Venetian Wonders

Venice, Italy

I had a cappucino with my new friend Josh at a little cafe just before coming here to the internet cafe. For some odd reason, the room is and has been rocking as if I were on a boat. Very strange. I've been here for a couple days. Where do I begin? It was very overwhelming when I arrived. It was getting close to nighttime so I had to find a hostel, since I didn't have a couchsurfing host. Fortunately, I found one, and all was good. I know I'm being rather vague here, and for that I apologize. I have a full bladder, but you pay by the time here, so I don't want to stop and then start again. I know, probably too much info. At the hostel, I met a guy named Josh who is from the US and has been living in Spain for several months, as he ran out of money while travelling. He is a really cool guy and we spent the day yesterday wandering around Venice and just 'splorin'. I've been slowly, very slowly getting better physically. My throat isn't scratchy anymore, but I still have a congested nose and now this peculiar dizziness. We learned that most of the glass items sold here are actually manufactured in China and passed off as the coveted "Venetian glass". Also, interestingly, apparently the canals are also trash bins as we saw a woman, most likely a local, casually toss her cigarette butt into one. There are SOOOOOOOOO many tourists here. It's no wonder everything is so expensive. We tried as best as possible to get away from the tourists. Yesterday, while eating our grocery store-bought focaccia in a little quiet plaza, two little boys were playing on a large cauldron-esque monument thing. I could tell that they're imaginary world was that they were on a ship, as one of the boys dropped "la mapa" - a piece of paper acting as a map of the oceans or something- into "l'acqua." So, after I finished eating, I groaned and slowly climbed up the monument, acting like a sea monster. The boys screamed and crawled backwards. I retreated and then ascended again. More squeals from the boys. I made a silly face and biting motions, while producing sea monster noises. Eventually, I fell backwards and lay still, to which the boys exclaimed, "E mata" - He's dead. It was fun. I learned that the Gondolieri - the men who operate the gondolas- make around 1000 euros a day. Last night, while Josh and I wandered around trying to find our way to a waterbus to go back to the hostel, we discovered a part of the city that is not meant to be discovered. If you do not want the magic of Venice to be ruined, please do not read on. . . . There were cars. Real cars. I saw them. I even touched one. It was such a disappointment. It was like being backstage at Disneyland and seeing Goofy with his head off. However, there have definitely been moments where I just looked around, took a deep breath, and thought to myself - and at times said to myself - "I am in Venice!" It's pretty amazing that I'm really here. Life is pretty amazing.