Today was our first official day in Italy and we LOVED it!
I suppose we should catch you up on our trip a little bit so far. We left Portland on Saturday morning at 9:3AM and, after plane delays, fistfuls of gummy worms, and restless drugged naps, we arrived in Venice at 10:00PM Sunday night. To be honest, the flights were quite uneventful, just like we like 'em. Hooray for the lack of John's bad travel karma!
Today we decided to take it easy and just see the city. For those of you who don't know or who weren't paying attention the last time Nicole went to Italy (ahem), Venice is a city built on silt and sticks. There was never really an island here, they made one. It is essentially built on forests of logs that hold up the buildings, streets, and bridges that make this city what it is. (By the way, I'm totally plagiarizing a travel guide that we eavesdropped on in the Doge's Palace.)
But it makes it into quite an interesting place. There are no cars, only boats. So if there is a sound of engines, it's those. Beyond that, the only other really loud noise is that of the gondoliers trying to sing tenor when they really shouldn't.
So like we said, we decided to stroll around, looking at shops (Murano glass, Italian leather, fashion, etc.), drinking lots of caffe, and people-watching. Let's say it now so we can just get it out of the way. EVERYBODY here is GORGEOUS. Seriously. Every older woman looks like Sophia Lauren. The older men look like George Hamilton (but not orange). (by the way, John is looking forward to getting a bit of natural sun now that his orange spray tan has rubbed off on the airplane cushions and sheets. You should have seen the bathroom this morning. I thought they gave us white towels but now some resemble the Shroud of Turin.) The younger women look like fashion models. The young men look like movie and soccer stars.We are also working on our Italian. From this moment on, John will be known as "Juan" (he doesn't believe me when I say it's Spanish, not Italian). He's actually not doing bad, except that he only speaks Italian to me. Every now and then I'll hand him something and he'll mumble, "gracias". (FYI, it should be "gratzie" but I don't want to discourage him.)
I, on the other hand, almost had to duke it out with a woman at a cafe when I thought she gave me the wrong change. I thought I'd given her a 10 Euro bill and she soon made it clear that I'd given her a 5 Euro bill. When she started climbing over the bar, I realized my error.
We made it all the way across the island to Piazza di San Marco, which is home to the Basilica di San Marco, and the Ducal Palace, which is where we decided to begin our tours. We saw the first half in about 20 minutes, and the last half in about 1 minute 20 seconds (I had to use the loo). I think John got a lot out of the second half, but his neck might be sore tomorrow from the rubbernecking.
After a bit of touring, we decided to do some window shopping. We started in a glass shop where they had the most beautiful pieces of glass with amazing shapes and designs inside the glass. However, I think they thought we were going to steal something because everywhere we went, the shop owner had their nose in John's ear, asking if he could help us. We said we were just looking. He then insisted he could ship his wares anywhere in the world, no problem (for a small, insignificant fee). No, we were just looking, we said. He backed off a few inches until he got distracted by more would-be thieves at which time we made our escape.
We did buy one souvenir so far. Ice packs for my feet. John even helped me to communicate at the pharmacy what I needed. I was trying to describe (with words) what I was looking for to the pharmacist. When I didn't quite describe it accurately by pointing at my feet, John crossed his arms, shivered like a homeless child in Alaska, and said, brrrrrr! the pharmacist must have spoken "John" because she knew then exactly what we needed.
John decided he really likes the look of the men that wear capris. But he's a little self-conscious about skinny legs. Here are some ideas we had about getting around that:
1. Leg warmers
2. When my ice packs thaw, he can tape them around his ankles.
3. Borrow a couple of the local' small dogs to stand in front of his ankles.
We'll make it work.
We're going to take a little time to rest now and then have dinner. Tomorrow we're going to take a Traghetto (boat) to S Marco again and then see the Peggy Guggenheim museum.
We love you all very much and miss you (mostly cause we're really liking it here). We'll keep you posted on our adventures!
Much love,
John and Nicole from Venice
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