Returning to the Italian roots

No time to rest, the day after my arrival, I was already leaving for Italy to see my family.

It was great seeing everyone once again and doing the usual things (cycling in the city, going to buy bread, going to the beach...).

The best day I spent there was when I went to Venice. It's been a long time that I was complaining not to know exactly how Venice is, as everytime I went there I was only following friends or members of my family. This time, I had decided to go by myself and walk across the city to discover it. I never expected to see what I saw...

I woke up early in the morning (around 7am) and looked outside the window. The previous day there was a storm but that morning the sky was shiny and clear. I got dressed, prepared sandwiches for lunch and left to the ferry not far from home. During the hour spent on the boat, I read, took pictures, looked at the landscape recognizing some places where I'd been, sunbathed and smelled the perfume of the salty see. Just that moment was already a sign that the day was about to be very nice.

Arrived in Venice, I decided not to take the usual tour (the touristic one going from Piazza San Marco toward the Rialto) and went on the right behind the Ponte dei Sospiri. Taking that way led me to discover the "real" Venice, the one I had never seen, the one that we only see in movies.

I walked along the houses, got surprised when I saw a grocery shop (the first one I saw in Venice... I've always asked myself where people buy food), smiled when I saw clothes drying on a rope stretched from one window to another and went to places tourists don't know. I felt I was the only one to know what was Venice.

I took a hundred picture of all kinds: houses, rivers, gardens, squares, buildings, bridges, gondolas, people... I laughed when I saw a bar named "Karibu" which remind me of Finland and slowed down in front of the various shops. I decided to start a collection of masks and bought 3 of them. I also bought earrings for my mum which costed me an arm and a leg.

When I came back to the quay where the ferry was about to leave, I was exhausted, had sore feet and was thirsty. I spent a lot to get a bottle of water as I didn't have anything to drink the whole day (one thing is true, Venice is damn expensive!).
I arrived home satisfied and with a lot to tell and to show to my grandma.

The rest of the time spent in Italy, I went to see my family and went to the beach (I even got sunburned).

This past month was really a great holiday time!