That's Amore

Ah, Venice, the City of Love. I know Paris makes that claim to fame, but I think it must be a very close competition (after I go to Paris, I’ll let you know which one wins out). Before I left, I decided that if I was not going to be with my family for Thanksgiving, I would spend the holiday someplace fabulous (forgetting for a moment that I am already in Italy), so I have been in Venice the past few days. What an amazingly beautiful city.

From the moment I stepped out of the train station, I was in love. The whole city feels like a backdrop specifically designed to inspire romance. Close your eyes and imagine for a moment… (wait on second thought, don’t close your eyes yet, or you won’t be able to read the description). You wind you way through a labyrinth of cobblestone alleys, until you come upon a bridge connecting one small island to the next. Crossing over the bridge you stop for a moment at the top to admire the view and listen as a singing gondolier passes through the water below (yes some of them do still sing or have an accordion player onboard). Coming to an open square, you notice the glass coverings on the lampposts are tinged in pink, to soften the light and create that special ambience. Stopping at a café to drink it all in, you listen to the soft strains of a piano and violin duet playing a piece from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Oh, what an amazing place to be in love, someday I will come back here when I am in such a state.

That being said, traveling there alone didn’t make me feel out of place. There were plenty of families and groups there, as well as all the couples. On the first morning when my hotel brought breakfast to my room (I know, breakfast in bed, how perfect is that), they must not have look at the register, because they brought me breakfast for two. However, instead of making me feel sad or nostalgic, I thought, “Score! Now I get two croissants”.

Now don’t get me wrong, Venice is still very touristy, like most Italian hotspots, but it felt like a higher class of tourism. The kitschy little souvenirs sold at every store were swirling, colorful pieces of art and jewelry made from Murano glass, along with elaborately decorated masks (which unfortunately I did not get any pictures of, but just imagine the Masquerade Scene from The Phantom of the Opera). The city as a whole gave off a feeling of opulence and decadence.

I spent most of my time just walking around, taking it all in and taking way too many pictures once again, but I did take some time to go to the Guggenheim museum of modern art. After studying these artists for so many years, it was very interesting to see actual works by Picasso, Pollock, Dali and the like. I tried as always to take the unexpected picture, but soon figured out that in Venice, every shot feels typical. So here are a few of my pictures, typical as they may be, hope you enjoy this city as much as I did.