Surreal adventure in Venice

WARNING: this post will take quite some time to read!

Before I start describing the trip, I want to take a moment to thank Emily and her mom for taking such good care of me. Without their help, I would not have been able to have such a comfortable trip. Thank you both so much!

Also, I'd like to share with you the PICTURES!
Click on the links of the dates below to view the pictures from the corresponding dates.

Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008: Going to Oslo for the night to catch the early flight the next day.

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008: The flights; day 1 in Venice: Exploring the area & trying on masks.

Monday, Oct. 6, 2008: Day 2 in Venice; walking & boat tours (with sparkling wine), delicious lunch, and yummy dinner with sparkling wine (we really like it)

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008: Day 3 in Venice; walking around, exploring more "local" areas away from the tourist area.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008: Day 4 in Venice; visiting the Academia (art gallery), more walking around and exploring

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008: Day 5 (last day) in Venice; going to a hotel close to the airport for the early flight the next day.

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008: The trip home. No pictures this day because we just caught the flights, then train. Nothing too exciting for pictures.

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For this Venice trip, there's so much I want to talk about, and I'm affriad that once I start, everything will become jumbled. So, I will start with a few points, just to keep myself organized and you not confused.

01. Surreal experience; feelings
02. Sights
03. Transportation
04. Academia
05. Masks
06. Glass blowing
07. Food
08. Costs/money
09. Funny experience w/ Chinese
10. Coming back to Norway

Wow, that's a lot of points!! I will try to go through them really and briefly. I will also put up a day by day itinerary summary so the pictures and events will make more sense in a chronological method. Don't worry, I will not have this part in this post. I know that this one is going to be a novel in itself. So if you are interested, read the next post about Venice (I would appreciate it if you did, so that my typing it doesn't go to waste).

01. Surreal experience; feelings
So first, I have to say that this was such a surreal experience! I've always seen in movies and on TV of people visiting Venice and traveling. Never have I thought that I would be in Venice, Italy someday. NEVER. But there I was, and now I'm back. On the first boat from the airport to Venice, I kept thinking I can't believe I'm in Italy. I can't believe that I'm on this boat, and I'm on the Grand Canal. I can't believe that I'm seeing these sights! Even towards the end, it didn't even feel real. There was just so much, and I kept thinking that I was dreaming. The wonderful thing about this was that I was definitely NOT dreaming, and it was as real as my existence. It was amazing, at a lack for a better word. If I was as skilled with words as an author or poet, I would totally express my feelings in that way. But since I'm not either one, I'll leave it as AMAZING!

02. Sights
The first thing I noticed about the sight was the architecture. It is beautifully constructed. In addition, being able to have survived and withstand the test of time is such a remarkable thing. The frescos in churces (there were SO MANY) are gorgeous! I was astonished to find that they were made of gold as well. It was a bit of a pity for me to have seen that explosion of beautiful architecture but not have a better or more mature understanding of architecture to thoroughly appreciate it. Nonetheless, I did enjoy and marveled at the buildings and construction.

Another amazing sight is the massive amounts of people everywhere! I couldn't believe there could be that many people in one place at the same time. In addition, the fact that the amount of people can and do exceed the amount that I saw was something that I couldn't really fathom. Everywhere you went that had to do with tourism, you would bump into people. Also, you couldn't really stop to look at anything for too long along the streets or you would get run over or cause a traffic jam. We discovered that earlier in the morning, before 9am, there would be less people, a dramatic change in numbers. From the lack of people, Venice look different than when covered by bodies. It was much more peaceful and we had more time to take in the sights and look at shop displays and such. It was definitely an advantage to wake up early for this. Plus, the air was more fresh and the feeling of claustrophobia disappeared.

In addition to the architecture and massive amounts of people, the sights over a bridge are beautiful. You can see plenty of these sights in my pictures. Imagine you are walking over a bridge, and stop in the top of the arch; the midway or center. Look both ways down the canal. You will see, for the most part, tall buildings with water in between. And in this water, you can see a bit of reflection from the buildings. Sometimes, depending on how big the water way is, you can see boats "parallel parking" or there would be a Gondela traffic jam, or something like that. Maybe, you will see just the empty water way; that's also nice. Other times you can see that at the top of a building, there is a beautiful terrace type of construction with beautiful plants growing. Plus, you will most likely see vines growing and flowing down the sides of the buildings. It's such a beautiful sight.

