Sights of Venice, Part I

1 & 2: Strolling
3: Our hotel room
4: Worried to lose him in the busy streets
5 & 6: Things along the way

Venice: At first glance

It was already dark, when the Vaporetto finally entered San Marco Station. During the ride there was a man sitting right across the aisle, reading a book, while we and the other tourists were curiously pushing our noses against the narrow line of windows of the waterbus, trying to catch a glimpse at Venice by night. "See", I whispered to the boyfriend. "At some point I will be him: sitting here, bored, lost in a book, because the beauty has become an everyday thing for me." He nodded his head. "Feels great, doesn't it?"

For now, I am far from seeing this stunning place as normalcy. During our flight above the impressive Alps I read Hanns-Josef Ortheils "Venice. An allurement" and although I really enjoyed the lecture I could not stop thinking: Oh come on, just stop overromanticising. Venice cannot be THAT cliché. Pretty sure it is not all one makes it out to be.

{Much like Paris, it is impossible to come here without expectations. You have seen movies like "Don`t look now" (aka "Wenn die Gondeln Trauer tragen") and "Casanova" and all the pictures in your head of singing Gondolieri and the view from the Rialto Bridge on a sunny summer's day.}

You know about the beautiful old houses and tiny alleys, but you have also heard about the crowded spaces, waiting for hours in front of every tourist attraction, being worried about your valuables and those souvenirshops everywhere, where you can buy the same masks and other kitschy stuff that none of your loved ones at home really wants to have. A lot of people told me "I really enjoyed visiting this place, but I certainly would not want to live there." I understand, in fact, so far I have no idea if I want to live here, because I don't even know how to imagine it.

I felt weirdly calm the day that I left. Hugged my family, cuddled the cat and fell out the door. "You are quiet", the boyfriend recognized at the airport, but that was probably the only thing to be noticed from the outside. I spend my travel time reading, thinking, staring into space. In that strange place you get to, when on the one hand everything is new and strange and unreal, and on the other hand you suddenly feel very at home in your own heart & mind.

The pounding of the waves pushed the waterbus station from side to side. For a short moment I felt like I was getting sick, but then I realized that I should better get used to this motion, so I just sat there looking around. There was a christmas tree in one corner, decorated with bright christmas ball ornaments and fairy lights that changed colour. It looked weirdly misplaced in this sad room, with the simple wooden seats and the tarnished white walls. There was a door with a massive sign "Sliding door. Do not lean against." And of course there was an Italian man leaning against it. 

{I was worried I would be disappointed immediatly. That I would feel like this open-air museum could never be part of my everyday, that there was nothing nice to be found between all the tourist traps and all the Venetians act annoyed by the sheer mass of people.}

A little like that one Janosh story, where the ape lives in a beautiful castle that, when you walk around it, exposes as a simple monkey cage with a coloured cardboard front (I am not sure why I never forgot that part, but if he wanted to teach kids a lesson he sure did a good job with me). 

But so far, it has all been good. There have been plenty of nice people that gave us directions (in the most charming mix of Italian, English and sometimes even German) when we, tired from the flight and completely unoriented, got lost in the thousands of narrow alleys. We live in an affordable little hotel five minutes from Saint Marcus Square and right now I really enjoy being right in the middle of this turbulent (and of course very touristy) space. The greyish weather cannot ruin our mood. I will hang around here a little longer until I make my way to the edges of the city, where soon my new "everyday" begins. So far all I know is that I had a cappuccino and a cornetto for breakfast and violin music is finding its way through our hotel room window, while I am typing this. 

Maybe I will be so much smarter in a few days or weeks, but maybe, just maybe, Venice IS what you make it out to be... 

2014: Here's to new beginnings!

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great start into the new year? I went into NYE with little expectations, but it was an awesome night with lovely people, great food and a panoramic sight on the most beautiful fireworks. There might have been a few tears around midnight, too, when I realized that soon I will have to leave everyone behind. Yep, when you read this I am probably already on a plane to live in Italy for six months - in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I feel a little shaky, but mostly there is pure excitement, since I promised that after a rather slow 2013 I would take new risks in 2014. And now it is on!!!

{So before this place will mostly be filled with travel stories and photos of gondolas, I figured I would take one last chance to talk a little bit about my plans and hopes for the upcoming year - on the blog and in "real life".}

Thing is: Sometimes I feel bad. Really bad. Because I am the most indecisive person when it comes to my blog, which means that things are constantly changing around here. The language, the design, my ideas... as you see, right now I am back to English. Simply because, when I decided to switch to German for the time being, I felt I missed the oppurtunity to connect with people from all over the world, whose blogs I love to read and with whom I want to be in a dialogue. Same with the design - I get tired of my designs so quickly and I am always on the quest for the perfect look. But then, particularly around new year, I saw so many bigger bloggers, artists, photographers, that seemed to also constantly change their designs or their "blogging voice" and wrote about being insecure and clueless which step to take next. So I figured: To hell with my bad conscience, when I get there I will know, and until then this is my blog and I am free to go crazy here.

I have come to really love this place. I love writing and I love to improve my photography. I love writing columns and articles. I love to go places and reflect on them, And I enjoy sharing this crazy journey that I am on. I am currently discovering so many new things (hell, I packed a yoga mat in my suitcase - who would have thought this possible a few months ago?) and taking up a pen has always been my (sometimes much neglected) way of dealing with things. So basically my major resolution for the upcoming year is just to do more of this. To be creative and to share. To not be afraid of what someone will think of something I put out there. I will write and play music and take photos and then I will write again.

{I will throw fear to the wind, for it is just in my head anyway. I will see more places and meet more people. I will love every damn minute of every damn hour. I will try, at least. I will tumble and safely land on my feet and then I will tumble again.}

I want these next months to be full of travel and movement and by the end of this year I want to stand at the finish line, sweaty and out of breath, but euphoric. And I will be summing up this year for you here and I will write about how proud I am that I have made all these things happen.

Tonight all that is left to do is having dinner with my family, pack the last things everything and just hope nothing is missing and if there is it is too late now anyway, put some new songs on my MP3-Player (any great ideas? Luka, I am counting on you!) and head off. Me and the boyfriend will spend a three day holiday in Venice before things get serious for me. 

Thanks to everyone, who is reading regularly (and to the people who will start hanging round to read about my travels - welcome!) and everyone in my life, who makes going away so hard. Here is to new adventures in 2014!

I love you all & see you here in a few days!

(Sorry for being so mushy gushy, I have been quite sentimental lately.)