June 5th
Our hotel in Jesolo is right on the beach. Last night we all went down there for a late-night swim. Since it's our last hotel we are feeling rushed to have as many good times as possible. Today we drove a half an hour or so to reach the Venice area. We got off the bus and loaded directly onto a boat, which we had to take for another 20 minutes to reach Venice itself. Like the Cinque Terre and Pisa, Venice is full of tourists. That's understandable though, because it is truly a beautiful and interesting place to visit. The whole day was free time, so I went about town with all sorts of different groups of exchange students. I spent the majority of my time with Fabi, Austin and Mark though. We visited the main square before starting to find our way through the back alleyways. My favorite spots in Venice are the uninhabited side-tunnels that often lead to residential canals. Those are the places where I really feel like I'm in Venice. On the main streets I just feel like I'm in a souvenir dream-world. It has been deja vu most of the tour when we visit places I've seen before, but Venice was the strongest. We saw markets, stands, street signs, alleys, churches, squares, stores and everything in between that I recognized. It felt like nothing had changed. I don't like that really.. I think a place should be ever-evolving, not stuck in a stagnant touristy state. I know Venice will never cease to attract millions of people each year, but I think it would be a lot more welcoming if it did. We saw all of the main attractions, our lunch was especially memorable though. We tried a random restaurant on a side street and it must have just opened because the service was hilariously horrible. It took the staff (2 people) all of an hour and a half to make 5 pizzas. Although it was air conditioned, and I was with friends so no complaints.