Venice

Erika and I had a wonderful time in Venice, and it’s really a shame we couldn’t stay longer. We took a morning train from Rome, and got in around early afternoon. The directions to our hostel were perfectly clear, which was something rather new to us. Our hostel was right in the middle of a piazza filled with restaurants, which was nice last night as we were able to just sit outside and watch people have a good time.

At the hostel, we shared our room with a girl named Trista, from Kansas. She was really nice, and fit right in, coming along with us as we saw the sights and had dinner. She’s just graduated as well, and has come over to work and travel around before she decides if she wants to go on to med school. She told us the absolute best story about a troll, which I will now relate:

So one of her friends works in an office with a woman whose six year old son has a serious phobia concerning trolls. Trolls are just the one thing that really freaks him out, and occasionally, when his mother is at work, he’ll call into the office, frightened that a troll is under his bed or in the closet, and she’ll have to console him. One day, her son calls her at the office, absolutely freaking out. He seems just about scared out of his mind, and it takes some time for his mom to calm him down. However, as soon as she gets off the phone, he calls right back, then again. The mom thinks something must actually be wrong, so she leaves work to go home and check on him. When she gets home, he leads her straight to his closet. The door is rattling off its hinges. She pulls it open, and out runs a dwarf! Like, an actual little person!

The police get there about two minutes later. It turns out that the dwarf was a Jehovah’s Witness, who was traveling with a friend, preaching. When he came to the door, the little boy led him into his room, then pushed him in the closet! He thought he was capturing a troll! His friend managed to call the police, who only just arrived when the mom got home. Crazy!

I mean, I’m not sure of the validity, but it makes a good story, right?

All three of us went to Saint Marco’s and the Doge’s Palace, the two big art attractions in Venice. I’d been to both in my previous trip to Italy, but it was still awe-inspiring to see the beautiful artwork they both contained. The entire ceiling, along with the upper walls, of Saint Marco’s were absolutely covered in golden mosaic. It really is a sight. The Doge’s Palace is equally gilded, but as giant golden carvings which frame paintings across many of the ceilings. Just beautiful.

We also got to just walk around and get a feel for the city, which was great. It’s really easy to get lost, so that’s what we did, though none of us really minded, as we were in no hurry. Venice has so many small side streets and winding alleyways that it felt like we never saw the same thing twice. Erika and I both wish we could have had more time, but we had already booked our tickets to Zurich. We’re not sure what exactly we’ll see and do in Zurich, but I’m sure it will be exciting.