Italia!

Flight to Venice

I've never felt apprehensive while flying before, but on our takeoff today, we were in such turbulence on the whole accent, that I literally felt like we were about to fall out of the sky. A little scary.

I had my mid-trip blues yesterday, being tired of the whole travel thing and ready to come home. Maybe I was just in England too long, because strangely, I was really ready to leave Canterbury today. I don't know the why or wherefore of that, but I was. I'm a little scared about Italy, but I'd still rather be there than still in england.

We got all kinds of instructions on the bus about how to keep safe in Venice. About the different groups who specialize in snatching shoulder bags, about in being one of the easiest cities in the world to get lost in because there are no street signs (and hardly and streets for that matter), about the men that you have to be careful to show no interest in or else “something bad will happen...” I guess we all know what that means. That, with the language barrier already making me uncomfortable, was enough to make me incredibly worried and a little frightened too, again, bring out the little girl in me. I guess we'll see.

And we're totally flying about the Alps at the moment, the first time I've ever seen them. Peaks and valleys, all jagged and precipitous, and unbelievably beautiful. They're spilling out into the horizon, and the snow looks incredibly soft on the peaks, laying on them like powdered sugar. The clouds are hovering around about the half-way point of the peaks. Below are huge bodies of water ranging muddy teal, to azure, to dark navy where the mountains are casting shadows, the fjords I think. And then there are the ones that are glowing radiant gold in the sun. Put simply, it's awe-inspiring.

We did have our first official airport adventure though. Aimee has a pretty hefty pocket knife that she keeps with her most of the time, and today she forgot to put it in with her checked bag. We waited through endless lines of security screening, watching people get stopped, and patted down, and checked...so often in our line that mom and dad were through way before Aimee and I had even gotten to put our bags on the rolly-things table. As it turns out, Aimee had left the knife in her bag she was wanting to carry on, and they pulled her and the bag, and said they needed to search it. I was right behind her so I stayed with her. The lady (who seemed pretty self-important and very aware of her authority) pulled out the knife they'd seen on the x-ray. She was asking Aimee about the knife, when she opened it, and it clicked into the locked position. All of a sudden, she got really upset and was like, “How do you close this knife?!” We figured it was going to be a problem, but that they would just confiscate it and we'd be on our way. The she pulled the shocker, “This is a locking knife and that it is illegal in Great Briton! You do realize that you've committed a criminal offense, and that we're going to have to call the police.”

Well then.

It was pretty scary. And that woman was making it even worse. I was scared they'd come out, arrest and cuff Aimee for something she didn't know she'd done, and out would go our trip to Italy. The airport police showed up, all carrying their G36E rifles, which was incredibly intimidating. Turns out they were really nice, and probably realized that she and I weren't terrorists trying to infiltrate the airport. I was able to stay with her while they questioned her, and be her “adult presence,” signing paperwork with her and stuff. Of all people for that to happen to, she was the perfect one, knowing what they were doing, and not being flustered by it. Although we were both a little scared it was going to be a much, much bigger problem than we thought. Overall, it turned out fine, but it was very unnerving.

The captain just announce 15 minutes until landing, so I'm going to stash the computer for now. I'm going to Italy.


Don Orione Hotel, Venice Italy

Today's going to be a pretty full day, but I have a few minutes before breakfast. Getting into the airport was all fine and dandy, the guy barely even looked at me or my passport before nodding me through. No one's luggage was lost, and even though we had to wait for half our group to get back from the bathroom, we finally got everything together and left the airport.

We had almost a 10 minute walk to get to the water taxis. The boat we went in was a beautiful, deep- wooded speed boat, which held 10 passengers, and all luggage. It took about 30 minutes to get to the stop our for our hotel, and it was a beautiful ride.
The smell here reminds me of home, the sea, and mud, and algae on stone, and it makes me miss it even more, but also feel like it's a little closer. Our hotel used to be a monastery, but was converted, and is now a very nice place to stay. The ceilings are about 13 feet high, the floors are all tile and echo-y, and we have four twin beds in a row to signify a quad room. If you open the big, wooden shutter on our window, it looks out over a courtyard, and then over the riverfront houses to the main canal. It's really beautiful here.

Once we got checked in, we walked down to the water and bought gelato and ate it sitting on the wall next to the river, looking out at all the reflecting light on the black water.

Today we're all getting down to breakfast at 7:30, in order to be finished in time for our 8 o'clock rehearsal. Mara Brockbank, a lady from our church who apparently is an expert in Venetian history, is giving a us a walking tour around the city, then we have a tour of St. Marco's Basilica before we sing evening mass there.

