Everything Else Venice

Welcome to Venice, the one-of-a-kind city made up of 118 islands, connected by 400 bridges, with 180 canals. Think about it. Wow.

I cannot stress enough how much of a fallen-down-the-rabbit-hole, complete trip of a city Venice is. First off, it's a total maze. Absolutely no grid system and dead ends practically around every corner. Arrows are in place, supposedly leading pedestrians to hot-spot destinations, but instead they run you in circles. Eventually you just have to hope that maybe in all your wandering you will stumble upon your desired location. On occasion this works out, but often for us we found ourselves somewhere in the vicinity after closing time. If you see something you want in this city, get it. There's no telling if you will ever be able to find the store again. On the main road, sure, you can browse and consider a purchase for tomorrow. But inside, the deep deep heart of Venice, where you can hardly tell which way is up and directions are useless, absolutely not. We saw several items of interest, only once. Damn. We couldn't even replicate our routes to the sights, always managing to stumble upon them in some form or fashion that had nothing to do with our original directions.

I figured the best way to explain this would be with a city map. It's small, but note all the question marks. The X is our hotel, and the google bubble is Piazza San Marco, their most famous sight. Not the easiest place for us to find.

See?? This place is a nightmare if you need to know exactly where you are/how to get somewhere. But, that's part of what makes it so charming. Aside from the fact that we lost out on some great souvenir opportunities, it was thoroughly enjoyable. 

One thing about Italy that I liked is how each city very much has it's own vibe and heartbeat. We found Venice to be no exception, as it was particularly special. The trinkets and gifts were like none we had seen previously, and very specific to the area. They were of a nicer quality. A lot of it focused on Carnival, which we didn't care too much about, but it was still impressive. Also, the Murano Glass. Which is quite pretty. The fabric and paper shops were wonderful. All in all, it is an ideal city for window shopping. They had such alluring displays; it was quite the distraction for my mother. There we were, off towards our destination of choice, with an hour and a half to spare, and we'd manage to miss it by 20 minutes because she just couldn't help herself. Never in my life have I lead her anywhere. As you may well know, I am a bit of a slow walker. AKA I've never met anyone who moves at a more leisurely pace. I move at a stroll, really. And my mom, well, she's getting a move on it. So, I was completely unprepared to be in the position to ask her to hurry it up now, shooing her along. Quite the role reversal for us, but there I was. 

Here's mom, wandering around aimlessly at a snail's pace with her head in the clouds, mouth agape and completely in awe at all the beautiful things in the window: Jacqueline, look how beautiful that purse is. Ooooh, and those shoes!

Me: Mom, I know they're gorgeous, but that's the wrong way! We only have 15 minutes to make it to the palace. Don't you want to go?

Mom, now completely distracted and oblivious, trying to focus on the shoes and make a decision: Uhhh, yes yes. You're right. I'm coming...

It was very cute. 

And, in her defense, the shopping was in a league of its own. I completely understood the hold-up.

Another Alice in Wonderland like quality belonging to this city is the sense of wonderment that seeps into your soul as you step out of the train station and take it all in for the first time. It possesses a Disney Classic kind of ambiance. Whimsical and enchanting. You can't help but feel good about yourself and life as you're looking out at the Grand Canal. In our 96 hours, that sense of amazement never left me. Walking around, completely lost, it was hard to believe this place really existed in the same world I've been living in my 24 (woah! yeah, wtf I'm officially OLD) years. Pretty pretty pretty cool.

You have to be careful, or you might find yourself off the road and in the water. True story. There wasn't any protection for pedestrians, which again added to the charm, but sure made us keep an eye out. Some of the pathways were so narrow we might as well have been scaling the wall. On those, we just turned back into the maze in search of another route. They must have it pretty under control cuz we never heard any splashing or screaming, but I'd be scared to bring a child there. Just sayin'. It'd be destination of choice for those looking to off a spouse. Just a slight nudge in the water and a nonchalant walk back into the maze would do it... Again, just sayin'.

I loved looking at the buildings, 100s of years old and full of life and stories, on the edge of the island visibly sinking into the ocean. Powerful, yet jarring. I mean really. Jarring = understatement. How long is that city predicted to last before it's all gone underwater? We're talking about a place with history dating back to the ninth century. And these people knew what they were doing. It only started to subside in the 20th century when wells were sunk in the lagoon to provide water for the locals (according to Wiki). So, let's break it down. For over 10 centuries it survived, strong and completely above ground. And then bam. Down it's going. Thanks guys. Anyways, you can actually see it sinking. Like, see it. And feel it. The ground is completely uneven underneath your feet. Sometimes we would stop and look at each other thinking, Uhhh, should we bale? Feeling safe over there? Sink or not, it was totally worth it. 

Oh, and the food in Venice was excellent. Not that you would expect anything less in Italy. Still, it didn't disappoint.

And, there are no cars. This little touch only added to the charm. Pretty great.

We had planned for only two days in the city, we pushed it to four, and I still wasn't satisfied. I said it my first night, but Venice made me want to pack up my things and settle in for good. In my cute little canal-side apartment, I could jump out my cute little window, climb over the old beautiful bridge and ride off in my cute little boat to my cute litte store where I sold beautiful things. I would looooovvvvvveeeeeeeeeee to live there. If only I was a ba-zilllllllionairre. How do they do it?!