What Does it Mean to "Go Straight?"

1) This is photo of a typical Venice water way

2) A view of Saint Mark's Church

3) Myself and my good friend, Faith

My trips outside the center of Florence have been rejuvenating beyond imagination; while I appreciate the historic beauty of Florence’s architecture, at the end of a week in Florence, I find my Colorado-born heart longing for trees, grass, and mountains. Siena, Chianti, and Feisole have, therefore, become some of my favorite spots in Italy because I can get the best of both worlds: beautiful architectures and quaint piazzas, and the greenery of the Italian hills and classic vineyards.

I found out, all too late, that Venice fails to fit into either of these neat categories. Friends told me that I could see Venice in a day, and seeing as how it is from the same fabric as the tourist-attracting Florence, I thought that a single day adventure would suit me very nicely.

I was so totally wrong.

Well, that is, I would have been right had it not been for the fact that the Biennale was taking place during the time that I chose to visit Venice. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Biennale is an international studio art exhibition that takes place in Venice every other year. Art is situated all over the city for a few months so that people can come look, see, and explore the visual language of the contemporary art world. It was easy to get sucked up in the colors and conceptions of other artists at the Biennale. Not all of it struck my fancy, but all of it made me think.

It was also easy to get sucked up in the beauty of the winding streets of Venice. In fact. . . my friends and I got SO sucked up that we lost our way around the city for an entire hour trying to locate the train station. That was a fun adventure full of asking for directions in Italian, understanding the Italian directions, and then failing to see how the Italian instruction “go straight” worked with roads that curved multiple times. . .

I know that I have mentioned in earlier posts that time passes in an odd fashion for me while in Italy; in due fashion, I just got done telling you that there was simply no time to see all of Venice, and yet, somewhere in that span of “no time,” I was able to run in and out of the locally notorious church: Saint Mark’s. I have included a photo of a mere CORNER of Saint Mark’s Church. Can you imagine how spectacular the REST of the church is?! The fact that the entire ceiling was covered in gilded mosaics may give you another idea as to the beauty of Saint Mark’s Church.

In short, Venice made a great day trip, but would have made an even better two-day trip. Just think of all the things I could have done in the “no time” of a whole other day!

Love from the Italian Traveler,

Brandi