I have proof that Venetians think they are half fish. Look at this ceiling design. After seeing Venice and the surprises that we encountered there I fully believe that I can write a story like Stephanie Meyers about the Mermaids of Venice who live by day as people walking around and by night flop into the water and become merpeople. I guess that is because the biggest surprise about Venice was that people really live on the water when they have to get around. There are absolutely no cars in Venice and there couldn't be because there are canals instead of streets. A taxi is a boat. And I think people in Venice own boats instead of cars. Another thing about Venetians is that they like to dress up and wear masks. There are all sorts of masks every where for tourists to buy and each mask has a different meaning. People pose in costumes on the street to get money from tourists who want to have their picture taken with them. They are all over northern Italy doing this.
When we arrived in Venice by train, we walked out of the station to get on the boat to our hotel. It wasn't an ordinary hotel but a monastery that had been converted into a hotel. The amazing thing about Venice is that even though it is relatively small, it is really confusing to get around in. The house numbers go every which way and if you don't know where you are going you get lost very easily. That happened to us. We got off the boat and started lugging our suitcases down the stone alley ways to find our hotel. We ended up in this square by a convent and I sat down to feed the pigeons while Jenessa and Kerry took off in opposite directions to find the hotel. I started thinking about Mary Poppins and her song about feeding the birds. I found that the pigeons were quite selfish eaters. They would grab the cookie crumbs as fast as they could while these two sweet little wrens would grab a cookie crumb and share it with each other. As I was watching the suitcases Jenessa became the winner and found the hotel. It was over a bridge on the other side of the canal.
Jenessa had been to Venice before for a half day on her trip to Europe with BYU-I so she knew a few places to go see. We went to a glass factory and to the Doge's Palace. We also saw the market and a famous bridge that had shops on it. We walked and rode boats everywhere in Venice. In fact the thought that prevailed for the day was how much our feet hurt from all the walking that we did in Italy. I think that we probably walked over 7 miles a day...every day.
The Doge's (Doe-J) Palace was the seat of government for the Venetians. That is where the courts, jails, and bodies of government met. The palace was full of artwork, weapons, and beautiful windows. It was also attached to the church which you can see beyond this tower Jenessa is trying to hold up. We walked around this square at night to hear the various bands playing. I loved the music and the romantic atmosphere of Venice.
Eating pizza and pasta was a very big part of our trip when we found time to eat. We didn't have regular meals except for breakfast which was served in our hotel every morning. It was a European Continental Breakfast which was all kinds of fruit, scrambled eggs, meats, hot chocolate for us, and breads. It was very good at every hotel we stayed at. Jenessa proved to me that she could eat a whole pizza. I had never tried it before and made it to 3/4 of a pizza but Jenessa could down an Italian Margarita Pizza by herself. I was impressed to say the least. My favorite pasta was gnocchi with tomato sauce. Another thing about eating in Venice was that we sat outside and watched the gondoliers. It isn't true that all gondoliers sing but we did see some that did sing opera. I think they charge extra for that.
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