Ciao, Italia!

Things I have learned in the past twenty-four hours:

1) The tourist trap is inevitable,

2) Italian men over the age of forty have impeccable style:

    (for more on beautiful middle-aged Italian men click here)

3) Italian men under the age of forty all think they look like this and that you therefore want them:

4) Italian women have disturbingly bad style,

5) Saying "yes" to dairy is OK (wait, I already knew that),

6) Europeans really do have perennially-tanned skin, and

7) The prettier your new sandals, the more blisters you will get (as reliable a formula as the Pythagorean Theorem).

I arrived to my hotel just north of Piazzo San Marco last night after about 16 hours of travel, glowing with perspiration (which is a flattering way to describe how I actually looked), tired, and feeling defeated.  The vaporetto-ride from the airport to S. Marco was about two hours long, and unfortunately I have a tendency to become nauseous when travelling by water.  After undocking, I dragged my two suitcases, in heels (???), over the cobblestones in S. Marco square, winding through crowded throngs of Japanese tourists and souvenir peddlers, proceeded to get lost (which is to be expected in Venice), and then carried my luggage up two flights of stairs to my temporary lodging (I'll be moving into an apartment tomorrow).  Once I dried off and had recollected my sanity, I realized how starving I was because I hadn't eaten in about eight hours, and decided to locate a market.

I am so glad I did!  The simple act of changing clothes and wandering around Venice in the early evening made my frustrations evaporate, and of course I was happy again after about five minutes.  This city, despite the crowds and the impossibility of not getting lost, has a very unique charm to it.  Everything is so perfectly antiqued that it looks like a movie set - the imperfection of buildings, the random clashing of paint colors, and the stray dogs (I refer to both animals and men) make the city seem like a movie-set.  Being here alone is definitely a different experience than when I came years ago with my family, but it doesn't feel lonely at all.

I bought yogurt, cheese, and Haribo (a candy I've been craving since being abroad in 2009) at the market, and before eating this very well-balanced meal, walked across the San Marco district to see where my apartment and school will be.  Leaving the tourist-heavy area of the Piazza was like a breath of fresh air, and Campo Santo Stefano and the Ponte dell'Academia area is picturesque and gorgeous.  My walk to school each morning will be a meandering ten minutes, and I am very excited to see the inside of our beautiful school building tomorrow.

Scuola:

Campo Sant'Angelo 

Today, I unfortunately have had to work on finishing a paper for my law school's journal competition, but the beauty of being in Europe is that studying for hours is still a way to enjoy the city.  I walked over to Campo Santa Margherita by way of the Rialto Bridge, and sat at a cafe for most of the day.  I am glad to have found that area, because while it is still touristy, there are also several ex-pat types and it is much quieter.  However, the tourism is not so pronounced to me as of yet - I have noticed mostly French and German vacationers, so the feeling is still very European.  In fact, I have been mistaken for French more than I have been for American.  It looks like I am finally achieving my life goal!  As I was sitting at the cafe, a group of Vanderbilt Law students happened to pass by, and it was exciting to see familiar faces on the other side of the world - I'm really looking forward to classes and the experience of Vanderbilt in Venice in general.

I am thrilled to be staying here for the next three weeks - while it is impossible to not be a tourist in this city, the experience will be unique because I will enjoy Venice more leisurely than is typical.  The pace is slow, which I'm sure will be conducive to studying, but also to relaxing and living a little.

Until next time, Ciao tutti!