Chapter 29: Farewell, Hello, OH MY GOD HI!!

Today we woke up early for our last morning in Passano. It was actually a gorgeous morning outside as we watched it lighten, the sun quickly chasing the mist up to the stratosphere, leaving the whole valley glowing in the moistened aftermath. Should I say… afterbath? Ahahahaha! Ok, that was the WORST pun I have EVER heard, much less created. Aha… aha… ha… sorry. Let’s move on, shall we?

The morning went smoothly and nicely (a short message from the Redundancy Department of Redundancy) aside from my battle with my suitcase (see above). This was no ordinary suitcase battle. It lasted about twenty minutes and left me completely out of breath, perspirating and burning from the exercise, with a red sore spot along my finger from hauling on the zipper that is still smarting now as I’m writing this eighteen hours later. Basically, that was one tough suitcase, but I showed it who’s boss. Maple syrup will never prevail over me! Enough said.

And then we went to Arezzo and caught a train to Venice la dee da dee da. Nice train ride. I liked the mist. Our arrival in Venice was quite an adventure. We had to go to three windows to figure out our ticket to Graz the following night, two windows to get a map of Venice and directions to a camera shop, then over one of those crazy Venetian bridges to get a new memory card, then back to where Lisi was waiting with the luggage, then through a line to buy a 36 hour travel pass, then to the right water taxi station which we thought was the wrong one, then to the wrong water taxi station which we thought was the right one, then to the bus station which goes back to the mainland, then quickly away from the bus station which goes back to the mainland, then significantly farther down the canal and over significantly more bridges than necessary, and then finally onto the correct boat where we lay panting with exhaustion while it ferried us right back to the station where we had started it all in the first place. We then struggled our way to the hotel following directions we were reading from a series of text messages from my dad:

papa/: Hotel is Ca’ Angeli, Calle del Tragheto della Madoneta, 1434

Well that was simple enough.

papa/: Take the boat #1 (a water bus) in the direction of San Marco. Ask at the information point actv. Get off at San Silvestro boat stop.

Not quite so simple.

papa/: From the boat stop you need to
papa/: walk 10 min to the hotel. Walk straight from boat stop to a square with a church and a well in center called Campo San Aponal. Turn left

This boat stop has only one way off of it: straight. If you take straight, it does not bring you to a square with a church and a well. It brings you to an underground tunnel where you can go right or left. We picked right. We came into a square with a church and a well. A little ways down the road we could see a square with a church and a well. Turning in the other direction we could see down another street to a square with a church and a well. Every single square in all of Venice is equipped with a church and a well. You see where I’m going with this?

papa/: turn left onto Calle de mezzo. Go to end. Another little square called Campiello Meloni. Take street to left of pastry shop “Rizzardi”.

As if there is a single street sign anywhere in all of Italy.

papa/: Turn right, then left. After 10 meters you will be at Ca Angeli. Those are some crazy directions! Have fun.

Yes, but it turns out that Ca’ Angeli shares the street with a hotel called Casa di Angeli, or something like that. Sheesh the whole thing was as confusing as an abstract mathematics class. Luckily, we win at abstract mathematics, and we won at finding the hotel. Eventually.

So there we were standing outside, trying to figure out how to get in when suddenly there was a loud buzzing noise and the gate opened itself. Intrigued, we wheeled ourselves up to the door and were about to give it a nudge when it mysteriously opened of its own accord. We crossed the threshold to find no one inside. A small sign pointed to the lift—the old fashioned kind with two doors. Another sign prompted us to the third floor where once again the door was magically opened for us. This time there was finally a face to greet us when we stepped through. It was all rather like one of those movies that takes place in a haunted house where all the doors keep opening themselves and the staircases walk around and there is never anyone there. You know? You know.

So we settled in a bit in our very cute absolutely perfect little room, and then decided to hit the town. Oh, did I mention it’s Carnivale? That’s right. Carnivale in Venice. Boo yeah.

We took the Actv (no idea what that stands for but it translates into “how you get from here to there”) to what looked like a popular stop and just started walking around, heading in the general direction of the famed Piazza di San Marco.

It was absolutely so much fun I have no idea what to actually write. When we finally did get to San Marco it was just so fun I couldn’t even contain myself. I was just walking around with this ridiculous smile plastered on my face, unable to do anything about it, and then I’d frequently burst out laughing because it was all just so cool. The city, the buildings, the lights, the canals, the multinational tourists, the crowds, the people, the costumes, the Carnivale, everything! Venice! Ahhh! It’s just so fantastic I can’t write it down! WOOOOO!!!