Day 4

This trip is going by so fast! I can’t believe Saturday is already over!  It has been a relaxing day here in Venice, perhaps the most chill of the entire week.  It’s hard to imagine that by next Saturday I will be in a different Italian city.

We began the day with our official tour guide on a tour called “Venice as seen through the eyes of a poet.”  We read selected works by Lord Byron, Mark Twain, Casanova, Henry James, and other influential authors.  We saw the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, which we had accidentally stumbled upon.  It was quite neat, getting to hear stories about the church.  We continued walking around the Accademia area, and learned that Mark Twain absolutely despised Venice.  It is quite sad that he hated it.

We then toured a new piazza and discovered where Casanova was born and raised.  We saw the church where he was born and then continued our tour to the waterfront of the Grand Canal and saw a palazzo (a palace) owned by the former Robert Browning, a famous poet.  We then saw a beautiful palace and it looked quite familiar.  Many scenes from the movie “The Tourist” with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp were shot there and Jolie and her husband, Brad Pitt, stayed there during filming.  We ended the tour with a building that had a beautiful spiral staircase on the back, influenced by the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

We were let go at the Rialto Bridge and found a back alley restaurant where I had finger sandwiches.  We walked across town back to the hotel where we watched a movie called “The Wings of the Dove”, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Linus Roache.  It told the story of British woman and man who were in love, but the woman’s aunt didn’t approve because the man wasn’t rich.  Two Americans come to visit and befriend the British woman.  She travels with them to Venice and learns the one American is dying.  She has developed a love for the British woman’s lover and the British woman realizes that the American would leave her money to the British man if he loved her back.  She develops a plot for him to seduce the American, which he does.  The British woman is pained to see him love another woman, so she heads back to London to wait for his return.  He eventually returns after the American dies, but he realizes he is in love with the American through his memories.  He and the British girl separate and he returns to Venice to live his life.  The movie was based off the novel by Henry James.

After this we returned to our rooms and relaxed until about 8pm, where we decided to go out to eat.  We ate along the Zattere, which is a long walk way along the major canal that runs next to the Grand Canal.  I had beef in merlot sauce and it was pretty good, but I also had ten pieces of bread so I was not feeling good after the meal.  The rest of the group hit the bar, but I decided to skip it tonight since I wasn’t feeling well.

Tomorrow should be an exciting day!  While everyone else sleeps (due to us not having a scheduled activity in the morning), I will awake at 8:30 to prepare for Roman Catholic Mass in Venice.  I can’t believe I’m going to Mass in Italy! I will head to Chiesa di San Zulian, the only Catholic Church in the town that has an English speaking Mass.  I’m sad I’m going by myself, but am excited to experience it.  San Zulian has a magnificent painting called “The Assumption” by the painter Titan and I am excited to see it.  The group gets back together during the afternoon to take a vaporetto (water bus) to Cemetery Island, the final resting place of Venetians.  They don’t bury their dead on the main island, so Cemetery Island is just one huge cemetery.  It even features the grave of the famous composer Igor Stravinsky.

My first week in Venice is already ending and it has been such a blessing to be able to come on this trip.  Italy has surprised me more than I can imagine.  Venezia isn’t the cleanest place, but it is a place of power and prestige.  It’s a noble city that rests on its former glory and for that it will never be forgotten.  Ciao from Venice.

PS I have included some pictures of the walking tour on my previous album.  Just look for the previous posts for the links to that album.

Also for any of you who have questions about anything Venice or about anything you’ve seen in my photo albums or any clarifications you need, don’t be afraid to ask 🙂

 

Day 3

This trip in Venice is going by so fast.  It is already the weekend and we leave next weekend! Today was an extremely relaxing day and I was very appreciative of that.

We started out this morning by going to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a world famous collection of art and sculptures.  Peggy’s father, Benajmin Guggenheim ventured away from the rest of the Guggenheim family business and led to his family being sort of estranged.  Benjamin eventually died on the Titanic, so Peggy and her mother were extremely separated from their family.

