5/25/12 Venice, be Nice

                The breakfast this morning was rather confusing.  Me and my roommate headed down at 7, the time we were told breakfast would be at.  As soon as we got to the main restaurant our maestro told us that the breakfast was supposed to be at 7:45 and in one of the secondary restaurant.  Well, of course I wait until the time for food, but find that the place is locked up.  So as I peek at each restaurant, and sure enough, the first place I went to was the one place I was supposed to eat at.  As it turns out, the person working at the front desk before 7:30 was a complete idiot.

                Anyways, these breakfasts just get progressively worse we get further out.  Our guide says “These Northern Italians, hard workers, but a-so stingy.  You take a picture of the breakfast you have in Rome, and eat it, will fill you up better.”

                We make our way back to Venezia, this time dressed and prepared for the hot, humid weather.  We waste no time heading to the church we are going to perform at later, Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli, and drop off our costumes.  So the rest of the day (up to the performance) is to get lot in Venice.  The first thing I do is head over to the ATM and finally withdraw money, because it was payday.  The girls decided to have a girl day and go shopping.  Ironically we all wind out at the same lunch spot, and some of the girls decided they weren’t up for the girls day. 

View off the Rialto

               So, our now reformed group wandered around Venezia trying to find the Rialto Bridge.  Flavio made it sound so easy, “Go straight that way *whistle noise* turn right, bam!”  No, instead we got lost.  But that was ok.  There were opera hawkers handing out fliers for a show that night, and we found a local charcoal artist, whom I bought a picture from because she was actually really talented.

                Finally we headed over to a local tourist info spot, and shell out 3 euro to get a map.  Of course, upon examining the map, we find out that the directions we were given were backwards; it was straight on then directly right.  So away we go, stopping along the way for some yummy green apple and lemon gelato (and a less satisfactory Apersol Sprtiz).  We finally make it to the Rialto Bridge where the view was quaint, and the markets aplenty.  There were also a few more mask shops around which I took plenty of time to peruse their wares.  In the second mask shop the clerk was much more aggressive about her sale- by actually talking to me and what I’m looking for.  My checklist- 1)green 2) with sheet music on it 3) made in Venice, not China.  Well, she finds one for me, a girl face, but other than that exactly what I’m looking for (and I’m fairly certain they just made the masks in the room upstairs, but hey, I like it).  Its partial imperfections are great to me, but only because I like things that are perfectly imperfect.

                After the mask shop we head up to the end of the bridge, another line of shops of course was in store.  We round the corner trying to stray off the beaten path a little. To the far left we find a specialty shop that sells vinegar, wine oil, spirits and the like.  One of us purchases some wine then we find a very odd type coffee shop.  Now, it would fit in right in America, but in Italy, it was rather corporate and “Starbuck-esque.”

                Next we headed back up the Rialto Bridge to meet back up to the rendezvous point by St. Mark’s, but along the way I decided I needed one last slice of real Italian pizza, best slice I ever had.

                Now meeting back at St. Mark’s the choir heads to our final concert in Italy.  The church was resonant, and illuminated by the evening sunlight.  The audience was remarkably grateful and active throughout the concert.  I believe it was our best concert on the tour.

Organ from inside the church

               We ended our stay in Venice with some pizza for dinner, and purchasing real Tuscan wine for 2 euro.  Then a couple people in our group threw down with our tour guide in a card game known as Briscolla (very popular in Italy).  Our guide beat them, badly.  So it goes, he put on a good poker face.

                With one last boat ride, we bid farewell to Venice.  The hotel that night I spent most of the time looking for a way to open the wine I bought while not having a corkscrew.  Well, after an hour or so I head to the bar to see if they would open it for me free of charge.  Of course they did, but while the bartender was uncorking, a man at the bar started hitting on me, asking if, “I was buying some champaign for a lover.”  His English wasn’t that good, though, he still had that stereotypical gay lisp.

                Well, I head back up to my room where me and my friends pass the wine bottle around until it’s all drunk (we had no glasses…).  After the wine, we all head to bed.