Italy, May 4 - 26, 2003
PART ONE: VENICE

The following is a transcript from the black hardbound sketchbook that I used as a travel journal on my trip. I also bought a pen for the trip which broke in Frankfurt airport on the very last day of the trip, staining my hands and shirt. And so it goes.

I fell behind in my writing very quickly, so the dates that are mentioned and the places where I was writing sometimes don't match what I was writing about. Also, if you click on the pictures you can see the full size images. Just so you know.

Sun, May 4, 3:45pm, Frankfurt Metro

Just had lunch with Peer -- schnitzel, fried potatoes and apfelwein (apple wine). Hisae joined us at the airport but had to go to work.

Hisae, me and Peer

Got no sleep on the plane, little the night before. I am completely and utterly exhausted, and also worried about the status of my back pack, what with my extended layover in Frankfurt. But the thought of being in Italy in a few hours is thrilling!

Mon, May 5 9:40am, Sant'Anna Hotel, Venice

Finally got some sleep on the plane from Frankfurt. Skipped the lunch (ham and cheese sandwich) because I was so full of schnitzel. Later regretted it as I missed my water taxi from Marco Polo Airport and had to scrounge for food at night on a Sunday in Venice.

Missing the boat sucked because I ran to try and catch it and I would have had a grand sunset introduction to Venice. But the silver lining was I met a French "air hostess" named Estella who has been to Venice over 20 times (!) and she had some tips for places to go that aren't touristy.

With her help and a little luck I found our hotel, the Sant'Anna off Corte dei Bianco, no problem. Uli had been on a walk and he arrived two seconds after I arrived. The lady of the manor doesn't speak English, so communication is getting fun. Exposed to Uli for only a few hours and I'm already thinking in Uli-speak! Good thing he's leaving after the 17th!

 

This was my vision of Venice before going

Under San Marco Campanile

A hidden courtyard filled with statuary

After being turned away from many bars and expensive trattorias we went to Piazza San Marco and found the Bar Americano. The only thing truly American were hot dogs and Coca-Cola, so I was a little offended by the name. As Uli said, "Maybe the name is due to the service." We had cremini (very good fried soft cheese) and sandwiches with the crusts cut off -- a mozzarella and spinachi and a funghi and mayo. Such a light supper only made me hungrier.


San Marco Basilica with pigeon

The pigeon


We sat on the piazza and listened to the dueling orchestras and watched all the romantic couples -- so many! I hadn't noticed until Uli pointed them out.

Okay, time to go strolling!

Wed, May 7, 5:56pm, train to Verona

Trying to recap the last 2 days will be difficult, but here goes.

Venice is the greatest city I've ever been to! There are better places -- I will always prefer nature (sounding like Emerson here) -- and I really enjoyed Paris and New Orleans, but Venice was so special, so amazing, so incredible. I had been lead to believe that it was nothing but tourists, but that was so wrong. Sure there's tourists -- S. Marco and the vaporettos were filled with them -- but the place is teeming with life. We got so lucky with our hotel being in the most un-touristy part (or at least one of them), Via di Giardini. Every morning there's a market, and it was nearly all locals. Also, our timing (mine, actually, but just dumb luck), was perfect. May is the beginning of the tourist season, and just after the spring break/Easter crush. The mosquitoes aren't nearly as bad (although Uli got devoured sitting in the public gardens playing didgeridoo), the nights are warm and the days mild. The humidity is 70-80%, I think, but I doubt that changes.

 

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute, my favorite building in Venice.

 
So Monday we went on a walk following a map that Uli got from the tourist office. The most perplexing thing about Venice is how many churches there are in such a tiny place. They're all interesting in their own ways. I'm reminded of the strip mall churches and trailer park shitholes of worship in America. An unfair comparison to be sure.

Right now the train is stopped in Vicenza, the town of my namesake (sort of). I forgot to take a picture of the train station but that's okay.

By the way, the preceding sentiment was not the case in Venice. I had a hard time putting the video camera down! Everything there is so amazing, so beautiful. I'd love to know more about the history of its development. Not so much the politics, but the construction and management. Surely the development and maintenance of Venice is a must for any urban planning grad students. Next time I go (and there will be a next time) I'd like to find a museum devoted to its history.

This landscape is so amazing. Due to the view and the shaking of the train I think I'll stop writing.

 

Thur May 8, 6:30pm, train to Florence

I told Uli what I make today. Big mistake. Now he'll never let me get by as a cheapskate again. I really don't know what he's on about, though. He's in grad school, I'm working for a company.

