My Weekendo In Venezia

After a long work week in San Antonio and 27 hours travel back to Lausanne Friday night, I hopped a train Saturday morning to the land of gondolas, striped shirts, pasta, and lots of old stuff. Despite many travels, I had never been to Italy before. With my move fast approaching, I figured this may be my last best opportunity, even if just for a couple days.

I didn’t have a map and had no prior plans for where to sleep. I figured I’d just walk around for a day or two and see what happened. Some might call it lost. I call it a ‘controlled’ lost. It’s an island, how lost could I get? Eventually, with little effort or consternation, I wandered into a small back alley hotel that seemed the right balance of adequate and affordable.

Given the timing of my visit and oddly short walkthrough, there was much I didn’t do or appreciate more. It was also uncomfortably hot, with far too many tourists and seemingly nowhere to escape. All rather large pet peeves of mine.

That said, having the opportunity to see first hand the scenery and icons I had only previously seen in the movies, was certainly interesting and well worth the minimal effort. I was fascinated by and often contemplated how this city was built. It was fun getting lost in the maze for awhile.

On Sunday evening, I arrived early enough to claim a good seat in the center of a piazza to watch a big Euro Cup match with hundreds of passionate Italians. England vs. Italy. Rooney vs. Pirlo. Good vs. Evil (figuratively speaking, of course).

Watch the above video and you will see how happy everyone else was with the result. Even so, it was a great little weekend adventure.