The Lido is known to the Venecians (and tourists) as the place to go to the beach and swim. But first I will explain how I got there.In the afternoon yesterday, one of the guys who works in the office invited Kyle and me to his son, Barnaba's, birthday party. It happened to be on a private beach on the Lido island which largely barriers the Venecian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.
I was unsurprisingly one of the whitest people on the beach, and one of the very few not wearing a speedo-like bathing suit. Still, it was nice to work on my tan, swim in the warm but refreshing water, and ride the waves slowly to shore. The birthday party was nice, too. Barnaba had turned 5, and all his tiny friends were running around with squirt guns. It was very cute. There was cake and snacks, sparkling wine and soda, and shade.
In the evening, Kyle and I stopped at the apartment to change out of bathing suits and go to dinner. I relaxed after a shower on the window sill.
Dinner was at Pampo's again (the place we had gone the first night). The food was again superb and the atmosphere authentic, pleasant, and thoroughly relaxing. After dinner we ran a local errand and then stopped at the apartment to fill a couple cups with Gappa and sat outside by the water at the edge of the park. We each told our story about how we ended up traveling so much and how we ultimately arrived in Venice. I particularly enjoyed the part of Kyle's story where he described nonchalantly walking into the Global Opportunities Fair at WPI just because he wanted to know what it was. He had no idea coming to WPI that people could do their projects somewhere else and no expectation that he would ever do his in Venice. Now he has been living and working here this summer. The moral of the story is that these great life-defining experiences seem to start out as merely an idea, an introduction, or a fleeting moment of curiosity. 
This is about where Venice ends for me. It is Thursday morning and I leave tomorrow midday for Berlin. My time here has been every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. The food was amazing, the Venecians friendly, and the days sunny and warm. I walked, rowed, swam, climbed, and boated all over this city for almost 4 days. I saw great works of art and architecture, learned some Italian, and experienced the city and culture in ways that most of the people who pass through here only wish they could. I leave you with a video that I took at the beach yesterday. The next time you hear from me will be when I am in Germany.
In the evening, Kyle and I stopped at the apartment to change out of bathing suits and go to dinner. I relaxed after a shower on the window sill.
Dinner was at Pampo's again (the place we had gone the first night). The food was again superb and the atmosphere authentic, pleasant, and thoroughly relaxing. After dinner we ran a local errand and then stopped at the apartment to fill a couple cups with Gappa and sat outside by the water at the edge of the park. We each told our story about how we ended up traveling so much and how we ultimately arrived in Venice. I particularly enjoyed the part of Kyle's story where he described nonchalantly walking into the Global Opportunities Fair at WPI just because he wanted to know what it was. He had no idea coming to WPI that people could do their projects somewhere else and no expectation that he would ever do his in Venice. Now he has been living and working here this summer. The moral of the story is that these great life-defining experiences seem to start out as merely an idea, an introduction, or a fleeting moment of curiosity. 
This is about where Venice ends for me. It is Thursday morning and I leave tomorrow midday for Berlin. My time here has been every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. The food was amazing, the Venecians friendly, and the days sunny and warm. I walked, rowed, swam, climbed, and boated all over this city for almost 4 days. I saw great works of art and architecture, learned some Italian, and experienced the city and culture in ways that most of the people who pass through here only wish they could. I leave you with a video that I took at the beach yesterday. The next time you hear from me will be when I am in Germany.
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