Uli just read this over my shoulder. The relationship sours further.

Back to Venice. After lunch Monday -- a picnic on a bridge looking towards Murano -- we struggled to find a tabacchi shop open during siesta. Finally we got a 24 ore card for the vaporetto and went to Murano, where we checked out the glass makers.


Churches in Italy -- enough to make one a believer

We also went inside a church that was nice except for this class full of students and their exasperated teacher who, for the life of him, couldn't get his students to keep quiet. He kept screaming, "SILENCIO!" but to no avail. Fuckin' hilarious.

Murano was actually a mistake, as we were headed towards the island cemetary of San Michele. We were alone there, standing by a speaker that started up with a loud hissing sound, and then (in a pleasant English voice), "The cemetary is now closing. Please head towards the exit," in a cheerful voice. This was followed by the same pleasant message in German and French, and finally an abrupt, you-should-know-better message in Italian. At first, Uli thought it was directed at us, and then laughed at his mistake. But since we saw no one on the whole island it might as well have been.

 
San Michele was a big disappointment as we found nothing but boring 20th Century tombstones. There must have been older ones somewhere but we didn't have time to excavate -- I mean look.

Cemeteries in Italy -- islands reserved for the dead!


Afterwards we went to San Giorgio church [the tower that's across the water from San Marco], which was completely empty. The French air hostess suggested we go up that tower instead of San Marco Campanile, saying that the cost was half, the crowds were much thinner and the view was the same. While I didn't go up San Giorgio's, I did go up San Marco's at sunset and was completely blown away. And there's no way that the view of the city would have been anywhere near as good from across the water. So I'd have to say that Estella was wrong on this point.

 

From San Giorgio towards San Marco...

...and the reverse, just for good measure. (Click to see the bars magically disappear, courtesy of Dennis)

At this point Uli and I separated, which was good since we were starting to annoy each other. [REMINDER: this was Monday, our first full day]. I went to the Guggenheim Collection, but it was closed, so instead I had an outrageously expensive but incredible meal for 67 euros at Ristorante Columbus. Meanwhile, Uli hopped on a gondola and met some great people who let us stay two nights with them. I'll return to that later....

 

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Songs that I first heard during my trip that I kinda liked

Motel Connection - "Two"
A techno track by an Italian group that features a sample of "The Magnificent Seven" by The Clash. Otherwise I wouldn't have paid any attention to it. (UPDATE: I've downloaded this song and various remixes of it and I don't think it's "Two". Anyone know what I'm talking about?)

Tom Jones - "Black Betty"
Song by Leadbelly that Tom changed the lyrics to: "Black Betty had a baby / Says it's mine / She must think I'm crazy / She must think I'm blind" (!)

"Sex Bomb" - remake of a Tom Jones song but with a very proper Englishman singing. Big hit over there. Very strange.

Westlife - Miss You
Saw the video to this pop catastrophe while on the plane. So bad it's good.

T.A.T.U. - How Soon Is Now?
When I first heard this I thought it was sung by a 6-year-old. Now I find out it was by the Russian lesbian pop sensation T.A.T.U. I wish my original guess had been correct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songs that came to mind during my trip

 

Radiohead - Knives Out

N*E*R*D - The instrumental bit after the 4:40 mark of track 11

Frank Black - Robert Onion

Stevie Wonder - "Superstition" and "Big Brother"
I was having a big Stevie Wonder nic fit in Florence

Suzanne Vega - "Luka"
This came to mind while in Lucca. Get it?

B-52's - "Roam"
This came to mind while in... aw, forget it.

The Beatles - "All My Loving"

Yatta - The Yatta Song

The Breeders - "Iris"

The Rolling Stones - "Angie"
I tried to see if this guy playing guitar in Rome's Campo dei Fiore knew it so I could sing it, but he didn't. It's just as well because I wouldn't have remembered all the lyrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songs that I first heard during my trip that I never, ever want to hear again

Avril Lavigne - "I'm With You"
She's pop! She's punk! SHE'S CRAP!

Simply Red - "Sunrise"
All I knew over there was that I kept hearing this dance song over and over and it sampled Hall and Oates. The Italian radio DJs kept saying it was by Simply Red, but I refused to believe it, thinking it was another Simply Red. Mick, lad, what happened to you?

Shaggy - "Angel of the Morning"
I made the mistake of downloading this, listened to it once, and already it's embedded itself in my brain. Make it stop! Maaake iiit stoooopppp!