Man. I just realized I signed-off the last post with ‘au revoir,’ because I was thinking they speak French in Switzerland, but I totally forgot it’s German in Zurich. Dangit. I left a week ago, so it wasn’t on my mind!

At least one thing’s for sure: the Italians speak Italian.

I was scheduled to meet up with Rebecca, Grace, and Duncan in Venice, the city on water. I was very much looking forward to comparing it to Amsterdam, which is also pretty much built on water.

While Amsterdam and many other cities in the Netherlands are definitely surrounded by and criss-crossed with canals galore, Venice probably takes the cake, as cars are not even allowed on the island. It’s boats or nothing. No busses. No taxis. Just a water bus.

As I boarded said water bus to get from the train station to our Airbnb, I noticed an acute sensation somewhere in my bladder area that told me it was time to find a ladies room. This was an issue considering I had just trapped myself on a small floating object.

I knew the ride was supposed to take around 45 minutes, but that did not stop me from hoping desperately that every stop we came to would be mine. I began texting Rebecca frantically to meet me at the apartment as soon as possible so that I could deal with the situation at hand. I believe the conversation went something like, ‘I can be there in twenty minutes!’ “I LITERALLY HAVE TO PEE SO BAD.”

Finally, thankfully, we came to my stop. I waited until the boat came to a halt and excused myself through the crowd to the front of the boat. As I made my way to the exit gate, though, the boat’s engine came roaring back to life, and we pulled away from the dock.

Now, though I love adventures in the ‘let’s-go-do-something’ or the ‘let’s-go-see-something’ or the ‘let’s-go-eat-something’ sense, I am by no means an adventurer/ dare-doer. But as the boat slid past the shore, there was a very real moment in which I considered catapulting myself and my belongings over the gate and the water below in order to secure myself a place on this land-of-toilets.

I didn’t, though. I just stood there. Silent. Shocked. Sad. In so much have-to-pee pain as I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.

I furiously researched to find out when the next stop would be and was relieved to discover it was about five minutes away. But what then? Do I jump in the water and pretend I’m swimming? Find a tree? Break into someone’s house? There was just no way I would make it all the way back to the apartment in time.

When the boat pulled close to land again, we entered a park, and I all but sprinted to what seemed like a promising park bathroom.

Huzzah! I was not disappointed! Though I was a bit confused by the mob of old Italians who spent several minutes trying to explain to me that I had to give them some sort of cash donation for the toilet paper. *shrug.*

So yeah. Crisis averted. I realize it probably seems I talk about peeing and having to pee a lot, but if you have ever travelled with me or spent the day with me, you will understand that I’m not being overly dramatic about this. Hahaha.

After all was said and done, I made my way to the apartment to wait for the others, picking up a coffee gelato on the way. I was waiting for a solid fifteen minutes, so I had some quality time to people-watch our neighbors. General consensus: they were all adorable. One of my favorites was this little old lady who was walking her dog. She walked so, so slowly and seemed to put so much effort into each step, her hand on her back the whole way, but her dog was oblivious to this and trotted along joyfully and slowly by her side. So stinking cute.

Another favorite was a little old man who stepped out of the door I was leaning next to and got a shock when he saw me. He laughed and I apologized, and then I think he said ‘bon appetite!’ or something similar in Italian, with reference to my gelato. Tehe.

The gang was easy to spot because the locals in Venice walk very slow. They have nowhere to be, and it is hot. Rebecca, Grace, and Duncan therefore stuck out like a sore thumb as they speed-walked straight past the alleyway in which I hid, and which I had thought was home to our apartment. I was very confused, but I followed them out, convinced I had gotten the address wrong. Turns out they are just crazy and were trying to rush to get me, passing our home in the process.

The apartment was simple but cozy, and we had it all to ourselves. We took a minute to recollect our motivation and set out for the city once again.

When Rebecca asked me if I had any plans for Venice, I responded, ‘Well, I’ve been told the best thing to do in Venice is to wander, so I guess that is my plan,’ and we did just that.

Nearly every turn presented a photo-op.

And of course, nothing was so photogenic as the view from above!

All three of us girls were wearing skirts, and man were they going crazy up in that tower. I don’t even understand how, but the wind seemed to be coming up from underneath us, Marilyn Monroe style. Thank goodness there wasn’t a glass floor, because those below would have been getting quite a show! We finally had to head down because Grace and Rebecca couldn’t handle the action. Bahahaha.

Here’s Rebecca with her selfie-stick. So silly.

And me with some water…

At dinner, we ate next to a pair of guys dressed head-to-toe in bright florals and solids with ‘Florida’ written on nearly everything. I assume this meant either that they were from Florida or that they had just been, but they were definitely American and were quite entertaining. They asked if we had found any good clubs yet (nope!) and spent most of the dinner Skyping their lady friends. Haha. We even saw them later walking and Skyping, basically giving their girls a virtual tour of Venice. Cute but cray.

It started to cool down once the sun had sunk, so we weren’t as anxious to get back to the apartment after dinner. Lots of shops were still open, and I began really appreciating Venice as an art center.

Many restaurants had live music going, including one trio who played All of Me by Billie Holliday, one of my all-time favorite songs! I was so happy, and I wanted to dance so bad! Ack! Where’s a lindy-hopper when you need one?

The Venice area is also huge on glasswork, something I hadn’t known before. Nearly every other shop was a trinket store filled with souvenirs and glass sculptures, from giant fish, to tiny elephants, to gondolas. And since all of these are handmade, every shop had something different! We went into so many. One of the strangest I saw, though, was this one:

If you look closely, you’ll see it’s a rabbi about to circumcise that baby!!! Insane! It was part of a full rabbi-themed chess set!

There were also lots of paintings, sculptures and street artists everywhere, but the art was generally too expensive for my coin purse.

Something I positively loved, though, and would totally invest in if ever I become simultaneously rich and in need of eye care, were these amazingly classy and artsy glasses:

So wonderful! So hip! I would be so cool! One day. One day.

Some last night-time views:

And then it was back to the apartment for some long-missed quality time with my old roomie and some much-needed sleep. We had planned to wake up around nine, but I was the first to stir, and I was shocked to see it was eleven! Tehehe. Whoops.

First stop was lunch, where I got some super-delicious lasagna (with ham in it – weird but good) and some red wine, which Duncan and I split. I mean, Grace and Rebecca paid more for their water than we did for our wine, so how could I say no?

The pigeon problem was real at this little outdoor spot, and at one point, I caught Duncan trying to pet one of them on accident. Hahaha. They became less cute as more and more of them joined the ranks throughout the hour.

Then it was some more exploring…

And I found this wonderful bassist with a bass that had colorful strings that I was positively obsessed with. He winked at me. (:

Then gelato! I had mango and it seriously hit the spot.

Some wanderings through the central square…

We also found this amazing (and free) music museum filled with gorgeous antique string instruments. Pictures technically weren’t allowed, but I managed a snapshot of the workshop in the back where they were making actual instruments! So cool!

Some food…

And some water…

And then we made it to the city’s most famous bridge:

We spent close to half an hour up here, gawking at the views and being gawked at by people on boats and gondolas. It was just so nice in the shade.

We then battled our way through this busy, busy street:

To find more water…

And sunsets…

(Awkward order. Sorry!) And that was pretty much a wrap on Venice. Lovely city with lovely company. I also saw one of my favorite art pieces of the trip on our water taxi to the train station:

It’s a commentary on climate change and rising water levels. Looove it.

Until next time…

 

Venlig hilsen/ ciao,

Lizzy-wa