Which is pretty cool.

Post-breakfast, pre-rehearsal

It's weird to be back in the choir with the older girls who just joined us now. For some reason, I honestly don't now why, they all have decided to hate Aimee and I. Like today, we went down for breakfast and put our folders down on the table that one of the girl's folder was on, and then went and got in the breakfast line. I happened to glance across the room and saw that girl look to see who's names were on the folder, get really angry when she saw they were ours, and say something really “animatedly” for lack of a better word to the group at the next table. They all laughed and rearranged the table so could sit with them, and she moved all her breakfast stuff over there.

It's funny how little things like that, from people I'm not really even that good of friends with still sting.

It's back into high school.

Train station; Venice to Florence

It is so hot. Unbelievably, swelteringly hot. After breakfast yesterday, we had a rehearsal for the mass we were singing at San Marco's that evening. Mr. Cross made an announcement the evening before saying we would have a rehearsal from 8 to 8:50, then a meeting, then have a free hour before our walking tour at 10. Yeah right. I've been with this choir long enough to know that we never use rehearsal time productively, and consequently, we never finish on time. We sang, and sang, and sang for nearly 2 hours, then had 5 minutes to get back to the room, get ready for the day, and walk all the way to Mara's hotel (which we didn't really know the way to).

The tour was okay. By the time we got there, I was already drenched in sweat, and all we did was wander around and look at few churches, which we could have done on our own anyway. After a while, my family broke off from the group and found lunch and our way back to the hotel on our own. We joined up with the MacMurphys to go back to Sam Marcos for our tour, and took a little sit-on-the-edge-of-a-boat-and-hold-on-for-dear-life water taxi, which was so fun. It's amazing to watch everyone navigate in the canals. They always come close, but never hit each other, at least that I've seen. And it's exactly how it looks in the movies, beautiful and colorful and vibrant and noisy and men in striped shirts rowing gondolas, and little old women begging in the streets, and fountains you can drink from standing in the squares.

The basilica was amazing, with the entire 5-domed ceiling and most of the walls covered in bible accounts and pictures, all in mosaic. It was incredible.

By the end of the tour, we were all exhausted from the heat and all the walking, so we made our way back to the hotel and napped for an hour before heading back into the heat for the mass. I nearly fainted during it because of the added heat of the robe, but it was incredible to hear our voice echoing through the building.

We decided to go to dinner with the MacMurphys, and after walking around until about 8, we found this little restaurant in an alley somewhere. It was amazing, as all food I've have here yet is. I've readied myself to gain a pound or two while I'm here, and be completely glad to do it. It's a sad life to come to Italy and not enjoy the food. I've decided to eat pizza at least once in every place we go to because I'm interested in seeing the variation from region to region.

After dinner, which lasted forever since we made friends with the manager who chatted with us for a while, we made our way home. We walked through the dimly lit streets, and the narrow alleys between buildings, and heard snatches of music as we passed intersecting streets. It was like something straight out of a storybook. Minus the sweat, of course.

Train to Florence

This choir is noisy. Unbelievably so. Our train, however, is really nice and spacious, although stuffy which will hopefully change, assuming that it will be air conditioned. We spent the morning riding the water bus all over the Grande Canal, and relatively cheap way to see Venice the way it was meant to be seen. Since there was a pretty heavy cloud cover, and a breeze from the water, it was not nearly as oppressively hot today as yesterday.

The water bus is pretty much like any regular bus service on land, noisy, dirty, minimalistic, and yet the beautiful surroundings take your mind away from it all. We sat outside the main cabin in the back of the boat, right above the engines, which when we were docking, sounded like they we about to either explode, or die. Near the end of our route, the boat started filling up, so more people starting crowding into the little spot where we were. This rather large woman squished up next to me, put her hand on the back of my seat, and her knee on on the edge of it, and settled in for the ride. After about 15 minutes, she turned around to face the other direction, and leaned her bag (which was covered with big wooden beads) into my back. I don't know if she was just oblivious, or if she really didn't care, but it was incredibly uncomfortable anyway.

When we made it back through the Grande Canal loop, we got off at the Academia
stop right next to our hotel to grab our bags and get back on the bus for the train station stop. We ate bread and fresh mozzarella and grapes with seeds in them, and M&M's on the ground outside the train station for lunch. The cheese was a little too fresh for me, so I didn't eat much, but it was an adventure anyhow. There was a fountain directly in front of where we were sitting, with birds in it, and algae all over it, and bird poop on it. I seriously saw multiple people wash their hands and faces in it, wash their feet in it, let their dogs drink from it, fill up water bottles in it, and basically do everything but pee it in, all amounting to me being totally disgusted.

