Yes I've finally arrived...VENICE

Allmost everytime I think of Venice...magically apon command, Vivaldi's four seasons starts playing in my head. Now I don't if this is some strange chemical miss balance...or maybe just a lucky musical talent.

So I took the night train from Vienna (11 hours) and arrived in Venice at 8:30...turned out to be perfect...besides the fact that I don't drink coffee or tea, therefore I didn't get the breakfast sandwhich :(...oh well guess you learn.

Finding my hostel was kind of a tricky situation, but I was able to manage. Finally I get on the bus...and boom...Venice baby. I decided that I was just going to wonder and see what I could see.



I took main streets, side streets, alleys, corners and even nooks. I walked the entire circular route around Venice and just gazed...absolutely amazed by the wonders of this magical city. A city on water. The day was stunning...sunny, no haze, no smell, just absolute majesty...I really don't know how else to explain it except...A perfect day in the city I've wanted to visit since I first opened a book around the age of 10, and there it was...gazing back at me.



As I mentioned the part about Vivaldi, luck turned to be on my side as I walked past an advertisement for a string orchestra. Just take a far out guess on what they happened to be playing...THAT NIGHT? Boy are you guys ever smart...yes...it was Vivaldi's four seasons (plus some other composers that I had no idea)

Well ladies and gentleman...I just had to buy a ticket...so I rushed in there and purchased my ticket, quite excited for that nights event. By now I'm getting a little hungry...especially since I've been walking by all this beautiful smelling food all day. (boy do those wonderful aromas get to you) I had also been thinking to myself how I wish I had someone to take some pictures of me, and basically just to talk to. Again, luck seemed to be on my side. I end up helping an Australian guy find his hotel, and we get talking about some other stuff, so I ask him how many days he's staying and what he's up to later. We talk some more and I give him the opportunity to come see the concert with me. He jumps at the idea...and just like that...I've made a new friend in Venice.

We purchase a pizza from a cheaper area (most of Venice is extremely and I mean EXTREMELY expensive) Also a little scam that these Italians are able to pull is cover charge...oh also a 12 percent addition to your bill...ya pretty cool stuff...I guess.



Onto the concert...We arrive at this enormous old style building that's covered with paintings and unique Italian art. I chat to a few of the people next to me and then the concert starts. Absolutely mesmerizing, all the movements were just as they were supposed to be and I thoroughly enjoyed everthing I heard. Definnitely worth the price and experience.



Next day is more glorious walking...constantly figuring out new nooks and crannies, back streets and unique little shops. The best part is, if you take off from the tourist flow of sheep you can be absolutely alone in all these smaller cannals. Unfortunately if you happen to wander away from the flow of traffic, you have almost no shops to chose from. I think it's because the city is so windy and twervy that you just get lost and probably never find your way back.



A cool side trip I ended up taking was a water taxi across the grande canale. We ended up onto an island on the other side of Venice which was absolutely bare...practically no tourists, just all locals. Great cheap shops, but the best part was climbing to the top of this church. We got to the top and there infront of my eyes...the Venice landscape. The sun splashing against the water, all the old style itialian houses overlooking all that water. Just think, waking up every morning overlooking the grande canale. Yes you pay for it, but living like that...almost nothing better.



Again we tasted the pizza of Venice (the thing in Italy is...Pizza in Venice, Pasta in Rome) This time the pizza was better then the first day. After the pizza...GELATO TIME...and boy oh boy...is this stuff delicious. I've heard the stories of "oh how good the gelato in Italy is" well I guess they're true...sooo many flavours that it grabs your taste buds by the scruff of the neck...shakes it around...mixes the taste buds up then place them back...ya my tongue was pulsating with a flavour explosion of goodness.



Another great tip I recieved to try in Venice was a drink called a Spritze or Spritza or something to that effect. Anyway, it was pretty tasty. It had some fruit type liquor that you can only get in Italy, water, sprite or some fizzy pop, then in plops an olive and slice of orange...ya had numerous drinks of this...some better then others.

You could just fly to Venice just to eat...there's such a wide array of goodies and tasty treats that I could've just spent all my money on food. Now aside from the food Venice is also known for its great festivals, unique masks and costumes. So walking down the many tourist packed streets I would venture into a mask store that caught my eye and peruse the selection. I really wanted a mask, but they were all so pricy...and...bland.



On my third day in Venice I took a much more relaxed approach. Walked a little, went to a few cafes, ate some more pizza, had some pastries and even watched a couple episodes of curb your enthusiasm down a little street. Pretty cool stuff.

After still not finding a mask I had basically given up hope. I didn't want to "just" buy a mask, but actually get a unique mask that I couldn't find anywhere else.



It just so happens that either my instinct made me go in this strange direction or maybe it was the luck of the Irish...anycase it turned out that I literally stumbled upon the best mask shop I had ever seen. The mask that caught my attention was a full face, black eyed, white makeup scary looking thing. Then when I entered the store it was like the halleighluya music was playing. They had Spider-man masks, Wolverine, Captain America, Daredevil, and almost all of Tim Burtons weird creatures he's ever made. Still lots were very expensive...and then I found it. An all black mask, with purple eyebrows (one was raised), red nose and an smirk that needs to be seen. Also it fit my price range, looked awesome on my face...and it was the only one like it. What a find...unfortunately for the folks at home, I didn't think to take a picture of it before I had it all packed up. Therefore, everyone will have to wait until I ship it off to see it. (boy isn't the suspense killing you)



Basically it was the perfect wrap-up for the perfect trip. Three days was enough for me to see all that I wanted to see, tast everything that needs to be tasted and buy everything that needs to be boughten. Next stops Florence, Pisa then Rome.