An Idyllic Venice

So far Venice has been great for me!  Sze and Steph have been really helpful in helping me get to know Venice better! When I had just arrived, all the different pathways looked the same to me and I always had a nagging feeling that I was going to get lost if I didn't pay attention to where I was headed. But four days and a lot of walking later, I find that you can't really get lost in Venice - in the end, everything leads to somewhere that's near to where you're headed and before you know it, you're at Corte Michiel (home) .

On my recent day off, I headed down to Giardini (to see the other pavilions) and on the way I stopped by a leather-craft store and bought my mom a magnifying glass. The store owner was really chatty and he was telling me why he loved Venice and why he'd never ever leave no matter how many times his store gets flooded by the high tides (happens every year). Among the many things about Venice he was telling me about, here's something he said that really struck me: (Italian accent) "Ah, you know, Miss, Venice, is perfect for me... you know, we, euh, are not, you know, slave to cars! You want to go places, you take boat maybe, but otherwise you take walking only. We walk everywhere, all places, all the time. It's good for health good for life! This is why I love to stay in Venice."

Two days later on our Monday off-day, all of us headed down to Mestre (on mainland Venice) - I saw cars again for the first time in about a week, and I couldn't help but recall what the leather-craft store owner said that day. Seeing the contrast between Mestre and touristy Venice was to me, a reminder that more cars/over reliance on automobiles really isn't the solution to a better environment in the long run!

On other fronts - Cain, Joey: Look forward to you guys arriving in Venice!

Tamara Kisha