Hey Venice, what is your gorgeous deal, dude/ette?

October 24, 2015

This train is going suuuuuper fast, my ears are popping every 10 seconds! I might be travelling through time, so just a heads up, I'm a superhero!)

Alright, everything typed before this sentence was on the train, and now I'm in Venice, have been for a few hours, and here is what I've seen!

Wasn't sure anything could top Rome for beauty, and while this may be a different kind, Venice by night, absolutely stunning!

And of course, I would need something to eat! Of you look somewhat closely at the above image, you can see some umbrellas and table on the right. That is where I ate. No clue of the name of the place or what they served, but I sat down.

(The woman who's also staying at the place I'm staying here... it seems like she's just only now had her first encounter with a lock and key. I think she took seven tries to get the front door open, then her door, then the bathroom door. It's like Stomp but with keys and no rhythm in this place right now!)

So, I ordered the caprese salad, and the lasagna. WOW, was I not disappointed!

The caprese weirded me out a little, because they'd cooked the tomatoes, or something else that I don't understand, and they were soggy on purpose, a theory that I will never understand. However, it was very good, and I leaned into the texture that my mouth tells me it's not a fan of.

It was mostly because of the bocconcini. Do you see that cord / string looking thing near the top of the cheese ball? Yeah, that's the strong that help the cheese ball up while it was aging. It's friggin' homemade bocconcini! You guys!

And then the lasagna came and all bets were off. And by bets, I mean the chance of any of it landing back home with me, as I absolutely demolished it, right after it stopped fighting back by burning my mouth with its hot cheese.

As I demolished the plate of dreams, I ended up chatting with a couple to my left, who'd asked if my fork was the one to have fallen on the ground. It was not, as my table had been cleared. It became a bit funny, because he had his fork, and mine was purposefully and long gone, yet one fell on the ground... okay, maybe "funny" wasn't the right word, but, you had to be there!

Anyhoo, they told me they're from Vienna, and that it only takes them two hours by car to get to Venice. Come on! Unfair! It would take me two hours and another 10,000 days plus never to get here by car, what with all of the I would die as I tried to drive across the ocean.

And there you have it. I will be posting some pictures of the place I stayed in Rome tomorrow, as well as whatever other adventures I get up to tomorrow.

Have a night to shame all other nights, everyone!

..................

Venice is Beautiful!

October 25, 2015

It's a pretty simple title, but extremely accurate.

I'm going to throw a bunch of pictures at you, and talk along with them. Last night was copy-heavy, so tonight I'll keep it short.

A beautiful shot as I strolled along the water not far from where I'm staying.

I hadn't done any groceries on the night I arrived, so it was time to head out and get something to eat for brunch! I ended up walking by what seemed to be a very popular place, and saw one table left on the patio, right next to the water. It's called Gam Gam, a Kosher restaurant right near the top of Venice.

Possibly the best potato latkes I've ever had, and the hummus was delicious (there was bread too, I wasn't just spooning hummus into my mouth like insane Samantha in that abomination of a Sex and the City sequel, which yeah, I saw.... I'm suuuuuch a Miranda! ... may we move on?)

The stuff on top is meat. Yes, it was just referred to as "meat" on the menu. I feel like back home, if someone said to me, "Oh yeah, your meal comes with meat." I'd be like, "What's this uhhh, meat you're talking about?" But it Europe, almost every country / city I've been to, even last year, "meat" is associated with ground beef. Sometimes another form of beef, but mostly ground beef.

Either way, it was delicious, and all the protein I could possibly need to start the day of walking off right.

I then walked for six hours. The island is nowhere near large enough to require that much walking... if you know what the hell you're doing... which I do not.

Also, I got shopping, meaning I went and bought a bunch of cool stuff that I love!

Anyhow, here are some shots of the beautiful little waterways that you come across every 50 steps.

I'm trying as often as I can to walk down alleyways that look like they have water at the end of them. Sure, walking down random alleyways would seem weird in many cities, but that's what the city is literally made up of. Alleys. Some lead to water, and some don't.

This one did, and can we take a moment for the adorable older Italian couple sitting and cuddling?

So adorable.

This is what I saw on the left when I got out there.

And this is what I saw on the right.

