Venice

Written 10/27:

            On Tuesday morning, it was a gloomy, rainy day.  Many of the orchestra members didn’t get much sleep, since we were up the night before celebrating our arrival in Italy.  So, although most of the orchestra had planned to go into Venice for the day, only a few of us showed up in the hotel lobby to depart for the train.

            Fortunately, our Bosnian-Italian translator, Alma, decided to come despite the rain, and escorted us to the city.  Alma is a Bosnian painter based in Sarajevo, who also works as a translator for various arts organizations.  She studied at the art academy in Venice, and speaks fluent Bosnian, Italian, and English.  Thus, the perfect guide for a group of Bosnians and Americans with five hours to spend in Venice!  As an added bonus, our conductor for the tour, who is Italian, also came along to show us around.

            We had to walk only a short ways to get to the train station in Pordenone.  The train from Pordenone to Venice left at 8:45am and got us into the city by 10am—not bad.  As soon as we got to the front of the Venice train station, we could already see one of the famous canals, and the jaw-dropping architecture that makes the city famous.

            I was completely overwhelmed as we wove our way through the city.  I hadn’t really taken the time to research Venice, so I didn’t quite know what to expect.  Or, what to photograph!  I started manically taking pictures, hoping to figure out what everything is later, haha.

            Of course, the defining element of the city is the canals.   I knew to expect them, but I didn’t realize how many there were.  I was also struck by all of the narrow cobblestone alleyways and streets.  In fact, they are so narrow that cars and trucks can’t deliver goods directly to the stores, so there are deliverymen running through the streets with wheelbarrows.

            When planning my honeymoon (that was sadly cancelled due my decision to partake in this epic adventure in Bosnia) I was warned that Venice is “crowded”, “touristy”, “dirty”, and “smelly”.  It is true that Venice is quite crowded with tourists—even on a rainy day in October, it was packed.  However, I found the city to be incredibly clean, and smelling quite good.  Some areas smelled like cookies and coffee, while others smelled like garlic and olive oil. It made me hungry all day. J

            I did get a chance to stop for coffee, and later for lunch.  I’m not normally much of a coffee fan, but I’ve started drinking it in Bosnia, mostly because going for coffee is such an important part of the Bosnian daily routine.  I kind of like the coffee in Bosnia, if I add enough sugar.  However, the cappuccino I ordered in Venice was so tasty that I didn’t even need to add sugar!  Definitely the best coffee I’ve ever had.

            After coffee, we wove our way toward the San Marco piazza.  On the way, we passed souvenir shops, pastry shops, candy stores, and, of course, clothing and shoe stores.  I never understood the hype about Italian fashion…until now.  The clothing, shoes, and handbags are immaculately made, and strikingly beautiful.  Good thing we didn’t have time to go shopping, or I might have gone broke.

            Finally, we made it to the San Marco piazza.  Of course, I’d heard of the church before, and seen pictures, but I had forgotten what to expect.  As we stepped out into the piazza, I was awestruck by the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen.  Whoops, that’s not San Marco, that’s the building to its right…haha.  I turned left, and found the real San Marco, which was at least 10 times as ornate as the building I was looking at.  I bet there are few tourists who see San Marco and don’t know what it will look like.  I’m not sure it would have been as shocking if I had done research before going into Venice, so I almost feel like I benefited from being clueless.  J

            We waded around the piazza.  That’s right, it was flooded.  However, there were little boardwalks that you could follow around the circumference so I didn’t get completely soaked.  Sadly, we didn’t have much time, so after making a loop to take some pictures, we began to walk back toward the train station.

            On the way back, we passed a museum that housed a collection of musical instruments.  How could we not go in?  Most of the instruments in the collection were made in Italy during the 18^th century.  However, there were also some older stringed instruments and manuscripts.  I drooled over the collection of nearly a dozen historical oboes.  No time to study them, so I took pictures of the instruments and their labels to look at later.

            At the end of our whirlwind tour of Venice, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch.  I had an eggplant panini, and most of my friends had pasta.  Then we scurried toward our train, which departed at 3pm.  When we got to the station, we found out that the train was cancelled, but there was another one departing at 3:20.  The train going back was a local train, with frequent stops, so it was quite crowded and took nearly two hours.  I’m glad that we left ourselves plenty of time to return to Pordenone.  Our concert wasn’t until 9pm, so I was able to collect myself, lie down for a few minutes, and grab some pizza for dinner.  Did you know that Italians sell pizza with French fries on top?  I didn’t try it, since the slices also had meat, but I’m curious what it tastes like.  Maybe next time.  I definitely hope to return to Italy soon!