Another point worth mentioning is the "front porch". It was just something so odd and out of place for me to see on my first day when I saw people sitting in front of their door reading the papers and in front of them was nothing but water rather than grass. Of course, this is real and normal here, but I had never seen that before. It just took me by surprise.

In addition, it seems like graffitti is everywhere! I've taken lots of pictures of tags as proof. I was a bit sad to see them, and so much of it in so many places. I also saw a lot of buildings that were under construction or in bad shape but was not under construction. These would probably be the only negative reaction I got; the tagging and old buildings that didn't seem like they were going to last. Although, it's a fact of life. There will always be hooligans around, and globalization comes with the good and the bad. Also, things get old and time is not something you can defeat.

03. Transportation
Within a 24 hour period, I can say that I have experienced 5 different modes of transportation continuously. It started with the train from Hamar to Oslo. Then at the airport, we were taken by bus from our gate to get to our plane at the Oslo Airport. That's two. Then we took the plane of course. So that's three. Upon arriving in Italy, we took a boat to Venice. That's four. After that we walked on foot (with our luggages, yes). So that's five.

All of the traveling was both what I expected, maybe even worse at times, and not as bad as I expected. The train was ok. I've gotten use to that. My stomach didn't feel too well on the bus, eventhough it lasted about 5 minutes. It was probably because I was tired, since it was about 5 in the morning. The flights were not as bad as what I had expected at all! I think I've just gotten use to that like I did with the train, too. On the two flights to Italy, I took motion sickness pills, but I still got a bit sick. However, it was not too bad. The boat to Venice was ok, too, to my surprise. The walk to our hotel was a mess. We didn't really know where to go. We all had an idea, but of course, we were still a bit lost. Especially in the thick crowd of push and shove. Imagine trying to get through a thick crowd with luggage. However, we made it and everything was fine. The boat tour was ok too. I didn't get too sick on that because I sat on the outside, so the fresh air helped. I learned on my weeklong excursion with my class, when we went to Kristiansund, that if I start to get sick in a boat, I should go up to get some fresh air. That will help, and that is true.

On the way back, I didn't take motion sickness pills, and found that I did better on the plane witout them. I can't say the same about the boat though. My head was spinning on the way to the airport! But the plane was the most pleasant I've had, since I didn't really get sick. The train back was better than usual, as well.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised that traveling didn't affect me as badly as I had anticipated for the majority of the time.

04. Academia
There's so much going on in this art gallery that I don't even know if I will be able to explain it right. So I've a link to a review of the place, so you can read for yourself. Review of Academia

As for my own experiences, I'd say that this place has such valuable pieces. It's not a glamorous gallery where most people would enjoy at first glance. However, if you are a genuine art lover, it's definitely worth visiting. At first I tried to take everything in, and reading about every piece but towards the 7th room, I got really overwhelmed and artists and pieces and styles were starting to get jumbled together, so I decided to just observe instead. I have to say that taking IB art for the two years has given me a good basis to enjoy and appreciate this gallery. I don't think that I would have experienced it quite the same way if I had not taken IB art. Thank you so much Ms. Drumheller! I was thinking about you the whole time at the gallery and when I was thinking about art and architecture! If you are reading this, Ms. D., I highly recomend you introducing Venetian glass blowing (more info on this, please continue to read below), mask making (more info on this, please continue to read below), and architecture to the IB art class, just so they can think about it. If anybody is interested, it could really take them somewhere meaningful.

05. Masks
Mask making is HUGE in Venice. The history is that back in the day, (yes, when dinos roamed the Earth, just kidding) there was Carneval, which means "farewell to meat". It originated long ago as a 2-month-long party leading up to Lent (now it's only 10 days). In 1700s (Venice was the party town), masks were to conceal the idenity of the nobles who performed acts that were not accepted at home.

Now, masks are a must have item in terms of souvenirs, so of course, I bought some. There are a large variety of mask designs. Some cover only the eyes, while others cover half the face. There are full faced masks as well. The decorations on the different types also vary; some have feathers, glitter, embossing type gel, themes, colors, cloth, gold, wiring, and so much more. The combinations and possibilities of masks are endless! I've seen so many that I liked that I didn't even know which one to buy. Of course, the more authentic and well crafted ones were more expensive. I wanted a decent one, but not one that would make me bankrupted. The average touristy ones could range from 8-15 euros. Better touristy ones could go up to be in the thirty euros. The really good ones could be very pricey. I think the one Emily bought was around 100 euros. Since I couldn't go all out like that, I ended up with an average touristy one.

