September 6 through 9, 2022
We are now in Italy and have hit the ground running (do I do things any other way?). Venice is our first stop and it was a bit of a culture shock. I think I'd been there once before (in high school?) but I barely remembered it. It is truly a city built on the water and it's currently celebrating its 1600th anniversary. I was amazed by how the city manages its transportation logistics (which are mostly boats). There are pretty much no vehicles on the island and everyone gets around by water bus or water taxi or on foot. I'm sure the economy lives off of tourists and there were certainly plenty of those 😀 I was also amazed at how much of it looks ancient (and in disrepair) but I guess it adds to the authenticity and charm 🙃
We spent the past few days exploring and taking tours -- to Burano (famous for lace-making), Murano (famous for glass-blowing), the Jewish quarter, Cortina and the Dolomites (a world UNESCO heritage site famous for its breathtaking mountain ranges). Full days but so worth it. Art even stayed awake for most of it 😉 I really enjoyed the tours, especially seeing the glass-blowing in action. Murano glass is world famous and of course we had to support the local economy (especially since they told us it was the only place to buy authentic glass items 😉). And I just think glass-blowing is magical to watch ⭐ By the way Cortina is where the 2026 Winter Olympics will be; apparently they have some world-class ski slopes on those mountains!
We have also tasted much of the local cuisine (largely Italian food of course). Historians will say it was the best pasta we've ever had 😁 but it was pretty amazing actually. We collectively had spaghetti with marinara sauce, gnocchi bolognese, pizza, spaghetti carbonara, and wienerschnitzel (and lots of gelato!). I also made a point of getting to the supermarket for some alternative snacks so we have less-filling options to eat. It was a good call and our hotel fortunately had an empty fridge for us to use.
My birthday (9/9) started off with a hitch because there was an unexpected train strike and the train is the main way to get from our hotel (in Venezia Mestre) to the island of Venice. Almost all of the trains were canceled! We somehow managed to catch one of the few trains there 😟 and we had a lovely day. We got to take a long-anticipated gondola ride which was super romantic (and pricey and kinda short 😂) and we had a fantastic Italian dinner. We wandered all over the island which has millions of alleyways and makes it very easy to get lost (in a good way, I guess). If you don't have anywhere to be, it's fine (and fun?) to be lost. Not all who wander are lost... We also discovered the joys of Italian bureaucracy while trying to buy stamps at the local post office (not an easy or short process by any means), but successful in the end!
Fun little aside: On our first day's tour, we had to figure out the whole train-boat thing, which we did, but we didn't realize that they are super strict at requiring masks on the boats (and trains). This was not a problem fro me since I *always* have mine, but Art forgot his. He managed to get on the boat anyway but when he got up to ask if our stop was next, they told him he needed a mask. When he said he didn't have one, they kicked him off at the next stop 😟 Luckily it was only one stop from the one we needed, so he sprinted over there and I met up with him (it was also helpful that he got to the meetup spot before me to let the tour guide know I was coming shortly). The mask mandate is taken very seriously around here; maybe COVID is still a real problem or maybe they can't risk outbreaks on their tourist island? And by the way, buying a mask here wasn't so easy; there are no CVS or Target shops anywhere.
Weird little aside: In the Jewish quarter, Art saw two Jewish guys (they were wearing tzitzit) tossing around a football. He went over to chat with them (why?) and somehow they convinced him to wrap tefillin and listen to them blow shofar (huh?). I stayed at a distance but honestly found the whole thing very strange. (The rest of our Jewish quarter walk was just lovely...)
Heading to Florence by train tomorrow, but could have easily spent a week in Venice!
Deena and Art
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