Venice

So we're in Venice which feels a bit like 1938 except for with cell phones. Old men walk together in posses smoking pipes and dressed ridiculously well. The buildings are all ancient looking and you feel like wherever you are walking could crumble and fall into the Adriatic Sea at any moment. Its sort of a wonderful and exciting feeling actually. Visually its like what every Disney park strives to be in its "medieval" town. You can feel the history in every tiny alley that you will enivetably because lost in.

Yesterday we took off without a plan or route and decided we'd just get completely lost and wander the streets forever. This was fun until we were hungry and had to pee a few hours later. Because of there being no other tourists in most of the places we went nobody spoke English and the extent of our Italian is Buongiorno and Grazie and Alfredo.

Asking for directions is 1/5 times helfpul. Often you will be sent in some random direction because there is no logical route to anything. You sort of have to make time for getting lost at some point. We went to St. Mark's Square which was really awesome but we had to walk through the busiest and most expensive area. Once we got to the square its hugeness was a very intense feeling.






Its majesty was cheapened by all the souvenir vendors, gondola hawkers, and ROSE SELLERS! A guy who's first language was neither English or Italian walked up and tried to shove a rose into our hands. We said we didn't want to buy anything and continued to walk away but he ran after us trying to put it in our hands. We said we didn't want to buy anything and he said: "No no no!" and I asked: "You're telling me this is free?" and he was like: "YES" and shoved it in my hand. I was like: "Um, okaay..." and we akwardly walked away. He followed so closely behind us I was constantly checking my pockets and looking behind me. He started saying: "Okay, just give me a little money..." and we said: "You said it was free!" and he said: "I have no job! No money!" I took one look at his Gucci jeans and Pumas and shoved the flower back in his hands and we walked away.

The first day we walked one half of Venice and then today we walked all over the other half. From St. Mark's we walked down to the Giardini Pubblici. Joel found a bathroom and the swings and that was fun. There was this big tortoise-shell shaped swing. There was also elderly exercise equipment.

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