Venice

In early February, we traveled to Venice for Carnival. I've always wanted to travel to Venice after seeing the movie "Summertime" with Katharine Hepburn. In the movie, Katharine travels to Venice and falls in love with a handsome Italian man, played by Rossano Brazzi.

A clip from the movie "Summertime". 

The movie has gorgeous shots of Venice and after spending a few days there, I can say that the city hasn't changed much. Except that people used to dress a lot nicer. It is a beautiful city, with narrow, winding passageways and canals everywhere you turn.

A scene I love from "Summertime" is right at the beginning, when Katharine, or Jane in the movie,  is on the train to Venice and is talking with a man who has been to Venice many times . It is a perfect example of travelers desperately hoping to love a place that they have always dreamed of going to.

Jane:  “Like it? I’ve got to. I’ve come such a long way. I’ve saved up such a long time for this  trip. Do you think I maybe won’t like it?

Man on train:  “I’m sure you will. But not everybody likes it in the same way. Some people find it too quiet. Some people find it too noisy. And it is, very noisy. But the majority find it very beautiful”

Jane: “Yeah, well,  I guess I’ll settle with the majority.”

When deciding to travel to Venice, I was worried that I would be disappointed once I got there, because many people have told me that it does not live up to expectations. I completely disagree. Even in the cold weather, Venice was still a wonderful place. 

One of the many beautiful gondolas.

I had a lot of fun riding in a gondola. There was a lot of us in the boat, so I had to awkwardly sit in the front. I had fun though. I would love to go back to Venice in the Spring or Summertime when it will be a lot warmer. We were only one of the few people I noticed brave enough to take a gondola ride in the cold. The tour guide was also funny. He knew little English, and when he pointed out important buildings, he kept repeating himself. He would point at a building and say, "Old church, Catholic Church, very beautiful, Church for Catholics." Then later, pointing towards another building, would shout "Protestant Church, very old, very beautiful, Protestant Church".

Riding in a Gondola.

Some of the canals are very narrow, and as we were turning around a tight corner, I thought the gondola was going to hit the wall. We were probably an inch form the boat scraping on the bricks so I panicked and pushed against the wall. That was a mistake. The gondola man yelled at me and we ended up hitting the opposite wall. Oops. 

Coming a little too close to another wall.

Even though Venice was chilly, we were able to see the first day of Carnival, an annual Venetian festival. People celebrate by wearing masks and dressing up in outlandish costumes. I wished we were able to see more than just the first day and that we could afford to attend a true masquerade ball. Vendors were selling masks on almost every corner, but there were only a few places where one could get a true, hand crafted Venetian mask. A few of the girls found beautiful, original masks but they were expensive so most of us settled for the cheaper ones. We had fun wearing our masks the whole day and seeing everyone dressed up.

Venetian masks.

Modeling our masks in Piazza San Marco.

Venetian dress.

Scary masks.

One side of St. Mark's Basilica. 

More costumes.

One of my favorite things in Venice were the pink street lamps. 

A wine fountain. 

Although I know no Italian, I tried to speak the language a little bit. In most of the big tourist destinations, the people speak some English, but I usually still attempt to speak a few phrases of the local language. But when I was attempting to speak Italian to a bus driver, a Belgian boy we were traveling with said I sounded like Brad Pitt speaking Italian in "Inglourious Basterds". Needless to say, embarrassing.

Italian scene from "Inglourious Basterds".

Even though my Italian skills were horrible, I still had a great time in Venice. Although seeing a tiny piece of Carnival was fun, I would love to return one day in the warmer weather and be able to stay for a longer time. 

Goodbye Venice.