One goal for today was to make my way to Saint Mark's Basilica. Well, I half-reached my goal. What with all the shopping, walking, benching (not weights, but sitting on benches to give the dogs a rest... who came up with that saying anyway?), and getting lost, I made it there at 3:30pm, and it closes at 4pm. With the hundred-person line-up, I knew it wasn't the right choice, so I decided to pee.

I know, you thought you read that wrong, right?

You didn't.

Using a restroom in Europe, specifically Italy in my experience, becomes another activity in your day, not just "a pee". It requires agility (more or less, depending on how urgently you have to pee), drive, to walk the alleys and lane ways to find the public toilets (still weird to me that I have to ask for the item I need when I have to pee, "Excuse me, where are the toilets?" It just feels so... literal!), experience, to know what the hell WC means, and of course 1.5€, because otherwise they won't let you in.

It took me 20 minutes to get to the "toilets", and I followed the signs like a damn champion.

I'm really not used to this much pee restriction, and I look forward to the days where I can pee where I want to, and going back to a land where I can PEE FOR FREE! lol

I digress, big time! Here is St. Mark's Basilica from the outside.

After I was free of pee, I somehow found myself at the European Cultural Centre, which caught my eye because of this sculpture outside.

Yeah, it's not a blow up pool toy and a real woman (which I was genuinely convinced of for maybe 10 seconds).

This and the next photo are pieces of art by Carole A. Feuerman, and I suggest very strongly that you check out her painted resin work (and all other work). It is highly, highly impressive:

www.carolefeuerman.com/painted-resin-page

These next three are amazing pieces by Sebastian Schrader out of Germany.

I'm not sure who this artist is, but it was 3D, popping out of the wall, and created some very cool shapes!

A shot from the window in one of the exhibit rooms.

Shot from another window. Does the beauty ever stop?

His building was very old, and as I went up for floors, the art got creepier, and so did the space.

This wasn't creepy up close, but it was weird from afar. You had to be there, it was dark and just loomy.

Up close, lovely.

As I walked through a nearly pitch dark hallway to the sound of a video of a dude groaning, I came to this little alcove. I was all, "Cool, what a great photo, dark room, light outside. Cool, cool, cool!"

Until I looked out the window...

Normal, right? Just some folks on a patio and some people strolling.

Look right.

YEAH!

This is not a person, it's art from the gallery, across the damn street. I think it's effing brilliant. Terrifying, but brilliant.

Also, creepy right?

After that the sun started setting (at like 5:45pm, depressing!), so I figured food would be good. I walked another hour, lost as hell, and a little less chipper about it at this point in the day.

Thank goodness for Google, again, because I honestly would have had no idea how to get the hell home.

Anyhow, some purchases!

This is a tin full of amaretti cookies, which... I literally exclaimed, with a mouthful, "Holy hell! YES!" after I tried one. Bringing some of those babies home with me! And the tin... those of you who know me know that I bought it for the tin, and got lucky on the delicious stuff inside! Haha.

And then I had a weak moment. I don't need this at all, but... I haaaaaaad to!

It's a modern pocket watch!!!

The chain is white metal, and the clip is too. It's not wood, but is patterned like it, feels silky-smooth, and I had to!

And the opposite of that, the most ridiculous purchase of these whole 24 days. Little, mini pasta magnets with real pasta and "real" packaging of the pasta in the supermarket here.

Really, like you wouldn't have? Please.

Fine, just me? Whatever, you know you're jealous!

Alright, I'm sleepy. Until tomorrow, folks!

..................

Lazy Day in Venice

October 26, 2015

It started with me not setting my alarm on purpose. I'm a bad sleeper, and while I'd love to say that this trip had remedied that (you know, since it's a damn vacation), it sadly has not.

So, I got up around 10:30am, which isn't too bad. I was woken up at 7am by the other woman staying at the place riffling through the place. I'm going to post a little rant here that I put on Facebook earlier today. I don't think I can write it more clearly than I did there, so here goes:

........

I was wondering what the deal was with every review I've had in AirBNB commenting on how clean I was and how orderly the place was left after I was gone.

Obviously a compliment, but all I could think was, "How else are people leaving these places? Aren't we all grown-ass people?"

