This weekend, I was lucky enough to spend three days in Venice. There is so much that happened that I can not really fit nor really explain in a blog post so I'll touch on the most memorable events for me.
First thing is first: Venice is amazing. If I could live there, I would. I absolutely love being surrounded by water, so staying in a place where the only form of transportation is a boat is the place for me.
Actually traveling to Venice was pretty boring, so I will not talk about that. I did have an Italian guy sitting beside me on the train helping me with Italian homework so that was fun ... Anyways, the first thing we did when we arrived in Venice was take a water taxi to our hotel. Taking the water taxi was a good way to first take in seeing the main parts of Venice (the grand canal). We dropped everything off at the hotel and then met up with a tour guide That was going to take us to see St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace.
I'm sorry, but I was not a fan of this tour. The sites were absolutely beautiful, However our tour guide was not the best. We went through the church first, and she basically forced us to rush through the church, so we were not able to take in it's beauty. Also she spoke nothing about the musical significance of the tour. We're here studying in Italy because of music, so it's kind of important we learn about the musical significance of places we are visiting. We spent maybe 15 minutes in the church but close to an hour in the Doge's Palace. The Doge's Palace was absolutely beautiful and was wall to wall in artwork but, again, our tour guide did not mention anything about music or why it was significant to musical history. But it was really interesting though to see the prison and Bridge of Sighs connected to the palace.
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The next day, the first thing on our schedule after breakfast was to tour La Fenice, the opera house in Venice. Finally, something musically significant. Our guide was very insightful, giving us the history of the La Fenice and letting us explore around, including the Royal Box. A lot of musical history occurred in that that teatro so it was really nice being able to go in, even if I was unable to see an opera there like others.
After La Fenice, we went to visit another church, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. I know, another church, so boring right? No, not at all. This church was so beautiful. From the outside, the church doesn't look like much since it's pretty minimal compared to St. Marco's or the Duomo in Florence, but on the inside it's magnificent. The stained glass windows, the art works, and all the tombs were incredible. The remains of Claudio Monteverdi are tombed in this church, so that was extremely special to us music majors. For all those non music people, Claudio Monteverdi is the person who is responsible for the first opera and is a major figure in music history. Being able to see his tomb was incredibly moving. Also, while in this church, I lit a candle in honor of my grandmother who had passed away a few days beforehand. Some of the Italy was with me, lit a candle in her honor, and said a prayer for her, my family, and myself. I don't consider myself a very religious person, but being able to honor her in a church such as this and to know that her light was shining down upon me through those stained glass windows was, for lack of a better phrase, incredibly moving.
The tomb of Monteverdi (also these pictures were taken from Google since I didn't take pictures inside this church)
The rest of the day was ours to explore in Venice. Since we had already been around the main island in Venice, so friends and I decided to explore the islands that are around Venice. After finally figuring out how the vaperetto system works (basically the vaperetto is a bus system, but on water), we decided to go to Lido first and then go to the island of Murano. Now, our main purpose in Lido was to try to find a club that my friend wanted to go to that night to celebrate his birthday. However, that's not how our Lido experience turned out. A few minutes walking down the main street in Lido, we came across this little place that rented family bikes, of course, we had to take this opportunity. So we rented this family bike that was made for four people and then squeezed another person on it. Five American college students driving around the streets of Lido in a tacky family bike. All the looks we got from the locals and people driving past us in their cars was priceless. And by the way, we never found the club, but Lido was still fun. It also was the only island that had actual beaches, in case you want to visit in the future...
Drinking and driving! But it's okay, it's legal. I'm of age and it's a bike. No one was harmed in this adventure.
Next up was Murano. However side note, on the way there, one of the stops was the cemetery. In Venice, the cemetery is an island. An entire island that is dedicated just to a cemetery...I just thought that was cool. Anyways, when we got to Murano, there was hardly anyone on the island. Of course our first priority was to get drinks, which we did, and then we just wandered around the island. Murano is famous for its blown glass, so most of the stores there sell all these items that are made from glass: jewelry, figurines, dishes, and so on. Personally, Murano was not one of my favorite places, especially if you don't have the money to go shopping, but it was nice to still experience and the glass there is very unique and original.
(Warning, this next section contains partying, so if you don't want to read about my party life, skip this section!)
During this trip, one of our beloved music friends was celebrating his 21st birthday! For his birthday, he wanted all of us to dress up in the Venice Carnivale masks and go out clubbing, so that's exactly what we did. If there was anything that was an instant signal to the locals that we were tourists, that was it. Of course, on our way walking to the club, we had to run into our professor and his wife so we were able to take a picture with him in our masks. We found a club (or discoteca as it is called in Italian) right by our hotel and it even offered a free drink with entrance into the club. That night was just a wonderful night to let go, enjoy the company of friends, celebrate the birthday of a friend, and just enjoy being in Venice! While there, we met some talked to some Italians and found people who spoke English! That's rare, so we embrace speaking to people in English when we can. Don't worry though, nothing got out of hand and we were all safe and sound at the hotel by two in the morning. Just to note though, Italian clubs are way more classy than those in America...
