Bayley-Ellard High School
Bell' Italia -- Italy trip 1998
Day 3 -- Venice
Morning comes cruelly early. And with an insufficiency of hot water for 36 people. At 6:45 everyone is woken and at 7:30 we eat a Continental breakfast. The American students are offended at the paltry fare of bread and chocolate spread.
I want some more water. How do you say that? "Agua?"
He speaks English!
You made your beds? I'll give you a thousand lire to clean my room!
I want a hotel room with like ... carpet
At 7:15 we pile onto our bus and head for the docks. A 15 minutes water taxi ride brings us to the island of Venice proper.
Ah Venice. We pass a huge variety of watercraft. Including, of course, gondolas. We are greeted by our Venice guide, Antonio, "The Tallest Man in Venice." And so, it seems he is. We look around at a skyline of church domes. Antonio tells us that in a few decades Venice will be underwater. Later we see pictures of the whole area under feet of water during the many floods, yet people still visit the sights on boards laid out in a weird kind of boardwalk system. In the present tense, however it is dry and we are all completely awed by The Palace of the Doges. The painted ceilings, the huge rooms, the gilded surfaces. We pass through the Bridge of Sighs to the prisons, and then out to the Basilica of San Marco and onto the Piazza de Saint Marco.
Everyones looking at the Floor. We should be looking at the ceiling.
The floor is an amazing mosaic of inlaid wood patterns. The ceiling is an even more amazing mosaic of gold and art. It is hard to believe they are not paintings.
We stop off at a Venetian Glass shop and watch a Maestro blow glass for us. Two delicate finished objects in five minutes. We applaud and then fill the little store.
Then comes the moment everyone has been waiting for. we climb into beautiful black gondolas. The gondoliers do not wear the traditional striped shirts and hats. They also speak only Italian it seems. Which is just fine. As we turn tight corners they shout out "Oi!!". As we pass other gondolas it's obvious that some of them know each other and chat as they pass in Italian. It certainly adds flavor to hear the lyrical Italian being cried out in the canals. Soon mixed in we hear an accordion, then singing. In another gondola a couple is being serenaded. Soon we encounter a luggage boat loading bags into the back of a small hotel. It proves to us that the canal is not merely decorative. We enter the Grand Canal, and it turns very, very windy. It had been cold, but the element of wind makes it very uncomfortable. Most of us are a little relieved to be off the boats, lovely as the ride was.
The day gets colder and windier. Some seek shelter in the museum. Others brave the cold and continue wandering the tiny piazzas and alleys full of interesting treasures, and hundreds of amazing little (and grand) churches. Eventually it starts to drizzle and rain. Many of the wanderers take shelter in the cafes and tell stories of the day's varied adventures and discoveries.
I think I drank about 8 cappichinos
... so he puts his whole hand in the water at the base of the plant
i thought it was glass
... and he takes it out wet
... then he crosses himself with the water
(hysterical laughter and good-natured ribbing ensues)
By 6pm we arrive huddled at the dock, freezing and wet. Ignazo tells us this is the coldest day he's seen all year. We ride back to Lido, tired and shivering. Another unremarkable dinner (lamb chops and french fries) concludes the day.
I still cannot call out to upload the stories and pictures to the Internet, but I show many to the students. In the evening I upload the Venice pictures as I go to sleep into our just purchased used notebook Mac. I dim the screen so we can have dark while it uploads from the digital camera. To my horror the laptop will not then un-dim. It appears that the undim button is broken! For the rest of the trip I will have to type text, edit and crop pictures, and do web layout on a barely readable screen. Be prepared for typos! This is a tough trip. And yet, I think every one of us is having a great time.
End of day 3.
To email us in Italy send email to mewintle@aol.com
and be sure to include the word "Italy" somewhere in the tile. I will forward your message to the appropriate person or the whole group as appropriate.