Peggy decided to open an art gallery and opened one in New York.  Her uncle has a famous art museum in New York City known as the Solomon Guggenheim.  Peggy decided to open her own gallery in Venice, but her uncle and the family did not want their last name put on the project, fearing Peggy’s collection would be of lower quality.

The museum features art from numerous movements including the Cubist movement and Abstract movements.  I would explain these more, but I have no eye for art so it’s not even worth the effort.  One of the most famous rooms in the gallery is the Jackson Pollack room, home to six paintings of the famous American painter.  Guggenheim was a big fan of Pollack.

The Guggenheim Collection is located in a beautiful building that she lived in along the Grand Canal.  The balcony over the Grand Canal gave us great views of the water and of the Accademia Bridge.  On the other side of the gallery is the sculpture garden, home to numerous different sculptures.  The garden also houses the grave of Peggy Guggenheim, but it isn’t just her grave.  Along side she has the names of all her dogs that she lived with and every single one of them is buried there as well.

Peggy eventually gave the gallery to her famous family under the condition that the art work would never be sold and that the gallery would forever remain in Venice.

Following this our whole group went to lunch to go over a poem by Lord Byron that we would be discussing during lecture.  We went to the lecture and learned about Lord Byron’s travels through Venice and Greece.  One of his poems is a dedication to his time in Venice.  He describes Venice as a decaying, dying city, but a magical one that will withstand the test of time.  He says the days of Venetian dominance are long past and that should be a lesson for future civilizations, but at the same time Venice should be seen as a crown jewel, a place that others should envy in restoration.

After this, we all went back to our rooms and took naps and began writing our journals that are required for the class.  We then decided to head for food and with everybody wanting American food, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe.  I was quite excited for this!

We got there and found out our wait for 8 was going to be an hour.  Three left so we decided to head to the Hard Rock bar while we waited.  A table opened at the bar and the five of us were able to sit and order our food.  I had the delicious Hard Rock Cafe salad with bacon, crasins and balsamic vinaigrette, and my usual pulled pork sandwich.  I also had my usual Pepsi with Grenadine, the first place I could find Grenadine at.  The food was delicious and our group was glad we had gone for American food.  We are now ready to go back to Italian food.

Tomorrow we our going on a tour of the entire main island of Venice as seen through the eyes of poets.  A select group will be reading selected readings along the route and we will see Venice as these poets had seen it.  After that we will watch a film and that will be the end of the academic day.

I am absolutely loving Italy, but the Hard Rock reaffirmed that America is the place for me.  I love visiting this place and the world, but the USA is where I will always live.

I have updated my last photo album (Venice Part 2 in case you’ve seen it) with pictures from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.  Just follow the link from the previous posts and you’ll find.  I hope all of y’all are enjoying the blog and I thank you for following me! Ciao for now, Chris

Pictures

Here are the links to all photo albums so far.  The first two are from my first two posts, but some people were saying they couldn’t access them.  I’ve also included the newest album link as well.  Ciao

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2475766739160.2116434.1402200167&type=1&l=a038e9b8c4

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2480253371323.2116582.1402200167&type=1&l=4bc4fa9554

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2486044276092.2116698.1402200167&type=1&l=49e16c7922

Day 2

Day 2 in Venice is over and it has been another exciting day.  I am becoming more fascinated by this city and feel blessed to have finally made it to Italy.  I told my grandfather that one day I would take him to Italy.  While he isn’t physically here anymore, I feel him here, and he is enjoying Venice and Italy as much as I am.

The morning began with the bad breakfast, but this time we had an earlier start.  We headed with a professional tour guide to the Doge’s Palace.  The Doge is Italian for Duke.  The palace is a majestic building located on St. Mark’s Square next to the basilica.  Arriving at the Square was neat as Venice was completely fogged in.  We couldn’t see the top of the Campanile and found photo opportunities to be amazing in the fog.

As a group, we got to see the normal Doge’s Palace tour and then also a private tour that the public can’t see.  It was called the Secret Trails Tour.  The tour took us through the back rooms of the Doge’s Palace, where the state affairs of Venice were handled.  Venice was run by the Grand Chancellor and we saw the room where all decisions were made.

