Tuesday 9/06 9:11pm Venice, Italia
Today, I woke up a little earlier and went to the fish market to see what everyone was talking about. It was pretty much like any other fish market, but since I've never actually been to a fish market, it was a new experience. And not only is it fish, but stands for produce and spices as well. Then, in the stores behind the outdoor market, there are the butchers and the cheese shops and more produce shops. Dad would have loved it because on all the produce stands they have little wrapped bags of nuts and dried fruit and sun-dried tomatoes, and I know he would have bought a giant bag of tomatoes to eat the rest of the day. (Sidenote: for someone who doesn't like tomatoes (me), I have been eating them almost everyday. They are in everything and since I can't be rude in Italy about their food, I just go along with it.)
While hanging out around the market, I ran across a beauty store, and since I left my nail polish in Austin and my toe-nails are getting pretty un-polished, I bought some. I also ran across an appliance store, and I stood there for awhile looking at the straighteners and just wishing I could have one. Then I realized that if I really wanted one, then I could get one. So I did. The one Holly gave me just couldn't work on my hair, and every morning when I was leaving, I felt like I was missing something. When I wallked out, I was sooooooo excited. I still have over 3 months left, and so it will be used a lot. And when I get back, I'm either going to save it to lend to my friends like Holly did for me, or sell it on craigslist. But, for me, it just was something I felt was missing in my day. At home, I might go a day without straightening, but it had been 9 days and I just couldn't take it anymore.
After that, with all my new stuff, I returned to St. Marks square to spend more time looking in the shops and wandering around, but since I had woken up so early, I soon headed back to take a shower and straighten my hair. It was nice being there when no other travelers were there, so after I took a shower, I sat for awhile in from of the fan and pretended it was a blowdryer, and then I straightened my hair. It.was.amazing. It is still straight right now, and I'm just so happy about it. After that, I accidently fell asleep for about an hour, but when I woke up, I was ready to go again. When talking to my new italian friend last night, she mentioned her favorite spot in Venice was the tip of one of the islands, which kind of faces St. Mark's square and you can see all the boats coming in and out of the grand canal. I decided to head over there and sit for awhile. It was great seeing everything and it was fun sitting and watching the silly tourist come to take pictures really quickly and leave and not really appreciate what they were taking a picture of. During the tour, I learned that Venice gets about 25 million visitors a year (it is a point-of-call for a lot of cruises), but out of all those 25 million, most will only spend about 8 hours in Venice. It's great that they can see the major sites, but unlike me, they won't have the opportunity to get lost on the islands and see all the small things too (or attend a concert or go to the early morning fish market). After she told us this, I noticed how rushed they all are, and how much they treat Venice like "Disney World". It's a shame, because my favorite part was getting lost... or Rialto Bridge. After sitting for about 45 minutes, I decided to return to the Rialto Bridge for a little while longer. I ate dinner there and wandered around a little longer, and then got lost getting back to the hostel. When I got back, I talked to Dad for a little bit, but again, I'm alway exhausted after everyday. Tomorrow, I head to Florence, where it will be a busy few days. I have a walking tour one morning, a ticket to the Uffizi Gallery (which is home to the art of the Medici family), and I get to see KATHRYN ISAACSON ON FRIDAY. It's been a long week with worrying about speaking too fast in english or not saying the right word in italian, so it will be nice to spend a few hours with her talking super fast and about random things. Then, on Saturday, I will head to Rome and then to Sora where I start my first workaway. I'm excited about being in one spot of a whole month and getting a chance to become familiar with a town. I also am just a little happy that I get to strap on my leggings and nike shorts for some outside work.
