Last Day/Night in Venice
I went to the colorful Burano on my last day in Venice, the houses are all different colors and very contrasting along the canal. It was a nice trip out there on the boat and I met a ton of people from LA/San Fran in a tour group. I joined them for a while, and it was fun to talk to them. I walked to the Rialto Bridge for dinner and relaxed in my hotel for a while. I went to St. Mark's Square just to savor my last night there, it's such a beautiful place. Some sites/monuments haven't been all that I expected but St. Mark's exceeded all expectations!! I just sat for a couple of hours and watched people pass by. I had been walking so much that it was nice to just sit and watch people pass by. I received hello's in about 4 different languages, watched couples stop and kiss in the center, kids chasing pigeons... Then the Carabinieri came up to my table.. "Italiano?".. No, no, Americano... "Oh, Americano, Americano!!!". Then they asked me how long I had been there, if I was travelling with a group, why was I travelling alone, then the dreaded question... "Documentazione?" Ugh. I know that I am always supposed to have my passport on me, but I was walking 10 steps from my hotel to St. Mark's and returning back after so I left my money belt (with all documentation) in my hotel room.. I had an expired driver's license which I use for internet cafe's in my wallet, and just handed that to them with a dumb smile on my face, hoping it would be okay. They radioed my information in, asking me in the meantime why I was travelling alone, where I was staying, what I thought of Venice, etc.
Then there is a problem, they can't verify my information, and the license is expired. I was starting to get nervous to say the least because they started telling me I was beautiful, where was my boyfriend, etc. We went through everything, and found the error. We use the mm/dd/yy format in US, and they use dd/mm/yy in Italy so the birthdate was called in wrong. Okay, that's a relief.. Then I get asked for my email address, phone number and if I want to go on a date. What? Did they stop me and run my information for a date? Amazing... I told him I was leaving tomorrow, and had to return to my hotel. Interesting last night to say the least in St. Mark's Square... After they left I promptly went up to my hotel room! I did have a great morning though, woke up for sunrise and it was beautiful with the fog... I went to get my last cappuccino and pastry, and went back to my hotel to pack. I have a 12 hour train ride to Vienna tonight. I am all stocked up on Lavazza and Illy coffee, even brought a little espresso maker :o). I am hooked on italian coffe! I will miss Italy very much, they have their own way of doing things and they run on their own schedules. For those who know "Donna Time", Donna Time and Italy Time are very much the same!! Anyway, that's all for now. I will write again in Vienna!
posted by Donna Weeden @ 1:14 AM
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