Last Stop on the Grand Tour - Venice

Short visit equals short post....that's our logic anyway. So you won't need to be tortured by endless ramblings about things you don't really care about. Sound good? We think so.

Soooo Venice, ay? Pretty canals, thunderstorms, bridges, flooding, movie-making, Vivaldi, music, masks and glass.

Ok, the end...

...just kidding.

I was a bit naive arriving in Venice as all my knowledge of the city had come from my cassette tape, Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery, which I played ad nauseam as a child. Needless to say, Venice was even grander than I had imagined. It is so beautiful - God, can I think of no word more original or more fitting to describe this great city? I fear I am unfit to express its loveliness in words and, therefore, will not even attempt it. Suffice it to say that the canals, the architecture and the gold ornamentation all dazzle the eye.

The concert - Shannon and I splurged (I kind of dragged her...sorry Shanaenae) on a classical music concert. The recital consisted of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a Paganini cello piece, and Bach's Concerto in E Major. Crazily enough, the Four Seasons were the least awe-inspiring as the violinists simply did not bring their A-game. They did not appear to buy into the music themselves, and thus did not sell it to the audience. Rather, they looked a bit bored, as if they could care less and played notes rather than music. As if to compensate for his colleagues, the cellist showed so much emotion that he appeared to be having a perpetual seizure throughout the concert. It was both amusing and disturbing. Funnily enough, this worked when he played the Paganini as it allowed him to tell a story instead of merely focusing on the excruciating technical difficulty of the piece. Instead of gritting his teeth and going for every note, the audience was kept in continuous fits of laughter from his cheeky and capricious interpretation.

So this was my third visit to Venice...and the first time I had ever experienced such a rainstorm. Note to future visitors to Venice: don't go in the spring unless you want to be fearing for your luggage within your hotel room do to flooding. However, we still saw all the major sites: we did a tour of the Doge's Palace which includes walking across the Bridge of Sighs (cue sighs), went into San Marco, and bought far too many glass items on the Rialto Bridge. Luckily, we did have some nice weather in the morning of the day we left, so we were able to sit on the canal and enjoy some sun before heading back to London. It had to be enough as our plans for Athens and Santorini were thwarted. However, we have been having a ton of fun back in London, especially as it feels like home! We are staying with my mom's friends, Alison and Rick and they have been absolutely lovely hosts.

And so ends our European adventures. We are not quite done with London luckily and we will savor our remaining days. I will be here this summer for an internship and if you all are very very lucky and beg me enough, I will continue to write about that experience. I like chocolate.

Shannon and Lauren