The Secret Trail Tour then led us to the prison cells.  It was here that a famous Venetian named Casanova was held.  Casanova was known as a ladies man in the Venetian world and was eventually arrested for being a “magician”.  He lived in royalty, but decided to escape.  He eventually escaped after two attempts and fled Venice.  He would eventually return and become a spy for the Venetian state.

We then entered the main tour which showed the great halls of the Doge’s.  The rooms were covered in frescos and canvas painters from the 1500’s including Valoise, perhaps the most famous Venetian painter.  The main room featured a portrait of every Doge that existed.  It was interesting cause there is one Doge who is blacked out.  This one was accused of treason and beheaded.

Following this we took a break for lunch.  We ended up eating at a tourist trap, but it was cheap so I’m not complaining.  We then got gelato from Bar Americano before heading back to St. Mark’s Square for our next door.

We entered the Basilica di San Marco or St. Mark’s Basilica.  It was the most decorated Church I have ever seen.  The ceiling was adorned with gold, as was the Golden Sheet (a wall made of gold and precious stones dedicated to the Christ).  We then saw the resting place of St. Mark, whose remains were stolen from Alexandria, Egypt.

Following the tour, we convened for the day as a group and headed to the Rialto Bridge area to look around.  Some people went shopping, while others decided to continue exploring.  We explored Rialto Bridge before heading back to the hotel.

After a few hours our whole group went out to dinner.  I had lasagna bolognese and it was delicious.  We then went to a bar and then a group headed for a nightclub.  I was exhausted from the bar so I headed back for the hotel and my wonderful pillow.

Tomorrow sees the group go on a tour of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is known as perhaps the finest sculpture collection in the world.  I am about to do another post with the updated link to all pictures.  Ciao from Venice

Day 1

Hello everyone.  Day 1 in Venice is complete and it was a relaxing and fun day getting to know the city.  I’ve always heard the best way to see Venice is to wander its narrow bridges and streets and get lost and that’s exactly what our group did today.

I had breakfast at 7:30 and like breakfast in England, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, it was bad.  There were three choices of bland cereal, croissants, blood orange juice, grapefruit juice, multivitamin juice and milk.  I had a little cereal with sugar on top with some blood orange juice.  The breakfast waitress than made me du chocolat, or hot chocolate.

Following this my roommates and I headed for the grocery store, which was located on the canal.  We explored this area before meeting the rest of the group in the lobby at 10am.  The Schroeders (Dr. Ron and Dr. Natalie) decided to takes on a short tour around the hotel in the section of Accademia, where we were staying.  They took us around numerous plazas and showed us great places to eat.  We eventually made it to a shop that made carnival masks.  The Schroeders then told us that this store had been the store that designed the masks for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.

What was supposed to be a short little trip around the hotel soon ended, as we all decided that we wanted the tour to continue.  The Schroeders took us to St. Mark’s Square, perhaps the most famous spot in Venice.  It was just how I imagined it would be, just like in the movies.  It was crowded and pigeons were everywhere.  We all had to duck numerous times as the pigeons would begin their nose diving exercises.  We saw St. Mark’s Basilica, which was built to house the remains of St. Mark, whose body was stolen from Egypt.  We will tour the Basilica tomorrow.  We also saw the bell tower next to it, known as St. Mark’s Campanile.  Next to it was the Doges Palace.

Our tour then took us to the Rialto Bridge area, which is the upscale section of Venice.  It was common to see Versace, Prada, and Louis Vitton stores.  Seeing that I don’t care about my clothes, my favorite store was the Ferrari store, which sold all kinds of merchandise.  Inside was a replica of the Ferrari Formula One car which was neat as well.

Our tour ended back at St. Mark’s Square and the group decided it was lunchtime.  We ate at a wonderful sandwich place, where I ordered a ham and cheese baguette.  It was quite delicious.  We went back to the hotel and where shown a fascinating film on Venice.  It told of Venice’s rise and how it was able to continue living on the water,

A small group decided that we would take half an hour and regroup to go on a tour to acclimate ourselves with the surrounding area. We thought we would explore for about an hour, but it ended up taking about three.  We walked along the water and ended up at a majestic Catholic Church, known as the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of Saint Mary of Health).  It was a gorgeous basilica and as we toured inside, we noticed Mass going on.  Mass was in Italian, but I was able to understand a little bit of it.  Being Catholic, I plan on attending Mass, but I would prefer one in English.  I found a Catholic Church called Chiesa di San Zulian that has an English speaking Mass on Sunday, so I plan to go.

