Friday, August 27, 2010

Lesson #2


Venice - 08/21/2010

In a city where love is so abundant and I am utterly consumed with it, how is it that I am still so cynical toward loving someone else? I guess emotional baggage is very hard to lug around in a city where there are no roads and I have to carry it all on my own. 

Short and sweet (Well maybe not so sweet), but it's all I came up with today! 

Lesson #1


Venice – 08/14/2010

So I started this morning with a big question weighing over me… To get off the ship or not to get off the ship? Yes, while I know that doesn’t seem like a huge dilemma, well in actuality it wasn’t, it was the thing I was dealing with. And the answer I came up with was in the form of a conversation with myself.
“Bryant, you’re already up, the weather is better than you’d expected, you have nothing else to do today, and oh yeah, YOU’RE IN VENICE!!”
O.K. so my inner self won that battle!
So here I am in old Venice strolling around a park at 8:30 AM with nothing to do and nowhere to be, and I could be more in love. In love with the time by myself, in love with the fresh morning air, in love with the strings of local people scurrying about in their morning routines.
The last few times I have been in Venice, it’s been a goal of mine to get lost. I wanted to be totally and utterly immersed in the city. It wasn’t hard to do seeing that the city is built like a maze! Walls rise up around you and the streets spin you in endless circles. There is a weird feeling of comfort amidst all of this “chaos” though. It’s almost as if you know wherever you go, and however lost you are, everything is still amazing! It’s hard for you to see anything but beauty when you’re surrounded by everything in this city. The narrow streets are filled with the scents of the morning bakeries opening up and it is as if these pasteries jump out of the windows, grab onto you and pull you in! There is no saying no to a pasterie when it smells like heaven! So I went in, bought a few pasteries in my broken Italian and went on my way, continuing to get lost in the maze!
There are so many small little canals that just kind of pop up wherever you turn. I could be walking down a street so narrow it seems to be a tunnel and out of nowhere, a bridge, a canal full of the most amazing little boats. I could stand there for hours just looking down these small canals. They are full of life and character. Laundry hanging from the open shutters. Little old Italian men getting into their boats to go off on their way. It still amazes me that this could be “normal” to people. What if I was from here and I got to live in this everyday? Inner monologue pops back in now; “In you’re dreams!” I guess California, or Kansas for that matter isn’t all bad! I’m pretty lucky to be from there!
Next stop in an Italian morning…Coffee of course! I popped into a small coffee shop to have a double espresso. I must say that Italian coffee is one of my favorite things…EVER! And did I ever get a treat this morning in this small coffee shop. Again, in my broken Italian I ordered my coffee and sat down to enjoy people watching. The man who brought me my coffee several minutes later was the most beautiful man I had seen in a long time. Yes, I realize I used the word beautiful to describe a man, but that is what he was. Like, I said before, everything in Italy is beautiful! Even the men! I am officially in heaven! I am surrounded by everything beautiful! So when you’re in a small cafĂ© with a beautiful Italian man who speaks no English, what should you do? Order another coffee and enjoy the beauty!
All good things must come to an end though to make way for other great things! I continued my walk through the streets, weaving my way through Venice trying to make it look like I knew where I was going. Then the craziest thing happened to me! I knew where I was going!!! O.K., I know that sounds weird at first, but stay with me. Never in my life did I think I would ever be in Venice. Let along getting to spend 14 weeks here! The first few times here was a joy in getting lost, but here, today something crazy happened. I remembered being here in this Piazza before. I knew what street I was on and where I was going. Not only was I in Venice, but now I felt like I knew what the hell I was doing! That was a bit much for me at that moment! So what did I do, turned around and worked on getting lost again!
The churches here are amazing! As you walk down any street here, you will inevitably hear church bells throughout the day, As you peer down a street you can see the statues of saints and spires from churches peeking through the canals, as if they are all keeping a watchful eye on you as you travel the city. All of them are small but beautiful in detail! The architecture and frescos blow you away. Again, no shortage of beauty here!
I am actually kind of loving being here so early because there aren’t many people up, I’ve been walking for hours and it’s not too hot, and the stores aren’t open yet for my donations! So after a few hours and feet that feel like they are going to fall off, I head back toward the ship. A day wouldn’t be complete without a snack on the way back though! I stop in a local Pizzeria and get a Calzone and a Bellini. After all, Bellini’s were made in Venice! I take my food and go walk toward the Grande Canal to sit down. On my way though, I pass a Gelato shop where the Limoncello Gelato starts screaming at me! If you know me well, you know I have a soft spot for Limoncello, so I stopped and got one. Now picture this….Me walking down the street hands full of Champagne, Calzone and Gelato, trying to juggle all 3! Yes, I was in heaven yet again! Beauty I tell you!!!! As I sat down to eat I noticed that there were garbage men filling a boat on the water with the garbage from an adjacent square. As I sat and watched I found out something else about Venice! Even the garbage men are beautiful!!! What is this place?!?!
With all of that excitement for the day, all before Noon, I decided to head back to the ship. I want to spread out my Venetian explorations as to not peak too soon! It seems like a city with never ending beauty, love and passion. I guess that’s Italy in general though!