Carnevale a Venezia

Getting to Venice was one of my less pleasant traveling experiences. I over-packed my backpack, so my back was killing me, I haven't had enough sleep in days, so I had a headache, and I picked out my own snacks for the train, which meant that I ate so much sugar I was crashing for the rest of the day. I don't remember ever being this sensitive to sugar before, so I must be getting old. The worst part of the whole journey was that by the time I got to the airport, I let a ticket agent talk me into taking the boat to Venice instead of the bus. I had done my research and I knew that the bus was faster and cheaper, but he promised me that if I took the boat I wouldn't have to transfer at the train station. I should have transferred at the train station. The boat took an hour and a half and I just wanted to sleep, but I couldn't because I was a little bit afraid the boat was going to capsize and very afraid of missing my stop. When everyone else got off the boat, I finally asked the driver how far it was to Giudecca, and he told me five minutes. I sat back down in the boat and realized that although my Italian is dismal, "Io voglio andare alla Giudecca" is one of the few things I know how to say. I missed my big chance of speaking Italian.
When I was finally dropped off, around 1am, I found myself on the right island, but about a mile (1.5 km) away from my hostel. That walk was one of the least pleasant experiences of my life. It was very very very cold, and the wind from the lagoon doesn't help. Plus, the ground was slippery with the water that had splashed out of the canal and I was very afraid that if I'd slip, I might fall in. Still, it was an adventure. I actually started talking to myself. It was somewhat like Sam's pep talk to Frodo "they had plenty of chances to turn back, but they didn't" except for me, I really had no way to turn back. Short of sitting down and freezing to death, my only choice was to walk to the hostel. So I did.

My second day in Venice was much better than my nighttime arrival. People were really rowdy in the hostel all night, so I woke up every couple of hours, but then I managed to sleep in until right before check-out, then had a leisurely breakfast. Instead of heading straight to St. Mark’s Square, the tourist center of Venice, I decided to follow up on a tip I’d read on the internet and go up the belltower of San Giorgio Maggiore. It was awesome! When I got to the church, there was only one other person inside. It was so empty it was eerie. I felt like I was exploring an abandoned church in a Dan Brown novel and I was about to be chased by members of a secret society.

I followed the signs and got to a gift shop the size of a closet which was selling tickets to the top. This is now my favorite vantage point of any city I’ve visited, because there is actually an elevator to the top! The elevator has glass sides, though, and it’s a pretty creepy view. The belltower looks like it’s about to collapse around you. Once I got to the top, I was met with biting wind. Keep in mind that when I say I was freezing, I was freezing while wearing two pairs of socks, waterproof shoes, leggings on under my jeans, two shirts, and a scarf, gloves, and a hat with earflaps. Despite the cold, I got some of my favorite pictures of Venice so far.

A canal on Giudecca

San Giorgio Maggiore seen from the water-bus

St. Mark's from across the canal

The inside of the church, so empty it was eerie

View from the top

Giudecca from above

This is now my favorite photo of Venice!

This camera has such a good zoom that I could see across the canal to St. Mark’s Square. I really wish I were a spy. I finally have an awesome spy-camera!

When I got to St. Mark’s Square, I was very annoyed by the crowds. There were people dressed in really cool costumes, but it was impossible to get a photo of them without also taking pictures of other tourists. I got some pictures anyway, but I was not thrilled with the results. Still, I've been dreaming of going to Venice during Carnevale since I was a little girl. 

I didn’t mind this boy getting in my picture. He was cute.

After St. Mark’s, I wandered around a bit, then took a water-bus and ended up getting off on a whim at Rialto Mercado (Rialto Market). This used to be the biggest fish market in Venice. While I was walking through they were putting away the fish for the day. I narrowly escaped being sprayed by the hose they were using to wash the icky fish gloop away. It smelled really gross, despite the cold, so I didn’t get any photos.

Then I got lunch, which was a rip-off. I know there must be good restaurants in Venice, but I haven’t found them. In the summer I had a couple of picnics with grocery-store food, but it was too cold to eat outside so I had to eat in a restaurant. My only consolation was that the couple next to me was getting ripped off worse. I at least had the sense to order a pizza margherita, which was relatively reasonably priced. They ordered a cheese platter and got a couple of chunks of cheese on a plate with no bread. It was unappetizing (which is saying something, considering how much I love cheese) and probably cost more than my pizza.

After my late lunch, I was ready to head for the airport and warm up. Unfortunately, I got to the water-bus stop just minutes after the previous bus had departed so I had to wait for half an hour. Midway through my freezing cold wait, an old lady sat next to me. She said something in Italian, and I stared at her. She said something else, and I just stared at her again. I was really cold. Finally she said, “no italiana” and I nodded. So she kept talking to me in Italian. Weird. She said something about the cold, which I understood, but then a pigeon landed and she kept saying conoscere, which means I know, like “I’ve met that pigeon before.” Clearly I wasn’t getting it. Then she started feeding the pigeons, which was annoying. She kept chattering at me. Finally she pulled out a photo book and started showing me her carnevale pictures. Seriously, crazy old ladies are the same everywhere. I’m going to have to be a crazy old lady someday. It looks like fun. Her pictures were actually pretty cool. She had some neat ones of dogs and cats dressed up for carnevale. She kept repeating carnevale like she wasn’t sure I knew what it was, so I said “carnevale e oggi” (carnival is today) and she said something like, yes, but it goes on for weeks. So I at least spoke one sentence in Italian, even if I wasn’t exactly right.

Finally I got on the waterbus to the airport. I bet the ride is really cool during the daytime, but I wouldn’t really know, as I almost instantly fell asleep. The gentle rocking of the boat is very soothing. I ate dinner in the airport and started reading my International Trade Law textbook, and fell asleep again. I woke up in time for boarding, got on the plane, popped in my earplugs, put on my eyemask, and fell asleep again. I guess I really didn’t get much sleep the night before. But I've been to Venice for Carnevale! Life is awesome!