I really want to have a small masquerade ball where people come dressed up with a mask. That would be so fun. I'm thinking of having a Christmas Masquerade party with some close friends. That would be fun. I didn't buy a lot of masks, but I'm sure that people could get them around a costume store or make a simple one, or even paint their faces. That would be so fun! But I have a feeling that not many people would be into that, especially since it's a theme more fit for Halloween, which I will not be around for. Anyway, it was a good thought. I could probably do it with about 5 close friends, that would be fun.

06. Glass blowing
Glass blowing is also a big attraction in Venice. On the island of Murano, that's where all the glass blowing factories are. Glass blowing was restricted to be only in Murano to prevent fires and to keep the secrets of glass blowing there. Now, it's become a huge attraction. You can make so much with glass; vases, beads, jewelry, objects, basically anything. I got 2 hair sticks (like chopsticks for your hair to keep it up) where the decoration on the top was made of glass. I took lots of pictures of many things made of glass. You'll be amazed at how creative these people get. I loved the gold fishes in the clear tank. Later I saw variations of this; gold fish in globe, fountain, water pump, drop of water, a cat, ornament and so much more! I have a picture of a collection of goldfish in clear objects: there's one in a cat, watching a small tank with another gold fish in it. This tank was under a water pump faucent that had a drop of water coming out with a gold fish in that drop of water. It was so CUTE, how could I not take a picture? There was also a series of giant art supplies: paintbrushes, strokes of paint, color palet, etc. I have a picture of that too.

07. Food
I had the best spaghetti with meat sauce EVER! I was so amazing; I'm totally salivating right now just thinking about it. It was simply delicious! I also had spaghetti with seafood. That was also DELICIOUS! We also had sandwiches and snacks and stuff, and they were also very yummy. We also ate at a "self-serve cafeteria" place. That was an interesting experience. At the other places we had been to, we were served smaller and good portion size, but at this place, the portions were HUGE. I couldn't finish my meal, which I felt bad because I was wasting so much food!

Another food item worth mentioning is the fresh fruit! Along the tourist street (Ruga) on the west side of the Rialto bridge, there are fresh fruit stands where one cup of fruit costs between 1-2.50 euros. They were so good, I wanted to have one each day.

GELLATO! It was everwhere! No joke! And it was delicious!

There was also the fish market. This is the equivalent of Pike Place Market in Seattle. There's seafood, veggies, fruits, spices and other things related to cooking. It was a really fun sight to walk through.

Most of the food was paid for by Emily's mom, and I'm really appreciative of that. Thank you so much Emily and Emily's mom for taking good care of me, and feeding me! This conveniently leads me to my next topic...

08. Costs/money
So, this is the hot potato of the trip. Emily and I had planned on taking a trip somewhere during our week-long break, and we had decided on Venice. I had thought that we would have a kind of adventure. However, plans change. Emily's mom also wanted to visit during this time, it came out to be that her mom would come with us, which was fantastic for Emily, since her expenses would be covered. The problem was that I didn't have enough money to buy the ticket in time, and etc. with other money related issues. I'm sure you can use your imagination on this one. Fastforward, Emily's mom ended up buying my ticket first (which I would pay back later), and the hotels, tours and most of the meals. This was so very nice of her, and I'm forever grateful! I would not have been able to have such a comfortable experience in Venice without their help.

Now that I've expressed a bit of my gratitude, I want to say that the charges for exchanging money and converting it and etc. outrageous!! Also, eventhough things didn't seem that expensive, my money was flowing out like water! I couldn't believe it! It turned out that I was comparing prices with Norway, so of course, items in Venice generally seemed cheaper, but in comparison with US dollars and prices (which was the origin and most important point), it was expensive! 'Nuff said.

09. Funny experience w/ Chinese
I'm finding that Chinese has become a really big part of me. My thoughts are sometimes in Chinese, or what I know in Chinese. Sometimes when I mutter to myself, it would be in Chinese. So I'd say that by watching all of those Chinese and Taiwanese dramas are starting to pay off! I think that's pretty hilarious. What's more hilarious is that ever since I started to be a bit more serious about learning Chinese, it's become useful and poping up everywhere; at PLU, in Norway and then Venice!

