I have been in Italy for exactly a month and three days, but it feels much shorter than that. I still have to look out on the Italian landscape whipping by the train and remind myself that I am actually in Italy. It scares me how quickly the time is passing. I want to savor every second, and make it last forever. Although this is much easier while sitting on a small fold down seat in the hallway of the train because I was kicked out of my seat twice! Who knew that my train ticket without a seat number would do that? If anything it has given me a spot in the sunlight, a place to write my journal (because it’s impossible to sleep), and an ever changing landscape to inspire a journal entry. When people say Italy is beautiful they mean it in the purest sense but fail to do it justice. Even through the slightly hazy glass of the train window the view continued to take my breath away. The picturesque cyprus trees typical of Italy stood out against the vivid blue sky that was just dotted with pale grey clouds. The train passed through fields of sunflowers that looked as if they were sleeping due to the drooping of their once mustard yellow heads. The scenery is impossible to describe; this is similar to how the word delicious completely fails to pinpoint the flavor, texture, and magical experience that eating is. This weekend trip to Venice and Verona was nothing short of magical, fun, exciting, and completely perfect in the most imperfect way.
The three day trip started in Verona and ended in Venice. I arrived in Verona a few hours late due to a mix up with “ovest”. I didn’t realize that binario two ovest was different from the plain binario two. After missing the first train from Bologna to Verona I tried to tell the information station attendant that the train never came, but he started to get angry after I asked him twice about trains to Verona (in my defense he kept saying “four and ten, four and ten” which at the time I had no idea what he was talking about, but later found out to mean literally the time 4:10). I left hoping that I would be able to figure it out on my own. As I walked down the platform I saw on the left side of the station the sign that said Piazza Ovest. It was the most glorious feeling finally knowing where I was supposed to be. I soon found out that ovest means west in Italian so this part of the station was literally the portion to the west. After a long laugh at the entire situation (it really was completely ridiculous), I could look at myself and proudly say I now know what ovest means.
Once I finally reached Verona (only about 4 hours late) my first impression was the roadways. Stepping out of the train station I was expecting to step into a scene straight out of Romeo and Juliet but instead was greeted by large roads and fast moving traffic. After some close calls in the crosswalks I was on my way to the famed Casa de Giulietta, or Juliet’s house. Like other women I wanted to see the balcony, and imagine Juliet calling out to her love Romeo. This past week I finished studying William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet for the second time. The last time was my freshman year in high school. I enjoyed taking a fresh and mature look at the play, and I am pleased to say I was able to see past the plot summary and really look at the exquisite language. After a few days of reading Romeo and Juliet curled under a blanket with a cup of tea I was completely enthralled with the play all over again and excited to see the fictional home of Juliet.
On the train ride I wrote my letter to Juliet and took the opportunity to put every ounce of mushy girly thought into one letter, because who knows when I will be able to do this again. Romeo and Juliet was one of the first plays written by Shakespeare and is thought to be influenced by the 1563 narrative poem by Arthur Brooke the Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. One of Shakespeare’s most famous and well read works, Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorite works of literature, not just for the love story, but for his use of words and minor characters. Casa Guiletta was an anomaly for sure. I was expecting to see women eagerly writing to one of the most famous love story characters, and maybe a few significant others who were dragged in by force, but I was shocked by all the people there. The small courtyard was filled with men and women of all ages who crowded around the 20th century bronze statue of Juliet, eager to rub her left bosom for good luck in love. I think I saw more men than women boldly stand with the statue and brazenly place their hand on her chest eager to have their picture snapped. The process of leaving the letter (in which I poured out my heart and soul) was a hurried process involving a moment of panic on how to leave the letter on the wall. For some reason I expected a cork board of some kind, but since there was none the group had to improvise. Fortunately I saw another girl stick her letter to the wall with gum, so I overcame my feeling of defacing the home of Juliet and stuck my precious letter to the wall with a piece of spearmint gum. The whole experience was nothing like the movie letters to Juliet. Perhaps the time of day had something to do with it ( it was late evening and a little grey), or the fact that it was a complete tourist trap, but it was exhilarating to write my feelings down and have no idea where they would go, or who would read them.
After a mad dash across Verona to catch the train to Venice I finished that last leg of my journey. Waking up in Venice was spectacular. I had been forewarned that Venice could be melancholy with all the water, but I actually found the city fascinating. Venice, a city built completely on water, was a region in Roman times but the collapse of the Roman Empire reduced Venice to only the city. Venice was historically an independent city state, and is known for the canals, gondolas, carnivale, and massive churches. Venice stretches over multiple small islands, including the island of Murano which is famous for its blown glass. Due to its location on the Adriatic Sea Venice was a major trading city in the middle ages. Venice is well known for the Doge’s Palace, Basilica San Marco, the Guggenheim, and Venetian glass. The colors of the water and buildings were replicated in the venetian glass that could be seen in almost every shop window. The sun shone for the majority of the trip which made the water sparkle under the movement of the vaporetti. The first stop in Venice was the Basilica San Marco. The Byzantine Basilica was located right off the Grand Canal. The Basilica’s Byzantine qualities could be seen in the distinctive use of mosaic instead of painting and the excess use of gold for the background. When the sun shone in on the gold tile there was a supernatural and awe inspiring feeling that filled the Basilica. The basilica was built for Saint Mark the Evangelist who is said to have evangelized the people of Venice. His relics were brought from Alexandria to Venice in the year 828, making him especially important to the people of Venice. The emblem of a winged lion holding a sword and a book is the city’s representation of the patron saint. An extra four euro gave me the chance to climb something (an important experience in every Italian city) and access to the Basilica’s museum and the balcony outside. The view wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Duomo in Florence, but the breeze coming off the canal was completely refreshing. I was also able to view the mosaics up close and see the trillions and trillions of tiles that cover eight thousand square feet of the interior of the Basilica. The mosaics showed somewhat realistic scenes from Saint Mark’s life, stories from the bible, and the life of Christ. The use of green and red to accent the face was completely unexpected and something that I could only see when my nose was about to touch the tiles. The choir singing while I gazed over the edge of the basilica was the perfect finish to my tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment