Lifelong dream accomplished! So, even if the weekend had been disappointing, it still wouldn't have been a waste. Fortunately, it was one of the greatest weekends I've ever had, and now that it's over, I'm definitely disappointed to be back in Urbino. Let me tell you how awesome my weekend was:
Friday:
Gabriella and I got to leave class early to catch a bus, then a train to Venice. We left class around 10:15 to catch the 10:35 bus (getting to the bus stop requires walking down a highway with no sidewalks, then around hills on a sidewalk that heads upwards to the town gate); in the bus, we drove down the mountain to the coast, where Pesaro is, and it took about an hour; we waited a bit at the bus station, got lunch, and got on our train; the train was direct, meaning it still went all the way to Bologna before getting to Venice, which might seem out of the way, but it was at least faster than taking two separate trains; and we got to Venice around 4. We met the woman who was renting us the apartment in the train station, stepped outside of Santa Lucia (the station) and were overwhelmed. It might have been the humidity, or maybe that Venice is the most beautiful place in the world. Probably a combination of the two. And while we thought we had finally arrived, we still had a 25 minute walk through crowded streets to get to the apartment, carrying our bags and in my case, my flute. But we made it, and the apartment was perfect! It was in a little side street, actually off of one of the normal little streets (calli) underneath an overhang. The street was narrow, there was no one around, but it was also a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Rialto bridge.
While waiting for the other three students to arrive (they weren't so lucky, couldn't miss class, and didn't take a direct train), Gabriella and I went to the ghetto for some aperitivi. The ghetto, in case you don't know, as a word, originated in Venice. The area where the Jews lived, they built their buildings really high to save money, and so the whole area is basically filled with little Italian skyscrapers. The word comes from the name of their factory, and has since been used to describe other places where Jews were forced to live. But, the area isn't a ghetto like you'd think in Venice. It's just a neighborhood like others, with its own history, and its own peculiarities.
Me in the Ghetto, after having two spritz! As you can see, I was very happy.
We then headed back to the apartment before meeting Nicole, Reveka, and Andra at the station to show them to the apartment. Then, we all went to this restaurant right near the apartment to have dinner and celebrate Reveka's 20th birthday, which luckily fell right on this trip! We even got them to put candles into her fruit dessert (she doesn't like sweets) and sing! The people at this restaurant were so nice to us, Gabriella and I even went back on Sunday for lunch before leaving the city.
Saturday:
We all woke up early and got breakfast at a local bakery. Fresh and typically Venetian, and the ladies who owned the place were sweet and very appreciative of our Italian. Then, we headed to San Marco to tour the basilica. Thankfully, I booked ahead so we didn't have to wait in a line. Of course...that's how that was supposed to work. Turns out, booking ahead means that you just wait in a shorter line. But we made good time.
The whole thing was under construction, but here's a nice picture anyway. There was a beautiful fog that morning. All my other pictures are on my real camera, which I won't be able to do anything about until I'm home.
We made our way back towards the apartment at a leisurely pace, stopping in any store we found interesting, passing over Rialto, and then arriving early at the Campo dei Santi Apostoli at the beginning of the Strada Nuova. This is where we were meeting Sara, my first Italian professor from Princeton.
Background on Sara: she is from Venice. She likes cakes. A lot. Every time it's someone's birthday, she makes them bring in a cake. But she's not a hypocrite. She brings in cakes on her own birthday. All jokes aside, she is without a doubt my favorite Italian language professor, and if I could have seen any of them in Italy this summer, it would have been her.
So, back to the story. She got there, met the group (she only knew Andra and me, since we're the only two from Princeton), and brought us to a really great, traditional Venetian restaurant that was off the beaten path. To get there, we followed her sort of random path through the various calli, because she likes them better since they're in the shade. She walks fast in Venice, and we did our best to follow her through the head and humidity, through these little streets, and as a result, we were a bit disoriented at the restaurant. I'm pretty sure none of us knew where this restaurant was, or would be able to find it again. But that's part of the fun of Venice—getting lost. That's why it's called the labyrinth!
