Day 1 - Apr 30 2010 – Travels to Europe and sightseeing in Venice

The overnight flight to Munich, Germany was fairly uneventful...the most exciting thing was my sleeping through dinner. I was awakened with terror as the first thing I saw was a nearly finished meal being eaten next to me! The only calming thought was that it was probably a meat-filled meal and I was better off without the dinner roll anyway. I opened a Cliff Bar and started my second movie of the night - Sherlock Holmes. I saw most of New Moon before I fell asleep for about an hour. Both were pretty good, although Twilight was much better than it's sequel. I tried to sleep after movie time, but was just way too excited for my European adventures to get much rest. I studied my Italian phrasebook and tried to memorize key phrases..."sono vegitariano" (I'm a vegetarian), "grazie" (thank you), and "scuzi" (excuse me or I'm sorry) :) That's about all I figured I'd need.

Before I knew it, it was hot towel time again in preparation for breakfast. All I did was hope it wasn't a slab of ham with a side of bacon and sausage. It worked! It was a total veggie breakfast of fresh fruit, granola bar, croissant and cheese. Yay! Soon after breakfast, we were due to land, so I started watching Cactus Flower, Goldie Hawn's debut film alongside Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman in 1969. Fantastic! I can't wait to see the end!

I arrived in Munich to a stunning countryside and ultra-modern (and newly constructed) airport. There were complimentary coffee drinks and several of the local newpapers every few gates. What a concept! How very unamerican... I loved it! Speaking of unamerican, there were also topless women on the cover of what looked to be their main entertainment newspaper. What a shock at 8:45 am for this patriot!

Got on a little turboprop for the 45 minute trip to Venice, Italy. I arrived at an older, but still modern airport, repeating to myself "oh my god, I'm in ITALY". I was just taking in all the sights, in awe of the simplest things seemed to special to me because they were Italian. I stared at all the items in the vending machines and tried to decipher the directional signs and tried to distinguish the foreign travelers from the Italians. I was met by a representative from the Port Agent's office and he brought me to a cab that was instructed to bring me to the local Holiday Inn where I would be staying the night. I arrived to a friendly front desk staff, all speaking English, who told me all the important information. My room was lovely and very European in style, complete with the bide'. Although I was pretty wiped out, I looked forward to a busy day of sightseeing in the ancient and so unique city of Venice.

I reserved a spot on their free shuttle into the city, which is actually an Island originally constructed on a lagoon. I was dropped off with one little map from the hotel and a return ticket and a huge sense of adventure. I made note of the bus depot where I was let off and decided to just pick a spot to start with and head in that direction. Of course, the most famous of all destinations in Venice is St. Mark's square, or Piazza San Marco. There, you can see the Basilica, The Bell Tower and Palazzo Ducale - all incredible ancient buildings that form the borders of a truly magical square. The square is enormous, lined in shops, museums, and restaurants with scores of tables spilling out into the square. A few of the restaurants have musicians who take turns playing and fill the square with beautiful sounds. The first one I walked by was not playing the expected Vivaldi...no, it was "Axel F" - better known as the theme song to "Beverly Hills Cop". Yeah, it was pretty funny. Speaking of music, everywhere that there was a radio playing seemed to have Lady Gaga, Kesha, and lots of 80s American Pop playing. I was surprised at first, but then considering the impact of American culture on the world, why would I be? 

 The coolest thing about walking in Venice is that there are waterways and walkways. The directional and street signs are posted on the sides of buildings. Throughout the 6 districts of Venice, there is a network of walking paths that are all very clearly noted by bright yellow signs and arrows at almost every turn. Between the signs, my map, and the waves of people all heading in the same directions, I had very little trouble staying on track. 

The gondolas were beautiful and much bigger than I expected. The operators would stand near the bridges, barking at tourists and school groups to sell rides. I passed on this adventure this time, but surely will take a ride when I'm back in port every Saturday. 

Pizza and Gelato shops, boutiques of every major fashion designer, and tourist trinket stores consisted of 90 percent of the businesses in the San Marco district. Of course I had to try the Pizza and Gelato, both of which were fantastic! Everything was reasonably priced for a popular touristy area and Euros were very easy to get - all I had to do was use an ATM with my debit card and I got Euros in return. I'm sure I could have exchanged for cheaper, but the convenice of this method was worth the possibly worse rate.

After touring most of the San Marco district, I went north to visit the Rialto. The Rialto was the center of Venitian commerce in ancient times, with the original location of the marketplace intact and bustling with business. There is also a beautiful view of the Canal Grande - the largest waterway through the city - by the Rialto marketplace. Every morning, there is a large fish and vegetable market that sets up as well.

 

     I found a theatre that screened a 30 minute film on the history of Venice every evening and bought a ticket to that for 5 euros. It was good, but 30 minutes was about all that I could take! I was starting to get very tired and as the sun was setting around 7 pm, there was a chill in the air. I thought I had better head back to the bus depot while it was light out and try to get back to the hotel on an earlier shuttle. Well, I made it just in time to catch the 7:30 bus back and coincidentally, shared the ride with a couple from South Carolina and one from Alabama. I sat quietly in the back, listening to their accents and feeling oddly at home halfway around the world.

All day, I was very much looking forward to a wonderful Italian dinner at the hotel. I was informed that it would be covered under my room and was even more excited about that! The server spoke excellent english, so my "sono vegitariano" was not neccessary :) I had a delicious first course of pasta in marinara sauce with basil, second course of grilled veggies, and desert of chocolate pear cake. It was divine.... the pasta was unbelievable. I could have eaten ten plates of it! Full of food, memories of the days' sights, and anticpation for the morning's boarding, I fell asleep fast and hard and slept the night away.... in ITALY!