A Whole New Life: Venice--a Gondola Back in Time

The morning we were to leave for Venice, I woke up with a terrible cough, a

sore throat and a fever. How could I make it walking everywhere in Venice? I asked Bryan to give me a blessing, and I took the first of a Z-Pack my doctor had given me—Azithromycin. Then we loaded our bags and took the train to Venice.

Venice is one of my most loved cities. Tiny alleys that often go nowhere—except the canal—and you must backtrack. St. Mark’s Square is a dream of fantastic marble palaces, and crowds of people and pigeons. But there are many campi where you can enjoy sitting for a while and imagining Venice of 600 years ago.

Our kitchen

Our rental apartment, as compared to Vicenza, was modern as tomorrow, with a tiny balcony overlooking the street, gorgeous decorations, and a washer and dryer! It was a corner away from a Vaporetto Stop, so you didn’t have to pack your bags forever, BUT—it was on the 4^th floor and no elevator. I about cried when I saw where our room was, as I hacked and wheezed. But it was worth the walk.

Riato Bridge

Our tour guide began at the train station, where everyone begins their Venice experience, but we evaded the Rialto Bridge, which was too crowded to move on. We saw the Jewish ghetto where people were taken from and sent to holocaust camps in the 1940s. Marc found the house where Marco Polo (his namesake—according to him). I was amazed at the open fruit and vegetable markets, and all the many shops.

We went on a ride in a gondola—all the way across the canal. We explored a four-story mall that had a roof you could see the whole city from. Marc and Kira didn’t like heights so they stayed below in the mall, while Marc and I got a bird’s eye view of the city.

We were there on Marc’s birthday, so we went to a really nice restaurant which someone had recommended (ignoring my plea as I kept begging, “Just go anywhere, I can’t walk anymore.”) He had the best pizza in the world, but the service wasn’t the best as the place was super crowded.

Everyone else went out wandering that night, but I went to bed.

The next day was the last day of Carnivale, “Fat Tuesday,” but St. Mark’s Square was deserted! We learned that all the parties were elsewhere so we wandered around. We found a masqueria, and learned how to make masks. Bryan saw some clementines oranges on one of his trips, and asked how much they were. “Ten Euros.” When he realized it was ten Euros per kilo not per clementine, he bought a kilo, plus some eclairs. We had fun living off the stores that day, including buying bread, meat and cheese for sandwiches.

After a day of walking (Marc averaged 12,000 to 15,000 steps on his fitbit), I

was ready to stay home, but Marc, Kira and Bryan went exploring the night life. Bryan came back earlier, but Kira found a reggae party in one of the squares, and stayed to dance. With all the beautiful costumes for Carnivale, and the lights and music, you could imagine it was in the past and not in the 21^st century.

The most memorable part of the trip for me was that despite my cough and asthma, Bryan’s blessing helped me to enjoy the trip and do all the walking and stairs that I had to. This was a true miracle.

Then we were on our way back to Milano, and then back home in a trip that took 23 hours. Bryan came down with what I had on the way back to Milano, and was sicker than a dog all the way home.