Okay, so you know how last weekend I went to Campania and had the time of my life? Well, this most recent weekend I took another school-organized trip to the region of Veneto. I was especially excited for this trip because of the region’s connection to Shakespeare. Padova (Padua) is home to the setting of The Taming of the Shrew, Venezia (Venice) is where The Merchant of Venice takes place, and Verona is home to Romeo and Juliet and also Two Gentlemen of Verona. And being an English literature nerd, this was like a dream come true. No, not ‘like’… was. It just plain was a dream come true.
Padova was pretty. It had St. Anthony’s Basilica in it and lots of college graduates chanting a graduating song through the streets. The whole city is surrounded by a moat. Yes, like the body of water on the outside to protect strange things from coming in. It couldn’t keep us out though. It was very brown, simple, and had a small-town feel to me. It was beautiful and romantic and I can see where Shakespeare got his inspiration, but it was not my favorite.
The most interesting thing, to me, in Padova was this clock tower. Do you see the ring of zodiac signs? Third ring from the outside. If you count the number of signs, there are only eleven. This is because the man who built the clock tower was not paid enough, so he left out sign for Libra, which stands for ‘justice.’ Of course, the Libra sign is mine. Which is probably why I thought it was so interesting. Still cool, though.
Our hotel was in Padova, but the next day we took a train to Venice. And holy buckets. Ohmygod. Venice was where it was at. It was my first train ride ever. I cried (and couldn’t stop) when we got off the train. The fog in the morning was beautiful, and it parted way to sun in the afternoon. I was just so grateful to be there, and it hit me how lucky I was to have that opportunity. So that was cool. Our tour guide was extremely nice. I got to see St. Mark’s Basilica. We rode on a gondola; our gondolier sang. We saw a couple in the gondola next to us get engaged. There were kitties everywhere. I got to meet Sergio, the man whose masks are famous and in Italian Bazaar and bought by Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks. I bought a Murano glass shot glass. Everyone that I was with got what they wanted, did what they wanted to do. Everyone was just so happy and grateful. The day was perfect. Absolutely nothing went wrong. Minus the gelato we stopped to get… that was very subpar. But that is just a minor detail. Venice was seriously amazing. Indescribable.
Next stop was Verona. We drove the bus there and took a tour straight away. Verona was beautiful. Another simple, small-town feel, but very romantic. I just felt the romance on my skin when I walked through. The air was cool and the leaves were falling, so it put me in the mood for autumn things. During the tour we got to see Juliet Capulet’s balcony. I put my letter to Juliet in the mailbox, got a picture touching her left boob for success in love, and got the hell out. It was a tiny, tiny courtyard and filled with tourists. In fact, the whole town was extremely touristy. Lots of tourists, cameras, backpacks, and maps, and also lots of tacky knick-knacks in the stores—that part was a little disappointing.
The other cool literature nerdy thing I was excited about was the statue of Dante Alighieri, who wrote the epic Inferno. It is such a classic poem, and to be able to visit a statue dedicated to him was heartwarming. After the tour, we stopped for lunch at a cute little cafe on the river, and two of my friends ordered the pumpkin gnocchi. They let me try it because it looked so delicious. And it was, safe to say, the best pasta I have had in Italy. Possibly, ever. The pumpkin flavor was just so prominent, and the gnocchi themselves were really soft and melted in your mouth and never chewy. The dish was topped with a butter and amaretti cookie sauce. It was almost like dessert. All in all, Verona was a success.
Nope, just kidding, the whole trip was a success. I know I say this a lot, but I am just so grateful and thankful to be able to have this opportunity. Not many 21-year-olds can say they spent half a year in Europe.