After Santa Maria della Salute, we decided to just walk around and wound up getting lost.  We eventually made our way to St. Mark’s Square, where I purchased my Hard Rock Cafe Venice spinner guitar keychain.  I am quite addicted to these.

Following St. Mark’s, we arrived again at the Rialto Bridge and decided to take random roads.  We were lost about 80 percent of the time.  We followed yellow signs and probably saw most of Venice without realizing it.  It was quite fun to get lost and end up having to guess on where to go next.

We finally found a restaurant around 7 and settled down.  I had lasagna bolognese and it was pretty good.  We stayed at the restaurant for about an hour and half before returning to the hotel to settle down for the night.

Tomorrow will be a fun filled day with a morning tour of the Doges’ Palace and an afternoon tour of St. Mark’s Basilica.  The basilica tour shouldn’t last to long, so we should have a lot of free time to do more exploring.

I hope everyone in the States is doing well and I can tell you that Venice is a place that you have to visit.  I have been here two full days and have already been awed by its magic.  I can’t wait to see more.

Here is the link to my first Venice album.  Beware that this is just the first of many photo albums to be produced during the next two weeks.  I’ve done my best to trim it down, but it didn’t work out so well.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2480253371323.2116582.1402200167&type=1&l=4bc4fa9554

Ciao, Chris

Arrival in Venice

Greetings from Italy! I have finally been in Venice for a day, and while not having seen the sights, I am already fascinated by this floating city.

I left Greensboro for Philadelphia on a delayed flight, but thankfully the flight attendant was incredibly attractive, and my next flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt was delayed as well. I reached Philadelphia and waited for an hour and boarded the US Airways flight bound for Frankfurt.

I sat next to an American military man based at a small station in Germany. He was very nice and told me all about his experiences in the Army. We were given pasta marinara for dinner, before the inflight entertainment turned on. I passed the time with Family Guy, The Simpsons, Mike & Molly, Yes Dear, The Big Bang Theory, and etc. US Airways’ selection of movies was disappointing so I decided to sleep for the remainder of the flight, only waking up to eat my apple pastry for breakfast.

We arrived in Frankfurt on time and I thought I would have an easy time making my connection which was an hour and half later. In reality, I barely made it. I was sent through German passport control and of course the line for the American passport station was long so I went through the EU passport station, explaining my tight connection. I passed through and then found myself having to go through security again.

Let me tell you, Frankfurt is a huge, confusing airport. I eventually found my way to my gate and boarded my Lufthansa flight bound for Venice. I sat next to another American military man, this time stationed 40 minutes from Venice.

The flight from Frankfurt to Venice was breathtaking, as we flew over the German, Austrian, and Italian Alps. The snow-tipped peaks put the Appalachian mountains to shame. The mountains soon gave way to the coast as we began our descent. I was on the correct side of the plane and got a breathtaking view of Venice during landing.

After landing I got my bags and proceeded to the WaterBus stop at Marco Polo Airport. The airport is on the mainland and the only way to Venice itself is by boat. After an hour and twenty minute boat ride I arrived at my station and found my hotel rather quickly.

I crashed for hours until my roommates came knocking in. We then proceeded to eat at a local pizzeria. It was pretty good, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. We walked around the Grand Canal before retiring for the night.

Tomorrow begins the official Day 1 of my Venice Study Abroad. I hope everyone in the States has a pleasant day and enjoys the blog!

Below is the link to pictures of the Alps and Venice from my flight

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2475766739160.2116434.1402200167&type=1&l=a038e9b8c4

Ciao

Opening Post

Testing. Hello everyone. For those of you who followed my other blog http://www.chrisoverseas.wordpress.com, this is my new blog for my trip to Italy! I hope all of y’all will enjoy the journey to Italy with me!

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