The restaurant was empty, air conditioned, and there was no cover charge. They also gave us all free cocktails to start the meal—pear nectar, prosecco, and a few other things that I can't remember. We had to order everything in groups of two, and I ended up getting little ravioli filled with some strange fruity cheese. It was amazing! I also had some spaghetti alle vongole (clams), since Sara and Nicole didn't want any more, and Sara's solution was to take my plate and put theirs in front of me, then take pictures of me staring at it until I finally started eating. Then she took pictures of everyone else and asked about Urbino, which she knows very well since she taught at this program twice.
After lunch, we split up. Reveka went off on her own (she likes to disappear and wander by herself), Nicole and Gabriella went to the McDonald's to spend an hour in air conditioning with free wifi (we didn't have wifi in the apartment), and Andra and I followed Sara on a much longer wandering, fast-paced, walking tour of Venice. We saw everything from the upper edge of the island where there's a nice view of Murano (where they make the glass), the cemetery (which I still really want to see...), and the arsenal, then basically crossed the whole thing to get to the Galleria dell'Accademia which is a bit after San Marco. We stopped at the hospital and the church next to it, where the Dogi are buried. They also have one of what I can only assume are Saint Catherine's MANY feet (you know how relics work...). We passed by the area with our apartment and peeked into the Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli. A quick stop at a bar where we didn't sit down (that costs extra), but got some sirop/water (mint!), and we were back on our way. My favorite thing that Sara showed us was this:
Sara told us this statue is known by Venetians as the "caga libri" because the man in the statue (who wrote one of the first Italian dictionaries) seems to be pooping books. It's basically how I felt after I finished my general exams! I had just enough time to snap this picture before running to catch up with Sara and Andra, because we weren't even close to done.
And finally, we arrived at the Accademia where we met Gabriella and Nicole and parted ways with Sara. The Galleria dell'Accademia is an amazing museum, and if I knew anything at all about art history, I would probably be able to argue that it is equally as impressive as the Ufizzi. But since I don't know anything about art, I'll say why I liked it: air conditioning, it wasn't crowded, the art was amazing and I recognized a lot of the names, plenty of places to sit, and did I mention the air conditioning? Geez is Venice hot!
After the Accademia, we got granite (Italian ice, also mint!), gelati, then headed back to the apartment for more air conditioning. When it got reasonably cooler, I headed back to the Strada Nuova where I played the Carnival of Venice in the street!! Gabriella videotaped the beginning, and I will indeed post it when I get home. A man gave me 50 cents! Not bad for about 6 minutes of playing. And once I finished the first four pages (and figured that was a good place to stop), Reveka said I should keep going since I had a little audience (very little—basically 4 or 5 people). So, I finished it, and an Italian girl told me that I was amazing, that I should be in an orchestra, and when I responded in Italian, she asked if I was Italian because my accent is apparently that good! So, ultimately, Saturday was a perfect day.
Sunday:
We woke up early, Reveka had already left to wander on her own, and so the four of us got pastries from our new favorite bakery (I got one called "Bacione in gondola" or a "big kiss in a gondola"), and then we actually rode in a gondola! No, we didn't do the expensive one. Or even the cheap one. Either would have been 80 or 100 euros. We followed Sara's advice and took the 30 second gondola ride from one side of the Canal Grande to the other. It costs two euros, you take as many pictures as you can, and then you head merrily on your way. It was delightful!
Gabriella and I bid goodbye to Nicole, Reveka, and Andra (who had an earlier, once again not direct train), then headed back to our new favorite restaurant for lunch. I got black pasta (black because of the squid ink—really great texture!), with some fresh Venetian seafood in it as well as zucchini. The seafood was kind of like clams, but longer. Very good. And we had a fun conversation with the waiter and chef, who now know and love us because we passed by so often heading to and from the apartment.
Then, 25 minute walk to the station, 3.5 hour train ride back to Pesaro, and the bus ride and we were back in Urbino. We found Reveka, Andra, and Nicole at the Pesaro station—even though their train was earlier than ours, it took longer. Clearly, it is worth it to pay slightly more for the direct train!
Summary: We saw Venice quickly, but well. We lived in a residential area, got to know real Venetians, spoke tons of Italian, got a tour from my favorite professor who happens to be Venetian, rode a gondola, I became a professional street performer, fulfilled a lifelong goal, saw a statue that poops books, and came back to Urbino where there was a party going on above my room. I think I'm ready to leave Italy.
