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As always I find that the most spontaneous and also most memorable experiences
that I have on my trips has to do with the people that I happen to meet.
Since on this trip I stayed in an apartment rather than a hotel, I found
that some of my experiences were so much different than my experiences in the past. I think in large part because staying
in an apartment had me living more like a local than if I were to stay in a hotel.
My apartment was located in a real neighborhood and people living next
to me were actual residents rather than fellow hotel guests.
Also, I had to shop for my own living necessities like groceries, laundry
soap and even toilet paper. Now you can't get anymore "local and everyday" than that! It was so great.
I have many wonderful memories of the people that I met durng this trip. Here are some
of the few standouts:
Cafe Girls: One of my favorite cafes was
right down a couple of streets from my apartment and I probably stopped by there practically daily during my two week stay.
It got to the point were I recognized the workers (affectionately referring to them as the cafe ladies) and they recognized
me! I was always greeted with a big smile and provided excellent services. Whenever I didn't feel like dining
in a restaurant I just stopped in and ordered a simple panini and I was good to go.
Shop Owner: During my two weeks, my usual
walking route was routinely the same. I would walk over two bridges pass several cafes and shops on my way to the Accademia
bridge. On my second day (when I could find the included hair dryer in my apartment), I wondered into this shop that sold
everything from pots and pans to plates and hardware. There was this older Italian lady and a younger middle aged lady
working. They seem pretty busy putting things away and organizing things. I approach the older lady (who did not
speak any English) and point to the hair dryer I saw high up on this shelf. Through body language and pleasant smiles
I communicated to her that I wanted to buy the hair dryer. The lady grabs it off the shelf and rings it up for me.
She was sort of this gruff looking person who really didn't smile but you knew she was pleasant anyway. I immediately
liked her. A few days later I go in to buy some laundry soap and Toilet paper. For some reason, there was no smaller
packs available and so I ended up with a Costco equivalent supply of about 10 or so rolls. Well, I figure you can never
get enough TP! She rings me up again. I think I went in there a couple more times after. It seems that every
time I walked by I always enjoyed looking into her shop to see what she was doing and of course she was always very busy stocking
and organizing her shop. She was never standing around doing nothing.
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| Shop is to the Left |
One morning I walked by and she had this huge roll of bubble wrap.
She seem to be cutting them into smaller rolls to sell in her shop. Needing some for my trip home I walked in and ask
how much in Italian. They had just done a little roll (smaller than the other rolls they have been cutting). The
other lady spoke in Italian and from what I could understand she was telling me the price of the other larger rolls that they
had just cut. Suddenly, my Italian mom (what I affectionately nicknamed her) pointed to the little roll they were working
on and motions to this smaller size roll and gave me a price (which was lower). The other lady who was
helping her was obviously in disagreement and spoke back to her. Well, Italy mom spoke back sternly and they got into
this big stare down. Guess who won the argument. I walked out with the smaller custom cut roll for the cheaper
price. She was awesome!
On my last evening in Venice, I went for my usual walk. As I passed
by Italy Mom's shop, I took my usual glance inside to see what she was up to. For the first time ever, she
wasn't busily doing anything. Instead she was looking straight at me as I was walking by. I kept thinking that
she was looking at something else and I just happen to be looking in. But she was still looking and followed my
movement. It was so weird that on all the other times I passed by she was always busy doing something never looking
out but on this occasion she wasn't doing anything and was looking right out towards me. It was to be the last
time that I saw her. In hindsight, I really wished that I had went in that last evening or maybe I could've gotten her
a parting gift or something. Instead, I think she was the one that gave me the parting gifit good-bye. Seeing
her every day gave me this incredible sense of comfort and I don't think I realized how much seeing her each morning
was important to me until that last evening. She was such an awesome person and I really wished that I could have communicated
more with her. I will always remember her.
Party Crasher: During my stay I've had several
meals in some of the great restaurants recommended in my Chow Venice Book. One of them was a cool place called Dickens
Inn which is located in my favorite campo (Campo Santa Margherita). I had a couple of meals and glasses of prosecco
there. My first experience was wonderful. I had an excellent pizza with a very small lunch crowd. The meal
was so great I decided to go back a salad. And on this occasion it was much more crowded and in the room in the
back there were two large groups of people obviously celebrating some special occasion. The only tables available were
the ones right in the middle of the two party groups. The owner sort of looked at me and asked if I would prefer a table
outside. But I really didn't care that there were two big parties and that I would be seated right in the middle.
In fact, I was really happy and wanted to be right in the thick of the celebrations.
On the left the party group was a bunch of university students and on
the right was clearly a more family crowd. It was loud and people for laughing and eating and drinking. I loved
it. I ordered my meal and was just entertained by their celebrations. I asked one of the girls from the university
party what was going on. She explained that they were there to celebrate the graduation of their friend (who was busily
opening her gifts and chugging away at a bottle of prosecco). She was from Croatia and was here in Venice with her boyfriend
studying International Studies with an emphasis on the country of Japan. She had the tamest dog sitting right next to
her. She then explained that the other table was also celebrating a graduation and the girl is actually a classmate
of her friend.
On the right, the party group didn't speak much english but somehow
as usual I always manage to communicate with them. They were having such a great time and I had fun watching them. I
even laughed when they laughed, not even knowing what they were saying or what was so funny. I just enjoyed the celebration. Next
thing I knew they were refilling my glass with more prosecco. It was was so much fun and I really wished that I had
video taped the moment, but I was just having way too much fun. This is also probably one of the most enjoyable
encounters that I had. I did manage to snap a quick photo of the girl from Croatia.
Good Samaritans: As usual on this trip I
had a so many good Samaritans. But there are some that stand out in my mind. There are the many local residents
that helped to guide me in the right directions when I got lost. There were the awesome couples that I had enjoyed conversing
with while enjoying my pizza at the Accademia Pizza restaurant. They were so awesome. How about the Ferrara good
Samaritan that helped me find my way to the Castle tower. I call him the wizard because of what he did. I
got myself so lost while walking around the Castle Estense in Ferarra. I was trying to find the entrance to climb the
tower so I can have a great photo opportunity of the City. I finally ask this guy who was responsible for watching one
of the rooms in the castle that was located on the top floor. He gave me some directions to go back down, cross the
courtyard and to the right. I followed his direction, but I got a little twisted around and stopped momentarily in the
courtyard to review my map. Suddenly, I hear this voice coming from above. I looked up and back and see a window
on the top floor wide open an my good samaritan motioning with his arm to go right and saying something in Italian. I
wave back, smiled and yelled back grazie. My little good Samaritan knew that I would still be lost and watched to make
sure that I followed his direction and found my way to the Tower Entrance.
There were so many more people that I had the great pleasure of
meeting and interacting with on this trip ranging form the brief momentary encounters to the regulars that I chatted with
at my favorite bar and cafe. Then there there the tour people I met and my travel companions on the way home that stuck
with me even when I thought I lost my passport at the security gate.
I feel so lucky to have met so many wonderful people on this trip and
my previous two trips as well. I took a lot of photos and brought home some wonderful souvenirs from this trip but I
always seem to find the most treasured memory to take home is the knowledge of all the wonderful things I saw, the experiences,
the great history I learned about, the beautiful art and most importantly the people that I met.
I honestly believe that the people of Venice are "the" heart and soul
of this great city. And having two weeks to spend here really gave me the chance to really observe some of the daily
life and actually be an active participant. It was so cool and awesome!
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