As I'm sure will be the case with everybody else on our program, the main topic of my blog this week is going to be my Venetian Carnaval experience. Upon exiting the train station, we were immediately bombarded with what seemed to be a mix between Disneyland and Mardi Gras. The entire weekend I was constantly shocked at just how many people had come to Venice for this once a year event, but for whatever reason the tourism didn't bother me as much as it sometimes does in Florence. Perhaps it was because I knew that it was Carnaval and I wasn't trying to live there. In actuality, my favorite part of the weekend was sitting on the dock on Saturday and Sunday for several hours while every single other person in Venice tried to get into the famous Palazzo. When Regan showed us the sketch book of a girl last year who spent her entire time in Venice drawing the Gondolas at the pier, I thought, "Well...that's a waste of a weekend", but I understood exactly why she did it. We spend all of Friday touring the city going back and forth and back and forth and I felt like I was passing everything but not really taking it in because of the crowds and costumes. It was complete insanity. When Mara and I took a gelato break and sat on the pier, I decided I did not want to move from that spot for the rest of the afternoon. The weather was perfect, the views breathtaking, the crowds behind me, and the smell and sound of the salty water reminded me of the Outer Banks at home. I was able to watch people come and go around me and I did feel like I got a much better sense of Venice just sitting and letting it come to me rather than me superficially taking from it. Halfway through my time on the pier, an old Italian couple from Naples sat down next to me and started a conversation. Less than 3 minutes in, the lady was squeezing my cheek and stroking my hair as if I were her own grand daughter haha, and it made me feel very much a part of her culture. On Sunday, in our 4 hours between checking out of the hotel and catching the train, Soo and I decided to repeat my experience so we grabbed a sandwich and sat on a random dock more in the city and away from the crowd for the afternoon. I could not have been happier to just sit and take in everything rather than rushing around as we are always doing in Florence. It was the perfect end to a crazy weekend.
On a slightly funnier / could have been a very bad / WAS a very bad idea note, Saturday night there was a group of seven of us making our way back at 2:30 in the morning from general Carnaval craziness. When we made it to the taxi stand, only one was there and he would only take 4 at a time. So, Monica, John, and I were left to wait for another. While waiting, a guy came up to us and asked if we needed a taxi...so of course we said "yes"..and followed him to his very not-taxi car. So of course we thought it would be fine to get into this unmarked taxi, assuming this guy knew what he was doing. An hour and a half (what should have taken 15 minutes) later in the middle of can't-see-3-feet-in-front-of-you-fog-car-going-way-too-fast-to-see-anything-driver-had-to-call-dad-4-times-to-get-directions-us-not-knowing-what-to-tell-him-tried-to-drop-us-off-in-another-city...we finally made it back to the hotel. I actually thought at one point that we may be in the middle of some "hostel-esque" horror film, which would have been an interesting end to a Disney-esque day. NEVER AGAIN
Finally, alot of the decay I am attracted to is caused by water, and what better place to see the effect of water damage than in Venice? Every wall and building showed layers and layers of beautiful water decay. It really gives the city such a unique character. As a joint drawing and theme sequence project, I am working with one of the gorgeous pipes I always take pictures of. I found that the style and character of Klimt's paintings (seen at the top) remind me of the qualities of this wall. Therefore, I am going to sneak out early in the morning and work one particular Klimt painting into the wall using chalk, flowers, and wool amongst other materials. I am excited to see how it turns out! I still can't upload all of my pictures because of the stupid flickr limit but I will try to get them up as soon as possible!
Until next time....
Jen