Right, I peaked into a room after a woman I briefly met left this morning, and here's what I saw:

Banana peels on the desk
Open bags of her garbage
Bed not made and wet towels on it
The light left on
Wrappers and tickets on the floor

Then I go into the kitchen, start to use a cloth to shine up this delicious apple I'm about to eat, and what do I see under the towel? A burn straight through the table cloth and onto the table from where she sat the pot she was making food in last night... yeah.

I'm the only one left here, and I'm clearly going to have to make it clear that it wasn't me.

Who told these people that any of that was an acceptable way to be a human?

I'd like to meet them, and slap them.

........

For real though, what's this chicks deal?

The good thing is that I saw the woman who's place it is later tonight while she was checking in another person and she didn't mention the table cloth demolition. I'll be sure to mention that I saw it when I entered the kitchen (ie. it wasn't me) when there isn't anyone else being checked in. Hardly a good first impression, a) for me to throw someone under the bus (who totally deserves to be there) or b) mention that other guests can be jerks to the new guest.

Moving on briskly, unlike my day!

Not a lot to show you here folks, it was literally just a stroll around, see what's up and eat some food kind of day. I made it to the post office, and luckily I knew a little more about the process, since the same system and company is in Rome, and as you know I manoeuvre through that like a damn dream! lol. I bought two boxes, have filled one, but will need to get down to some serious shopping tomorrow, to fill the other! Ha! I'm sure that won't happen, so I can just split the difference, it'll cost me less in the end anyway.

I have such love for the archway showing another scene behind it. It's very "Oprah-esque" to me.

I know this is a weird one, but look how this person has put their laundry out! It's like they follow the rainbow-rules of clothing! Not perfectly, I know, but this caught my eye and I loved it!

I had to take this giant bridge over to the other side of town to the nearest post office (no clue how I, going to carry to big boxed full of stuff across town tomorrow... but I'm sure as hell going to try!), and got this lovely shot on my way back home on a different route,

I've booked myself on a tour tomorrow to visit Murano (famous for glass), Burano (famous for lace) and Torcello (I know nothing about Torcello), so that should be fun. It's a half-day thing, so that will be nice way to fit in more than the main island that I'm on before I leave on Wednesday, and still have time to get to the post office.

I can't believe it's almost over, this whole trip. There have been ups and downs, but just one country left, and then a slight repeat in Paris, and I'm back home. I miss home. I've been feeling it lately, around the same time that I did last year on the first Europe trip I took. I think it's that I know people who know me, and that's something that your obviously missing being alone in countries that you don't speak the language of, pretty much across the world.

My point is, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my vacation for sure, but get ready for some hugs! (for those who I've never hugged before, get ready for it to get weird!)

Off to Sleepsville, population, me!

..................

Last Day in Venice

October 27, 2015

Today was my last full day in Venice, and I did some pretty fun stuff!

I took a boat tour to Murano, Burao and Torcello. Below are some of the fun things that we did.

(this is just my favourite picture of the day, which was at night... consider it a breakfast for dinner type of ting, but the opposite... that makes sense to me, which either means I'm overly tired, or I'm overly tired)

Now, I'll be honest, I'd suggest avoiding the tour company that I went with. This was the view on the boat, and it's a lovely view. However the entire back of the boat shook and made a sound of jittery and knocking wood when the brakes were put on, or the gas pedal pushes. So, always.

The tour guide would say her information in Italian, French and then English. No one at the back (half of the group of about 70 people) could hear at all, regardless of the language.

In Burano, we went to a glass factory for a tour and to see how it's all done. I was pretty excited, that's such an art form! We were to have 40 minutes on the island.

All 70 of us stood in one place with no expalanation for 20 minutes. At that point I asked the tour guide if there was something at the front of the 70 people that we at the back were supposed to see. She said no, just wait there and they'll let you in.

Another 5 minutes went by, and we all had 15 minutes to see the 7 minute presentation, see the shop (god forbid you buy anything, which I did), and then had to rush back to the boat.

The next island was Murano, and we were told to "go in to the seating on the left" and watch as the woman shows us how to make lace.

You guys, there were no seats, it's a lace store, and it was an elderly woman in a chair, who had a needle and cotton thread. That's literally what it was. She was lovely, absolutely, and very good at making lace, but... a presenter she was not. There was not one word spoken, in Italian, French or English, and the tour guide was literally nowhere to be found.

