{"id":3334,"date":"2012-10-14T11:34:30","date_gmt":"2012-10-14T16:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/goglobal\/?p=3334"},"modified":"2012-10-14T11:34:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-14T16:34:30","slug":"my-heart-resides-in-venice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/goglobal\/?p=3334","title":{"rendered":"my heart resides in Venice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The train quickly backed out of the St. Lucia station leaving behind an amazing city, heavenly gelato, divine cornetti cioccolati<\/em>, and, most importantly, my heart.\u00a0 For years, I had watched movies and television shows with scenes of Venice and had felt an urge to see it myself.\u00a0 Though I acknowledged that I wanted to go to Venice, I just figured that this feeling was a desire to travel and explore every bit of Earth that I could.\u00a0 Instead, the second I stepped on Venetian ground, two days earlier, I felt strangely at home.\u00a0 I smiled and took a deep breath of the slightly fishy smelling air.<\/p>\n

Venice is a maze.\u00a0 Each turn you take leads you to some little shop or bridge, each fascinating and wonderful.\u00a0 The best part is, you don\u2019t need a map.\u00a0 The city is small enough that everything is in walking distance, so long as you ditch the Italian high heels and go for actual walking shoes.\u00a0 Even when you think you are lost, and utter a hopeless \u201cmamma mia<\/em>,\u201d you turn a corner and suddenly find yourself at the Rialto Bridge, at the edge of St. Mark\u2019s square, or at an amazing gelateria<\/em>.\u00a0 Another wonderful thing about Venice is that there are no cars.\u00a0 In Rome, every time you cross the street you get a sense that this could be your last moment.\u00a0 But, in Venice, the only thing you have to worry about is getting so caught up in the city\u2019s beauty that you accidentally fall into a canal.<\/p>\n

If you are a shopaholic, don\u2019t worry, Venice has plenty of shops.\u00a0 St. Mark\u2019s square is surrounded by high-end clothing and jewelry shops; it is a couture fortress.\u00a0 If you are, on the other hand, more like me and find those shops just a wee bit out of your price range, there are plenty of amazing shops all around the city.\u00a0 There is a plethora of clothing, shoe, purse, and fabric shops.\u00a0 Even more shops, though, are dedicated to masks.\u00a0 Home of Carnivale<\/em>, Venice is known for its elaborate paper mache masks.\u00a0 It seemed that every store was bursting at the seams with masks.\u00a0 They lined doorframes, were displayed in windows, and tacked collage-like to walls.\u00a0 I felt like I was in the masquerade scene of The Phantom of the Opera<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is something about Venice that makes me long to return.\u00a0 It might be how each tiny canal and ornate bridge feels as if they are secret passages.\u00a0 Or, it may be the way sitting at an outdoor caf\u00e9 in St. Mark\u2019s square, listening to the gorgeous sounds of a classical jazz band, makes me feel completely relaxed.\u00a0 Or, it could be the sense of happy isolation the city permeates by being alone in the sea, with narrow alleys that seem like no one has ever walked down.\u00a0 It could be one of these things, but it is not: it is all of these things.\u00a0 Venice has stolen a piece of my heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The train quickly backed out of the St. Lucia station leaving behind an amazing city, heavenly gelato, divine cornetti cioccolati, and, most importantly, my heart.\u00a0 For years, I had watched movies and television shows with scenes of Venice and had felt an urge to see it myself.\u00a0 Though I acknowledged that I wanted to go … <\/p>\n

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