The campanile (bell tower) of St. Marcos
Outside of St. Marco's
Inside St. Marco's
One of the many ceilings of the Doge's Palace
After our tour that day, we were free to do whatever. Most of the group went to an opera, however, I stayed behind and walked around Venice to explore at night. Before arriving, we were told not to worry if we got lost in Venice. Since it's an island, there's not many places that you can go. And that's exactly what I did, get lost. It was so beautiful to see the canals at night and just explore all the little shops, especially the masquerade shops. And of course, you can't go to Venice without having a Spritz. So I went to this little corner cafe by our hotel to grab a small dinner and a drink. They waiter at this cafe was probably the nicest man I have encountered in Italy so far. He was speaking to me in Italian, asking me where I'm from and about music and so on. It was a good chance to practice my Italian and he was patient during all my mistakes.
Because you can't go to Venice and not have a Spritz. So here's my spritz selfie.
After La Fenice, we went to visit another church, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. I know, another church, so boring right? No, not at all. This church was so beautiful. From the outside, the church doesn't look like much since it's pretty minimal compared to St. Marco's or the Duomo in Florence, but on the inside it's magnificent. The stained glass windows, the art works, and all the tombs were incredible. The remains of Claudio Monteverdi are tombed in this church, so that was extremely special to us music majors. For all those non music people, Claudio Monteverdi is the person who is responsible for the first opera and is a major figure in music history. Being able to see his tomb was incredibly moving. Also, while in this church, I lit a candle in honor of my grandmother who had passed away a few days beforehand. Some of the Italy was with me, lit a candle in her honor, and said a prayer for her, my family, and myself. I don't consider myself a very religious person, but being able to honor her in a church such as this and to know that her light was shining down upon me through those stained glass windows was, for lack of a better phrase, incredibly moving.
Titian's Assumption at the High Alter
The rest of the day was ours to explore in Venice. Since we had already been around the main island in Venice, so friends and I decided to explore the islands that are around Venice. After finally figuring out how the vaperetto system works (basically the vaperetto is a bus system, but on water), we decided to go to Lido first and then go to the island of Murano. Now, our main purpose in Lido was to try to find a club that my friend wanted to go to that night to celebrate his birthday. However, that's not how our Lido experience turned out. A few minutes walking down the main street in Lido, we came across this little place that rented family bikes, of course, we had to take this opportunity. So we rented this family bike that was made for four people and then squeezed another person on it. Five American college students driving around the streets of Lido in a tacky family bike. All the looks we got from the locals and people driving past us in their cars was priceless. And by the way, we never found the club, but Lido was still fun. It also was the only island that had actual beaches, in case you want to visit in the future...
This was our sexy bike we were riding around in
Next up was Murano. However side note, on the way there, one of the stops was the cemetery. In Venice, the cemetery is an island. An entire island that is dedicated just to a cemetery...I just thought that was cool. Anyways, when we got to Murano, there was hardly anyone on the island. Of course our first priority was to get drinks, which we did, and then we just wandered around the island. Murano is famous for its blown glass, so most of the stores there sell all these items that are made from glass: jewelry, figurines, dishes, and so on. Personally, Murano was not one of my favorite places, especially if you don't have the money to go shopping, but it was nice to still experience and the glass there is very unique and original.
(Warning, this next section contains partying, so if you don't want to read about my party life, skip this section!)
During this trip, one of our beloved music friends was celebrating his 21st birthday! For his birthday, he wanted all of us to dress up in the Venice Carnivale masks and go out clubbing, so that's exactly what we did. If there was anything that was an instant signal to the locals that we were tourists, that was it. Of course, on our way walking to the club, we had to run into our professor and his wife so we were able to take a picture with him in our masks. We found a club (or discoteca as it is called in Italian) right by our hotel and it even offered a free drink with entrance into the club. That night was just a wonderful night to let go, enjoy the company of friends, celebrate the birthday of a friend, and just enjoy being in Venice! While there, we met some talked to some Italians and found people who spoke English! That's rare, so we embrace speaking to people in English when we can. Don't worry though, nothing got out of hand and we were all safe and sound at the hotel by two in the morning. Just to note though, Italian clubs are way more classy than those in America...
Probably one of my favorite pictures from Italy this far! My beloved friends, masks, and my wonderful Furman professor, Dr. Thomas!
Happy Birthday, Powers! (pictured left to right: Jessie, Juny, Powers, Kira, and me!)
The next day, we had the morning and afternoon free before we had to go back to the train station, so we took the opportunity to go to the island of Burano. However, none of us realized how long it would actually take to get to Burano. We ended up spending over an hour on the veperetto and ended up only having about a half hour to spend there before we needed to go back to make the train in time. It was SO worth it. Burano was gorgeous. Whenever you see pictures of these really colorful and pretty houses in Venice that are by the sea on Pinterest or whatever, they were probably taken in Burano. This island was incredible! Also, Burano is known for it's lace so all the stores were full of items made from lace. It was easy to lose track of time and before we knew it, our time was up. We ended up having to run back to the veperetto, and half of our group actually ended up getting stranded on Burano. My group, the one who did make it, was already pushing it for time and hardly made it back to the hotel in time to go to the train station. Luckily, they made it to the train station a few minutes before our train left.
But so there you go, Venice. I know this post was really long, but a lot happened in the few days we were in Venice!!!!! And I recommend that everyone visits Venice at some point in there life! It's incredible!
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