Crap, Mr Cross has decided we're going to rehearse while on the train. Why does he do this? We don't even sing again until Sunday. Why do we have to do this in the the freakin train?????

Later on...still...

Unbelievable. I'm really not happy. Mr Cross ordered a parent's meeting, and had all 39 kids move to the cars that we only have 28 seats on, while all the parents stayed in the car we have all the seats in. When Aimee and I were lingering in the back of the car because all the kids were crowed into the other car and the in the little hall thing between cars, Mr Cross sort of yelled at us to leave because “we weren't allowed to be at the meeting.” Then as soon as Aimee and I walked all the way through the car we were in to get to the next one that was nearly empty, we stopped in a station and all kinds of new passengers started to take our seats, so everyone crowded back into the car trying to keep our seats, and people were freaking out, and being rude, and everything was crazy, and I'm overall just really offended at the way Mr Cross treated us, and how he just doesn't think things through. Really, how are 39 children supposed to fit in half a train car, and how are those same 39 children supposed to rehearse freaking music in a train car?

I'm just pretty much tired of these people. Ok, rephrase. Not of the place where we are necessarily, or the people themselves, but of the amount of people. I would absolutely love to be here with Nick, and just my family, but this group of 80+ people makes it miserable sometimes. This country is so beautiful and amazing and I can't wait to come back...alone. Or at least without a huge group of people. It's like a paradise, and I love it. I realized that today is the countdown week to the day we leave, so really, I only have 6 more days until we fly home. I am so ready. Except, that wight be crazy too. 80 people trying to navigate a Roman airport. Oh no...

And I was just moved 4 more times, because no one really knows what seats we have in the train, and people keep coming and saying they have these seats, and we don't speak the same language, and they're pissed off, and we're pissed off, and everyone's stressed. It's ridiculous.

That's why I generally hate traveling with any group bigger than about 10.

So far, the things I miss the most from home are 1) Nick, his family, and Mandie 2) SWEET TEA!! (I'm craving it all the time) 3) drink glasses that are bigger than a tumbler 4) ice in glasses (and consequently, cold drinks) 5) free refills 6) People who wear shirts in normal, public places 7) Air conditioning that really is air conditioning, not air that's a few degrees cooler than the outside air, and 8) no smoking in public places (I think I've breathed more smoke on this trip than in my entire life). 9) free water at restaurants. That's it, so far. Considering everything, it's not much, I guess.

And we now have just figured out that a meeting and rehearsal just won't work in this space. I could've told you that a long time ago.

Florence

Oh praise God, this hotel is amazing. Other than it all being on the 5th floor , with the only elevator being big enough to hold only one person with luggage (honestly, about 3' by 4'), it is amazing. It's all marble and beautifully decorated. Our room is furnished with what looks like antique cedar or oak furniture, it's spacious, the bathroom is all marble and is about 4 feet wide, but around 15 feet long, with a strange type of dais-thing with the toilet on it. Our huge window looks right out into the piazza and above the rooftops, you can see the hills. And there's free wireless. I am in heaven. This is wonderful. Definitely worth the 3 ½ hour train trip. This is a place a person could have a honeymoon.

Post-dinner

The piazza below our room is splendid after dark. Theres' a merry-go-round that's all lit up and beautiful, and there's a girl with an amazing voice singing while her husband is playing accordion, and it's all just wonderful. There's also every amazing kind of shopping right near the hotel, most of which is rather out of my price range (D&G, Louis Vitton, Prada, Bulgari, etc). It's basically like a dream about Italy.

We had quite the adventure during dinner. The waiter barely spoke English, they didn't have half the things we ordered from the menu, which we didn't find out until they brought us different dishes and explained that they didn't have what we ordered. Amusing, but at least it was relatively cheap.

Tomorrow, the plans are as follows: breakfast, rehearsal from 9 to 10 (hah...), tour of the Uffizi art gallery which I'm not sure what there that's important yet, and the Galleria dell' Accademia which has Michaelangelo's David statue. After that, we're free, so it's down to the shopping for my last gift. I love shopping for gifts. It's incredibly rewarding and fun to search for the perfect thing, and then actually find it. Every gift has been unique and it's own special story, so it's fun. Nick's is last. And, as of tonight, I know exactly where I'm shopping for it...

Love to all, thank God for free Wireless :)