If you go to Venice, let me know, I'll let you know the name of the company then, no need to poop on them by name online.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Murano. Very beautiful!

This man, who I don't know at all, was having a very fun time posing!

Gorgeous water on the way to Burano.

An old ancient building in the middle of the water.

The photo is straight, the tower is not. Apparently it's very much going to fall over someday!

This is the woman making lace. I bought some little treats for people back home, and one for myself as well... no shock on the later.

We made it to Torcello, which is known for being one of the first, if not the first city on the lagoon that connects the little islands.

This is back on the main island, as I made my way back home to prep some packages to be mailed.

Gorgeous!

Then I found a store. It was a Magnum Ice Cream store. You guys...

You chose your ice cream base, vanilla or chocolate. Then your chocolate dip, white, milk or dark. Then your toppings, a bunch. I chose coconut, pretzel bits and crunchy chocolate things, then a milk chocolate drizzle.

Oh man. Yes.

Alright, headed to Lisbon tomorrow, woooooot! Can't wait to see what it's all about!

Night everyone!

..................

Wonderful People Are Wonderful!

October 28, 2015

I'd written a whole post this morning while I saw at a restaurant, and then the day got way more interesting, because I came across a bunch of individuals that made my life awesome today.

I'll explain.

I thrive on human communication. I think it's the reason we exist, and I think it's the single most important thing in life. Not money, not things. I mean, I like things, I like having things, and I like that money can help me travel, but they're not "the point".

The point, to me, is meeting different people, learning different perspectives, and the beauty of life is being able to do that and have the freedom to decide whether you agree with those perspectives or not, and whether they can further influence the ones you current hold.

Growing. Not standing still. Not accepting that something "is what it is", and pushing for what could be.

Yes, Oprah is beside me on the plane.

I have met four people / groups of people today that have brought me back from a slight brain detour. I say detour because travelling in countries in which you don't speak the language can be a challenge. Not because I can't order the cheese I want, or can't figure out which road to take. But because I can't converse. I don't have people to connect with in a conversational way. You can make out some words, you can gesture, and you can certainly make it work, but it's not a connection. It can't be, because language is such an important part of a connection with someone.

Here are the people I met.

Apartment Guy

I met him on Sunday when he checked in at the AirBNB location I was also at. He was also travelling on his own. He's a man in his 50's or 60's, and from Australia. We hadn't spoken much, just a kind hello as one or the other left the apartment. Today I was killing time before I checked out (you'll see later in the original blog post I wrote), and he walked in. He'd left very early (I'd like to that the workers who built the building for their revolutionary tissue paper walls that look like drywall... it was really quite impressive, the amount of sound that came through), and was back to grab his umbrella. We talked for an hour and a half about travel, life back home (respectively), and then got into life philosophy what the "point" is. Now, he's quite a bit older than I am, and it was very, very cool that we both had nearly identical perspectives:

Live while you can, because you never know
Save for experiences, not things
Live for yourself, not others expectations
Be you, not the dictation of "you" that society gave you that day they realized you were different
Breath

He made my morning lovely, and based on our chat and my previous obsessions and loose plans, my next trip will be to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Done. Not booked, but done.

Ladies on the Street

I've found myself reaching out to people who looked lost in Venice, because I got lost a lot. I mean, a lot. I have LTE, and paper maps just will not do in Venice. I saw these two women walking as I was going up the ramp to the boat to go to the airport. They looked lost, and I heard them say, "Well no, it's this way!" to each other. I paused and asked if I could help. They say no, but we ended up chatting around travel, life back home in San Francisco for them, and Toronto for me. We laughed a lot, and even griped about how difficult it was to maneuver in Venice. We also mentioned that we just want our bathtubs with a shower in them back, none of this shower and no tub, or shower separate from the tub. Silly things like that, which aren't even real complaints, kept us talking, in the rain, for half an hour. They're leaving tomorrow, and we both said we'd wished we'd met earlier and we could have saved each other from getting lost and hung out. They were a damn treat!

A few pictures of the platform that you wait for the boat to the airport in.