The story is that while walking around, we stumbled upon a Chinese convenience store. I was overly excited about this, naturally. So I had to go in. I was astonished to find that I understood a big part of the conversations between the shop owners and other Chinese people in the shop. I was elated by this. I was also very happy to see familiar products and noticed that they were cheaper than in Norway. So I decided to come back later to buy some stuff to take back with me to Norway, since it was close to our hotel. So when I returned, I just spent a long time walking around, and I mean a LONG time because the shop was really small but it took me 30 minutes to finish examining the whole shop. In the store, there was a woman, and her two daughters (one was about 12-ish and the other was 6-ish). Towards the end, the older sister came to ask me if I needed any help in Italian language. I understood what she asked but I didn't know how to answer in Italian, so I spoke using the English language to say that I didn't speak Italian. Then her little sister and her cracked up laughing. I guess they had a bet if I was Italian or a tourist, and the big sister lost or something. That's just my assumption. Then when I approached the register, the two sisters were still playing around and laughing, and that made me miss my sister so much! So I just looked at the younger one, and I can understand how she would take that as weird/creepy. As she was leaving, she said to her big sister in Chinese "Why does she keep looking at me like that?" I didn't respond to that, and just smiled. While at the register, the big sister was next to her mom. She asked her mom if the salted plums were that good because I assume she doesn't like them much. Now, just to make it clear, they still don't know that I understand everything they were saying. Towards the end, I told the sister "Can you help me tell your little sister that I was looking at her like that because she's cute?" Now imagine the mom: she just froze, mouth wide open in surprise. Then the daughter: froze and was extra embarassed. They were completely shocked that I could speak Chinese. I felt like the mom was more pleasant with me for the rest of the time, which was nice.

Later, I think the next day or the day after next, we decided to have Chinese for dinner, because we had seen 2 Chinese restaurants around. We decided to go to the one closer to our hotel, and here we have another funny Chinese experience. The guy that was serving us spoke to us in English, because we were clearly tourists. Then I look to the end of the space and see a family of about 6 or 8 people eating dinner. When our server joined them, I assumed that the the family who owns the restaurant. And guess what? The two sisters from the grocery shop from earlier were eating at that table! It was such a coincidence! But then again, the two places are relatively close, and to have the Chinese grocery store and restaurant to be owned by the same people is not too surprising, but it was still very funny. The little girl bumped into me while I was going to the restroom, and she just froze and said "Hi" and practically ran away from me. I guess buy this point, they already knew the story because two ladies served us and they were speaking Chinese with me. It was so awesome! Li Bin, aren't you proud of me? 谢谢你的帮忙在PLU的时候！

10. Coming back to Norway
Finally, I have reached the end... for now. The end wound down pretty slowly, which was nice. I didn't have the feeling of AH! It's alreaded ended? What happened?

On the way back, my motion sickness was very tame, and I actually enjoyed the flights back to some extent. However, I kept thinking to myself If I was on a different flight I could be home HOME! But I'm not. I'm only going back to Norway, not the US. So even though I was glad to return to a familiar environment, I became extremely homesick! The afternoon of our return, I basically lost it. I got so homesick, that I watched dramas until I could no longer bear to open my eyes so that I would not think of home. This was a stupid idea because the drama is one of the biggest reminders of home and my best friend. So I got even more depressed. The next day was a disaster. My felt horrible all day, both physically and emotionally. I contintued to watch the shows and miss home even more. In the afternoon, when Afrika visted, I could not keep it together. I had to excuse myself and go lay down. My head hurt, it was pounding, and my stomach was not doing so well either. Then, I could not fall asleep. It was horrible! The next morning, Sunday, I had to express everything to Olesya. I wanted to not mention it because I didn't want to bring sad feelings, but I needed to get it off my chest. So Sunday was a much better day. Olesya also sent me new Chinese music and news, so I felt a lot better.

Everything's all good now. I pull myself together and got a grip again on reality. I'm back on track and ready to face my projects and classes here in Norway.

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If you have read this whole post, THANK YOU! The time I spent writing it did not go to waste. I also thank you for taking interest in my experiences. It means a lot that my attempt at sharing is successful. I also want to compliment on your patience to read all of it. It's not exactly a short post. In fact, most of my posts aren't a 2 minute update, so I appreciate those who are reading. Thank you!