Venice day 2

Entry 9:

Today began with a lovely sleep in. Since it was just Chony and I in the room we decided we'd sleep till 9:30 while we had the chance. I had a great sleep! We got up and met the only other couple here, a woman from France named Maude and a man from Belgium named Gregory. Through discussion we learnt of our mutual desire to visit the Jewish Ghetto/Area (yes mom I had actually already looked into it :) I am going tomorrow). So tomorrow morning the three of us are going to take a walking tour through the jewish neighborhood of Venice. But before i get to tomorrow, let me describe today.

So after breakfast (one of the better I've had so far cause we had fresh eggs made to order) Chony and I headed out to find the Peggy Guggenheim museum. It is a contemporary art museum housed in Peggy's former home. It has original work by Dali, Picasso and Magritte among others. There was a special exhibition called Utopia Matters: from brotherhoods to bauhaus. It was very interesting and had several pieces (furniture and art) that I recognized from my studies. Its a little surreal seeing an actual original piece of something I have been looking at in books for so long. From there we ventured through a very interesting sculpture garden with beautiful green trees and also the burial plot of Peggy Guggenheim. The garden had a tree right near her remains where guests could write notes to her and hang them on the tree. It didn't look official in that there was no sign or anything but it was a little strange but very sweet. We then looked around her house at all the art work. OH! I forgot, I discovered last night that Chony is an Interior Designer back in Argentina. (and bizarrely since I have been with her all day, I am currently structuring my english sentences in a slightly awkward way as I have been doing all day) I think that sometimes there are signs along the way to tell you that you are exactly where you are supposed to be. It makes me smile :) So as we walked through Peggy's house we talked about what we thought each room might have been used for when it was her home. We both naturally gravitated to the pieces of furniture over the art work on the walls which was kinda funny as they didn't actually seem to be on display (they had no little blurb with them like the artwork).

After we left the museum we basically spent the rest of the day wandering around Venice. We made sure to hit Piazza San Marco, the main square of Venice which was finally sunny when we got there. (it had been drizzling all morning). We passed many many churches. I found a bookstore to buy my Wallpaper guides to Florence, Venice, Paris, London, and Athens. This made me very happy. Venice is very very touristy but has some really really beautiful stuff to buy. There is something strange about this city that makes me just want to buy buy buy- NOT GOOD! But I think I kept it under control remembering that most things would break in my bag and that I really don't have a lot of space either. I'm also only 1/4 of the way through my trip so whatever I buy I have to carry around with me the rest of the time. We walked by Palazzo Ducale but I decided not to go in. By then I was very tired (7 hours walking around will do that to you) and I also feel that for 13 euro, I would rather pay to go up the Eiffel Tower or inside the Louvre when I get to Paris. We also walked by the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute which had a statue of a little boy holding up a frog. Now the interesting thing for me was that this is the only statue I have encountered which is circumcised (yes I have seen many many naked statues over the last couple days). This struck me as strange although I do get the feeling that there is a slightly larger jewish presence here than the other places I have been. I also saw a gallery selling art work that was all based on hebrew numerology and letters. Very interesting. We also walked by Arsenale which is a military complex that's quite a beautiful building.

Aside from all these landmarks, Venice is a city of canals and boats, charming little bridges and weaving streets branching out in all directions specially designed to get you entirely lost but making it fun and adventurous at the same time, as long as you don't resist and are able to be ok not knowing exactly where you are at all times. It is lovely to be in a city where you don't have to worry about the locals running over you (though they may bowl you over walking). It is nice to see people out walking everywhere as I guarantee you that it is not faster or easier to get somewhere via taxi. Should you decide to visit this marvelous city (yes it did win my heart over) be prepared for tourist shos everywhere. I did not take a gondola ride- they are VERY expensive and it has been raining on and off all day. Perhaps if I were here with a love, it would be something I would consider more seriously.

Tomorrow I am going on a walking tour through the Jewish Area in the morning. From there after a little bit of walking around I will return to the hostel to get my things and head for the airport which is just outside the city (as all ryanair airports are). So far it seems my flight will go just fine. It is late at about 9 pm which means I will not arrive in Beauvais till 10:45 and once I get into Paris (after another shuttle ride) it will be very late. I will probably need to take a taxi to my hostel since I think the Metro will be closed by the. But all that being said, I will not arrive till 1 or 2 in the morning so I will probably not write an entry tomorrow.

Still loving the comments :) Keep em' coming!

Enjoy the sunshine