Day 21: Sunday, May 11, Venice

Italians like to people-watch, too.

Today we struck out for Venice. We had a 0735 train from Ravenna that added people along the way and was full by the time we came to Venice. The Grand Canal was closed for a boat race that day, so we had to take a vaporetto (think bus system, but replace the buses with boats) the long way around, get off at St. Mark’s, and walk to our hostel. That wouldn’t be a problem except that if we didn’t arrive by 1pm the office was going to close and we wouldn’t be able to do anything with our bags until 4pm. We arrived at 1pm straight up. People don’t really hurry here, so I’m sure we were even more American as we hustled down the narrow alleys.

An American family was waiting with us to get on the vaporetto. Even if they hadn’t spoken I would have known they were Americans because they were all overweight, they were stressed out, and the dad was wearing socks and sandals. The mom was trying to ask a worker if this vaporetto went to St. Mark’s Square and wouldn’t listen long enough to hear him out before trying her question again (assuming that he didn’t understand). The worker was clearly annoyed. Later I heard the dad talking to the kid (probably 5yo). I didn’t hear the initial question from the kid, but I heard the dad respond with, “No, you cannot have any Slim Fast. I’m not giving you any Slim Fast, and if you ask me one more time I’ll throw you in the canal.” I had to laugh (or should I cry?) at a kid who grew up thinking of Slim Fast as a treat. Only in America.

The ceiling of our hostel. The bed was even cheaper if you consider part of it dmission to a museum.

Our hostel turned out to be an old Venetian palace run by the Waldesians. Part of it is a hostel, and I guess the rest is meeting rooms and whatnot. I had never heard of the Waldesians, but they were a break-off from the Catholic church before the Reformation that are now associated in some way with the Methodists. The place was great – we had an 11 bunk room to ourselves. (The place could be problematic if it were full, because there were only two bathrooms and one shower for our room and two others. It also had a lockout from 10-2:30.) The place had 20 ft ceilings everywhere, and ours had a (badly peeling) fresco on the ceiling and parts of the walls and a balcony view down a quiet canal. The electrical wiring was obviously not original. Other residents included a 37-person tour group from a South Carolina Bible college and a group of five Germans who were there to play during a mass at St. Mark’s. (I found it humorous that they were staying at a place run by a group deemed heretical by the Catholic Church.)

That afternoon we went to St. Mark’s. St. Mark’s is covered in mosaics and was one of my favorite churches during my first trip to Europe. We broke up the afternoon with a trip to a recommended gelateria. The shop itself could hold a maximum of four people at a time, and the line out the door attracted even more people. They served monstrous scoops for the cheapest prices we had found, and it was really good.

Next stop: Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge). While looking down the Grand Canal we offered to take a picture for some people standing next to us, got in a conversation, and found out that they are home schoolers from Ireland.

Half of the tourist souvenirs seem to be masquerade masks. I guess it’s a Venetian specialty, but they would be extremely hard to take home – large, odd-shaped, and fragile.

The church of Santa Maria del Formosa.

There are a lot fewer backpacker types here in Venice. I’m not sure if it’s because Venice is a more expensive city or if they were just diluted by the throngs of organized tours and people from docked cruise ships.

I’ve seen several toilets over here that are Ideal Standard brand. The script is the same as American Standard toilets in the States, so I’m sure that American Standard branched out and decided that having American in their name wasn’t a selling point.

Shirt for the day: “Food Tech Citizen.”