Venice Part 1 and Post #50

Again, I'm back and better than ever. Exciting announcement, before we get to some of the exciting details of the weekend. This is my 50th post, and I'm over 1500 views, which means I'm averaging 30 views per post, which is kind of cool. Thank you to those who have read from the start, thank you to those who just started reading, binge read and now are all caught up, thank you to those who just happened to wind up here tonight by accident. I write to preserve my memories, but also to hopefully entertain you with my misadventures. As always, keep reading and I'll keep writing.

So I was in Venice weekend. It's a great city, definitely worth seeing, but there's many sides to the tiny two piece island. This post is going to cover just Friday night, and so will be somewhat shorter than the next two installments. So I arrived in Venice around 8 pm on Friday, after taking the three and a half hour train ride from Rome. You step out of the train station, and you can tell the difference immediately. Each city has its persona, its feel, its vibe, and Venice is instantly different than Rome. My first thought, is that I've stepped into a modern Tortuga. Tortuga was a pirate base in the old days, and made famous in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. In many regards, Venice was and still is like that. People come into port and throw their cares away to celebrate. They crowd the sidewalks, buy rum (only if you're pirates) and have merry misdeeds throughout the night, while more ships enter the canals and ethnicities and wares from all over the area come for a visit. The island has all the feel of the Caribbean, the carefree, island lifestyle, combined with the ruthlessness of Italy, the feel that there is money being exchanged, and that while the majority of the population is drinking itself silly, there was power here underneath. Maybe I'm being unclear, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the canals breathe tales of lovers, murders and mysteries. It is no wonder that the great masquerade masks have grown so popular at this destination, as the thrill and fun in the mysteries of the night and masks remain in the recent historical memory. On top of the mystery of the masks, the city itself is confusing. While the waterways make sense, especially the stops along the grand canal, enter the maze of streets and things get weird fast. You get turned around, you walk down streets that turn a corner and dead end, some streets are pitch black, some are crowded with people, and all around the laughter and joy of the merriment of blissful release from the woes of the mainland. It is into this city I stepped the first night, and I knew an interesting weekend awaited me. What awaits you all, is more about Venice, but not tonight. Tonight I sleep, hopefully become more coherent and try again tomorrow. For now, enjoy these photos from night one in Venezia:

First view after leaving train station

A familiar face greets me at the water bus stop

Streets are packed

A wild gondolier appears

Sorry about the water marks. Wasn't going for the hipster effect. They will be removed before publication

The night ends with a mysterious boat headed my way. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?