Beach Bum

This is my last day in Venice and I was thinking a beach day was necessary. I woke up super early in the hopes of writing another blog, but the computer had been turned off and required a password to log on. I was so frustrated I couldn't get back to sleep. Instead I lounged around for an hour or so then began getting ready for the day. I invited my newfound friends, but they were headed to Piazza San Marco and the Doge's Palace (which I had already done). We'd try to meet up later. Before leaving I had another breakfast of bread and jam, and milk! We do not have access to a fridge here, so I don't think anyone here has had any milk in awhile. When it was brought to the table everyone got really excited, including myself. It was pretty funny how we were all so happy to get something so simple. It was delicious.

My vaporetto pass I had purchased the day before was still valid for most of the day, so I decided to use it to take a cruise down the Grand Canal. I had an audio tour for this little trip as well and I learned alot about the buildings lining the canal. I don't think I have yet shared the history of Venice. Here's a quick summary: Venice was founded in the 5th or 6th century during the fall of Rome. Italy was becoming overrun with barbarians and many people fled to the safety of the marshes in the lagoon. The lagoon is incredibly shallow (I've heard you could walk across most of it without getting your head wet) and therefor unaccessible by the larger ships of that time. They sunk pylons into the marshlands as support for the new city and thus Venice was born. Venice's prime location in the middle of the sea quickly made it a popular trading route. The Grand Canal was lined with the palaces (called a "ca", short for "casa", instead of a palace since only the Doge's home was allowed such distinction) of merchants. The cas were set up to serve as receiving docks, workplaces and homes for these merchants. The colorful painted poles in front were akin to a coat of arms representing the family inside. Nowadays, as Venice is popular tourist destination and slowly sinking into the sea, most buildings have been converted to hotels and museums, and some are even unoccupied. It's hard to believe anyone would abandon such amazing looking homes.

I stayed on the boat until I ended up on Lido. Walking towards the beach I saw a clothing store called Ossasia (or something close to that). It kinda reminded me of an H&M for Venice. It has been incredibly hot in Venice and I have decided that if the rest of this trip is going to be this warm, I am going to need a skirt or a dress or something if I'm going to survive. I went inside and found a few cute skirts. After trying a few things on (and not liking them so much) I utilized the dressing room to change into my swimsuit. I wasn't sure if there'd be place to change at the beach and I didn't want to get stuck trying to do so at the shore. I would probably end giving someone a free show, and I am just not that kind of girl.

