. This seemed odd, until we realized that it was Daylight Saving Time. We managed to cheat ourselves out of an hour of sleep, and spent it in a cold train station. Wish I could say I was surprised. I'm looking forward to seeing Florence, but I miss Sid.
