Venice- like Disneyland, but real.

I met the most wonderful Italian biologist on the train from Vienna to Venice, and we talked until 2am about absolutely everything.  He had earned one master's degree in Paris and was off to earn another one in Sweden, being of the opinion that Italy had taught him all it could: to cook, and to talk in circles.  He was not particularly complementary of his country, and wanted to settle down in Denmark.  He was a fabulous conversationalist and I had a great time chatting with him.  This did mean however, that I was very very tired when I arrived in Venice in the morning.  

Stepping off the train I was greeted with the first sight of the Grand Canal.  I stopped in a little piazza nearby in order to eat one of my Viennese strudels.  From there I walked south along the western side of the canal admiring shop windows as I headed towards the famous Palazzo Ducale  The shop windows were full of pastries of the most exquisite kinds, in addition to any tourist trinket ever conceived, especially those made of glass. There were also carnival masks of every color - and I think coming back here for Carnival would be a fantastic trip.  I'm not sure how much of lent I could be there for though!  

I saw a whole bunch and a half of churches of course – though not as many as I would have liked because, le gaspe!, they charge admission to some of the bigger churches in Venice.  This is an outrage – what am I going to do if I can’t get into the churches?  There was however, a free museum about musical instruments.  The museum displayed some very old violins and discussed the development of instrument making and the history of music in Venice.  Apparently Venice is famous for having an orphanage of sorts for young women where they were trained to play classical music.  Because women were not welcomed into the professional musical scene in the 14/1500s the women seldom left the school and the orchestra became a marvel peculiar to Venice.

I did take my free gondola ride (courtesy of Eurail), but it was a bit of a letdown.  There was exactly one sight pointed out – the opera house, and there was no singing.  Also we crashed into a wall and it was tippy and short.  Color me unimpressed.   

On the way back I did stop in a park and take a nap.  That was a good call.  Apparently I had the same idea as everyone else though, because I can count at least seven other people who were napping at the same time I was.  In fact I actually took two naps! :p One on a low brick wall, and one on a bench.  Park benches are really comfy.  The fountains here are not as plentiful as Rome, but they do exist, and as such water wasn’t a problem either.  

The island on the whole is a lot like Disney Land - magical, touristy, and expensive.  There are things here that don't exist anywhere else, and as such everyone from around the world comes here to see them, and is willing to pay through the nose to do so.  I think I would enjoy staying here for a few days, especially during carnival, but not too much more than that.  It didn’t seem like there was all that much to do, and everything is very expensive.