Day 7…Everything is True About this Place!

It is the most beautiful, romantic place on earth, all that people who have visited this place said are true…breath-taking.

And we almost didn’t make it.

P was restless last night and he wouldn’t turn off the light so I ended up getting a bad night’s of snooze myself. We were scheduled to board the hotel shuttle to Venice at 10:30 am. 10 am my eyes popped open, I let out a string of pretty colorful language and bolted for the bathroom. P and I got to the bus with 3 minutes to spare!

In Venice we were so turned around (at the bus terminal) and if not for another elderly American couple who had been to the destination may times, we’d probably still be standing there scratching our heads and gazing around in a fog of confusion. Anyway we bought 2 day water taxi/bus passes and eagerly boarded one of the sailing vessels and took what one could best describe as a local bus. We stopped every 2 seconds K

You can imagine how annoying this could be if one was anxious to get to St. Mark’s Square. The fortunate thing: we finally arrived. The unfortunate thing: the damn place was packed to the gills!

Still we enjoyed strolling along the Grand Canal gapping at the scenery, licking gelato and watching others watch us. I had promised P that I would buy him “Italian” sunglasses. I did, from an illegal Italian immigrant who was also Bangladeshi. He sold us two (hers and his) sunglasses (Dolce and Ray Ban’s) for 25 smackers. Considering that he was selling the same things to tourists for 35 each, we got away pretty good being his brethren and all. I asked the kid (which he clearly was) how did he like living in Italy. He shrugged his shoulders, looked notably sad as he gazed off into the distance and said “it’s a living”. I walked away with tears in my eyes thanking God profusely for allowing me to do what I want to do in a place I want to do it surrounded by beloved family and friends who I can see whenever I liked.

After a break we headed off into Venice’s interior. I wanted to see the Basilica but the irritated dude with a pinched thin mouth wouldn’t let P in with a backpack and frankly I didn’t want to go in without him. He compromised only when I promised him that I would go tomorrow, even if it were alone. We did a bit of window shopping around the square but then decided to follow the interior paths to see what we could find. My goodness…it’s an adventure.

One of the guidebooks I bought said that if you don’t mind getting lost in Venice, than take a walk. That’s precisely what we did. For about 2 hours or more we wandered down quaint little streets, markets overflowing with brightly colored chachkeys and stalls absolutely bursting with goodies. Gorgeous silk scarves and pashmina’s were waving in every single stall and store window, Italian shoes shown called for purchasers to buy them and designer labels winked back almost lulling us into a false sense of comfort. I mean if Dolce was found in some back alley, surely it wouldn’t be as expensive as those found on 5th Avenue or Milan right? WRONG.

At one point P pointed out that it was getting late and we still had to get to Pl Roma (the main station where we were to pick up the shuttle back to the hotel). We kept wandering and wandering wondering where the hell we were. I was feeling a bit panicked but squelched it knowing that if we just kept going straight, we’d end up at one side of the island and could hail a water taxi. Luckily we realized that we had wandered all the way from St. Mark’s Square to Pl Roma without realizing it.

It’s about 9 pm right now. P and I craved Chinese, which we scored. Note to any of you who may come to this part of the country and crave Chinese food: don’t. It sucketh. Still food is food and the belly is empty and we’re at least nourished.

Tomorrow will be a bit tricky. P and I will stay in Venice till fairly late so we can have the evening there as well as dinner then catch the local bus back to the hotel. Hmmm…either way I’m going to make the best of our last night in Venice. Day after tomorrow…off to Rome.