Street Collage

I am finally getting through all my photos and should have the rest up shortly.

Fish Market

Venice

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The Beginning of the End

I woke up around six a.m. on the first and spent an hour and a half chasing the small, yellow signs among the dark, frigid rat maze streets of Venice. This was the very beginning of the first leg of my long journey home. Two and a half hours on a train to Milan, another two hours to Genoa, ninety minutes to Ventigmilia, one hour on a bench, a quick forty-five minute ride to Nice, followed by three hours roaming the streets, then a thirteen hour sleepless overnight train ride to Paris, four hours shivering in a freezing cold train station followed by a final two-hour trip to London and the first leg was over.

I am glad to be back in an English-speaking country. France and Italy were amazing, but I can’t help feeling, I missed out. The true value of travel is in the cultural interaction, much of which you can’t experience without speaking the native language.

Venice

There is something missing in Venice. Yesterday, I was so incredibly lost, frustrated and excited that I missed it. It even took a little time this morning to realize what it was. It was near freezing, if not below. Which is typically too cold for me to voluntarily leave a warm place, longer than it takes me to get to my warm car. Which, will then take me to another warm place, but this is Venice and they do not have cars. No Cars. How can you not have cars? It appears as if they walk places and carry things in their hands. I can’t remember the last time an entire day passed and I didn’t see a car. It has certainly never happened in an urban setting. I love cities; but what often irritates me most about them and why I am hesitant to call one home, can all be blamed on automobiles. It’s such a carefree environment without them no traffic, less noise, cleaner environment and quite possibly healthier, happier people.

A few more shots from Rome

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