I walked down to the beach area and had just begun applying my sunscreen when I noticed a lady waving at me. Thinking she couldn't possibly be trying to get my attention, I quickly glanced away and turned my focus to my still unprotected legs. Then I heard her yelling hello in my direction. I looked up again and this time I recognized her. It was Ilaria, my tour guide from yesterday's Doge's Palace tour! Wow- what a small world! She said she remembered me from my hair (purple tresses tend to stick out a bit here). Anyway, we started chatting and ended up lying out together on the beach. Ilaria loves to talk. I can totally see why she became a tour guide. She grew up in Italy about 40 kilometers west of Venice. After finishing University about 10 years ago (she majored in Art History), she moved to Venice and has been here ever since. Having wondered about the residents of Venice, I was so excited to get a chance to talk to someone who actually lived here. I had so many questions to ask her. First off, how does she like living in Venice? Loves it, but wishes there was a better movie theater. What is Carnivale like, and does she have a costume? Carnivale is like a giant week long party with lots of live music and dancing. She does not have a costume, but instead prefers to paint her face or do a really funky hairstyle. It's cheaper, and doesn't take up any room in her closet. Carnivale is fun Ilaria tells me, but very exhausting for her. Since it's also a very busy time for tourists she often ends up having to do extra tours. It doesn't stop her from enjoying Carnivale though, she's just a bit sleepier that week. What do her and her friends do for fun? Ilaria has a friend who owns a boat. One of her favorite things to do is take a boat ride through the lagoon and go swimming near the Lost Islands. I ask her if those are the islands I had seen the day before, with the abandoned houses on them. Yes they are. She says she's explored a few, and some still have things inside, like curtains. It seems people had built homes on these small islands and over time the land began sinking. Eventually, they had to leave. It's weird to think that next time I'm here (there will be a next time) these Lost Islands may not even exist. How does she deal with the floods? (Side note: I don't think I mentioned this yet, but a few times a year Venice suffers from high tides called "aqua alta". Because it is the lowest part of the island, Piazza San Marco is always the first and worst area affected, and also the area used to predict the impending severity of the floods. Water seeps up through the ground and rushes through the streets. An alarm is set off, warning people that they will need to sandbag their houses and find their galoshes asap. It sounds like quite an incredible inconvenience to me, but it's a normal way of life here and the people have learned to deal with it. Anyway...) Ilaria is currently living in an area rarely affected by aqua alta. Usually, by the time the alarm is heard, the water is already at your door. She says when the water rises you can hear collective cursing from all the residents yelling throughout the city. Sometimes she likes the floods because she'll get the day off work. So that people aren't walking too much in the water, the city puts up narrow elevated walkways. Ilaria tells me you can always tell the tourists from the residents when there's a flood cause they're the ones still walking in the flood water. Good to know. How many people live in Venice? 70,000 (I had heard half that, but I wasn't about to contradict her), and about 60% of the population is at least second generation Venetian. We spend a few hours lounging on the beach while Ilaria went on to tell me everything from her favorite movies, roommate drama and her plans to apply for a tour guide position at The Getty. She asks me if I would mind looking over her application sometime, just to make sure all her english is correct. Absolutely! When we both felt sufficiently toasted, we walked towards the vaporetto dock. On our way we stopped and got some gelato. Today's flavors were mint and liquierza, which I had interpreted as liqueur. Boy was I wrong- it was licorice! Gross! I scooped it off my cone with my bare hands and immediately threw it in the trash. The mint however was delightful. Ilaria and I parted ways at the docks making sure to exchange info (hello new facebook friend). I was glad to have had her company for the day.

When I got back to the hostel (which I have now begun calling "The Fish"), Lisa, Sasha and Fiona were already there. Lisa and Sasha were leaving later that night and still needed to buy a pair of Italian shoes for Sasha's mom and Lisa. So after I took a quick shower to get all that sticky Lido beach sand off me, the four of us ran around desperately seeking shoes. No luck. It was kind of late by that point and most stores were closing. Also, some threatening clouds were moving in and the future foul weather seemed to be forcing vendors to shut down early. We stopped by Billa for some more wine and as we headed back to The Fish we could see flashes of lightning. How exciting!

The skies opened up to pouring rain as Lisa and Sasha left for their train. Dinner was served shortly after they left. Fiona and I hung out the rest of the night sharing our bottle of vino rossa and filling each other in on our lives. We meet a boy named Monas from Arizona, traveling through Europe before going home to start his life. He plans to move to Los Angeles in the fall to become... can you guess? An actor! I give him my info and offer to show him around LA when he gets there.

Before going to bed, I seek out Mimo in the hopes he'll give up the computer code in case it's locked again in the morning. I find him in the kitchen practicing a song on his guitar. It didn't take me long to realize it was the ol' "Tears in Heaven" tune again. Well, that explained the whole performance a few days ago. He has the first few notes down, but is still working on the rest of the song. So far, he has learned "Hotel California" and some other pop song neither of us could remember the name of at the time. As we talk a bit, I learn Mimo is a citizen of Iran (I had no idea), and is currently trying to become a citizen of Italy. He wants to go to the States, but thinks that with our current situation, now may not be the best time. He has learned English while working at this hostel partly by people drawing pictures for him "like a carrot" he says, when he was trying to learn the names of vegetables. Adorable. I head off to bed with the password in my pocket and fall asleep to the first few bars of "Tears in Heaven". Dreamy.

Tomorrow I leave for Rome! Hooray!

Love you all!

Jess