An update is coming as far as general life since I last updated this thing. But while it is still fresh, I must write about this amazing weekend!
So this was going to be a nice, leisurely weekend of "paper-writing" and relaxation (emphasis on the latter) until Friday evening about 8pm when a friend of mine came into the room I was in at the time (someone else's where we were having wine and dessert) and asked, "So, does anybody want to go to Venice this weekend?" My first thought was that he meant did anyone want to spend Thanksgiving break in Venice, but not sure I asked, "You mean, like Thanksgiving? Sorry I can't I'm going to Amsterdam." He replied, "No, like as in tonight." Surprised, and kind of intrigued by the spur-of-the-moment-ness of it all, my first reaction (thorough planner that I am) was to say that I just couldn't because I had so much work to do, and didn't think it through enough. But, after some hemming and hawing I knew I just had to go and packed my backpack and off we went taking the 2250 train from Roma Tiburtina Stazione to Venezia Santa Lucia Stazione--getting in about 530.
So, out first encounter with this weekend of firsts for me (keep in mind this is the most impulsive thing I have EVER done in my entire life) was to get to the wrong train station. My friend had misread the schedule and thought that the train was leaving from Termini Stazione whereas it actually left from Tiburtina Stazione. Getting off the Met.Ro at Termini we went to the ticket taker with 20 minutes to spare, only to find out we actually had to go to Tiburtina which was 4 Met.Ro stops away. We ripped our tickets out of her hand and ran for the Met.Ro only to miss the train. We waited almost 10 minutes for the next train. Keep in mind, by the time it arrived we had 5 minutes to get onto the train, travel four stops, get off at a completely foreign train station which neither of us had been to, find out where our train was leaving from and get there in time. We got off the Met.Ro in Tiburtina and hauled ass, movie style, to the nearest ticket seller where we scared the crap out of the dozing staff person by slamming ourselves (completely accidentally) into the counter and screaming for help. After we found out where the train was leaving from (it was now 2253) was tore our way through the train station screaming “Permesso” and “Scuzzi” to everyone and everything that got in our way. We got to the right track and sure we were going to find it empty, we made our way up the stairs to the track where to our amazement we found the train. We jumped on the nearest open door and found ourselves (again amazingly) and empty room. After hearty congratulations we passed out.
We awoke around Venezia where we got off and walked into the cold grip of Death (which we thought was just freezing cold Venice until later in the day when we finally realized that Death was actually gripping us). We found a hotel (after only a little looking) which was cheap (by Venice standards), near both the train station and a waterbus stop. Yes, Venice has no traffic, there are no cars, buses, trucks, or motorcycles in Venice, everything is by foot. Public transportation, then, is the waterbus, which runs much like an autobus, but on water. Our next rude awakening was that this is indeed Italy…at 530…am. Nothing was open (there is no such thing as 24 hours a day in Italy, and CERTAINLY not in Venice). Thus we made our way leisurely to Piazza San Marco. This is where all the really famous pictures from Venice are with people standing covered in pigeons. Don’t ask me why, every time we were there the pigeons were all sleeping.
This brings me to point number 2, other than the Biennale, the reason we went in the first place, we really did not see any major sites in Venice since we usually were walking through before or after hours. So don’t ask was the Basilic San Marco looks like on the inside, I don’t know.
We then proceeded to walk along the Grand Canal toward The Arsenale, site #1 of the Biennale. We got there about 830 (after SEVERAL stops for cappuccino) a nice respectable time for an art exhibition of this magnitude to open, we thought. BUT, we forgot one little thing: this is Italy. The Biennale did not actually open until 1000. Ah well, we walked around some more, had a cappuccino, and went back.
I must say, the running, the freezing, the waiting was all worth it. I actually cannot describe much of anything because it was all so good. But I will describe what the Biennale is, and how it is set up.
The Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) is a Biennial (hence the name) International contemporary art exhibition hosted by the city of Venice. From Brazil to Uruguay everyone who’s anyone has some part in the exhibition. It takes place in two major points in Venice: The Arsenale (and old Arsenal on the waterfront) and the Giardini Biennale (The Gardens of the Biennial). With one ticket (8 Euro for students, thank you very much to them for that little help), you get one entrance into each of these two major points. Also with your ticket stub you get into the smaller exhibition galleries spread around Venice. The Arsenale was one major building which hosted the title, international exhibition: Think with the senses, feel with the mind. And a few other smaller “Pavilions.” The Giardini is made up of one large “Pavillion” for Italy (which, although the host country, did not for a while have a pavilion for themselves) and other smaller pavilions for the other countries. In most cases each pavilion showcased one or a few major pieces by one artist, chosen by the country’s curator, and displayed. There is one major curator who chooses the theme and the national curators. The national curators choose their artists, and set up the spaces. Now, by pavilions they actually mean permanent structures built for each country (with the name permanently built into the building). You then walk around all these major buildings and see the art. It was amazingly beautiful.
I must say, I was completely disappointed in the ethnocentric building America had since it was pretty much a miniature copy of the Capitol building. Here amidst these abstract, funky buildings most influenced by Carlo Scarpa, was this brick building which looked exactly like it belonged in Washington D.C. The US apparently made no effort in trying to be international at all. Their art was also severely lacking (although they did give out free posters and candy—my guess is to bribe international support). On this note, is was evident that there is NO international support for America and certainly not for Bush or the wars. This was a MAJOR theme in most of the countries we saw, and certainly ran through a large part of the international title exhibition. I liked it, and must say I wish Bush could have seen it, though I’m not sure we could have comprehended any art that didn’t involve putting water on the colored dots to make the paint bleed where it was supposed to go.
We spent Saturday and Sunday at the Biennale (most of the day) and then walking around Venice, getting lost both nights, though we found many a nice restaurant to Piazza which quite frankly I have no idea how they survive economically because we would never have found them if not by accident.
Our trip home was much les exciting since we went in more than enough time to get out tickets, and ended up taking a joy ride on a waterbus around the island…just to waste time. We then got on the train, found ourselves another empty room, and laid down. Two Romanian (read, at least in Italy so don’t find it offensive: Gypsy) men came into our car. After some hubbub, their attempt to steal my cookies which, even though I no longer wanted them since they had been touched by unwashed Gypsy hands, left with me when we left the car and found somewhere else to sit where we fell asleep in much less comfortable, slightly contorted shapes and awoke in Rome at 7am (oh yeah, we left at 1204 this morning).
I then came home, showered, went to school, wrote a paper, came home (with enough time to take a nap), and my alarm didn’t go off so I also slept through my first class which is okay since I have more than enough absences left in the class, and was able to get the almost non-existent notes from my friend.
And now as I am about ready to fall asleep, I’m going to go, cook something simply and fast for dinner and go to bed.
Ciao!
RomanTraveller
p.s. pictures from Athens may have to wait until Winter Break since I am now in Finals mode until the end of the semester!
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