Lady in the Airport

I was sitting in a veeeeery comfortable airport seat at the Marco Polo airport in Venice, and a woman came over and crouched down near me to charge her phone at a nearby outlet. I ended up asking her if she was going to Lisbon, because the signage was a little whack, so wanted to be sure that I was in the right place.

I was. And so was she.

We ended up talking for over an hour, we even eventually lined up together. She's moving to be with her husband in Bogota. She's left her mother, sisters, and dog (she is equally sad about all, hahah), to move with her husband, who she's been away from for a year and a half. He got a job there and her business back home didn't work out, so she's moving to be with him.

She's an absolute doll, and she and I discussed classes she could take, cooking she could try, and other things she could do while her husband is the only one working for the first little while. She talked about winter in her home country, and it sounds pretty identical to the ones in Toronto, so we had a laugh about how ridiculous those can be.

And then the funniest thing is, I couldn't get an emergency exit seat for reasons I won't bore you with here, and the flight was sold out. Except a fluke where she had an empty seat right beside her! She offered for me to change seats with her, but I didn't because the people in front of her put their seat all the say back, so it was better to stay where I was. But how funny that she and I would become flight friends, and the exact answer I needed sat with her? This world, I tell ya.

She and I exchanged information and we're going to add each other to Facebook.

Ladies on the Plane

If Lisbon is anything close to how lovely these two ladies were, we're in business! I sat down, absolutely crammed in my seat (I will definitely have bruises on my knees in a day or two) and these two sweet, adorable, older Portuguese women sat next to me. We ended up talking almost the whole flight, and they told me many, many things that I absolutely must do in Lisbon. The trick will be remembering them all, but I shall do my best.

We talked about design, their travelling (they're sisters), and mine. They were so adorable. There were sisterly arguments as one recommended something to me and the other didn't agree. Just wonderful.

They gave me each of their numbers and emails and said to contact them if I have any questions, and that they're not too busy so they're around.

How amazing is that?

Anyhow, those were the wonderful people that I met all in one day. This has been rare on this trip, meeting even one person like this a week or two, so I was very grateful for today.

Moving on... you guys, I'm 27 days in to this thing! When did that happen?

It's been five cities, now onto the sixth, and then a short repeat stay in the seventh.

This morning in Venice was dreary, it was rainy and cold, but I couldnt complain because it'd been a pretty great morning. The place I am (was) staying said I had to be out by 10am. Totally fair, and within the rules I'd agreed to. I'd spoken to the woman about a possible extension, and she said that's maybe a possibility, and that she'd let me know. We eventually connected and said it was not possible because there's someone coming in to clean at 10am. Makes sense, so I got up, and was ready to leave by 10:10am.

My dilemma is that I wasn't flying out until 5:15pm today. And so I'd have 4.5 hours to kill before I go to the airport. That's a long time with a suitcase in one hand, umbrella in the other, trapsing cobble stone streets. Not a complaint (well, slightly), but I didn't want to go far because the boat to the airport is near where I was, and I constantly got lost every day, so couldn't risk missing it.

What ended up happening is that I hung out in the kitchen until 10:30am, the room all cleaned and ready for whomever to come in and clean it more. I heard the door, announced that I was there, and it turned out to be the apartment guy from above.

Do you think the cleaner came at any point in our hour and a half long chat? Nope.

I was meant to rush out for 10am, but 12pm came, and no one. I guess the good news is that I had a recalibration conversation with this lovely man, and got to stay out of the rain... and didn't "get caught" staying later. Though clearly I wouldn't get in trouble if I was talking to a current tenant!

Anyhoo, then I went to Gam Gam again, and had some pretty delicious matzo ball soup.

Ah, yes, I should show you the place I stayed in Venice! It's pretty adorable, thought old school as all hell!

When you book with AirBNB you can specify some things, clearly a hairdryer isn't that big do a deal, so it's not on the list. I always ask, because it's one less thing to pack. I asked and they said yes.

This is "yes".

You guys, can we have a moment for this incredible relic?

It actually works, thought you can't turn it on an angle at all, or the broken plastic side (not shown here) hits the fan and it sounds like the end is coming.

It did the trick, and I managed to get through with not horrible hair days. Unlike Berlin, which had an impressive-as-hell dryer, and just the worst hair days ever.