27 May A City on Water
Have you ever pictured what it would be like to wake up one morning, walk outside, and find the road is not there? What if the road, which has made transportation so convenient for years, was replaced by a river or canal. This reality is something the venetian people have had to live with and adapt to for decades. I got to experience this cities unique lifestyle first hand and it was an amazing experience. Let me start by giving you a little fun fact about Venice. Many people are unaware that Venice is actually made up of 118 individual islands separated by the many canals. Another fun fact about Venice is that it actually sits on a lagoon not the ocean. The people at one time went into the water and nailed boards down for the cit y to rest 0n, how cool is that! All these years later the city still stands sitting on the water like nothing has changed. One of my favorite parts of venetian culture was seeing the boats parked in front of houses like cars. As someone who is very into psychology I think it is so cool how humans can adapt, change, and evolve. No road? No problem, we will just travel by boats of all shapes and sizes instead. They even had police, buses, and ambulances by water as well.
Another one of my most memorable experiences in Venice was purchasing a Venetian mask for myself and Murano necklace for my mom. In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers meet for the first time at a masquerade party. Back in those times, masks were worn very frequently at parties. Shakespeare took this one step further and played on the metaphorical mask that people can wear . In fact, you wear this mask for so long, you forget whether or not it is a fictional mask or part of you as a person. Knowing this, and knowing Venice is famous for their hand crafted masks, it was my mission to find one that is authentic and would remind me of Juliet. I not only found one, but two masks that I fell in love with. The first mask I loved just for the artwork. I came across this tiny hole in the wall place that I feel you could never find again. When I came out of the shop that day, I got the sense that it might just disappear behind me. The store initially caught my eye because of the hand painted puppets that reminded me of Pinocchio. We decided to enter in and were immediately greeted but this pungent aroma of fresh paint from the store owners latest creation. He had tons of beautiful masks that were so different than any other Venetian mask I have seen. His attention to detail and artistic eye was incredible and was an experience I will never forget. I left feeling like I had just met the real Jepedo’s store and if I didn’t have the pictures, nobody would believe it really existed. The first mask I purchased because of the art, the second I purchased because I wanted one that would say to me, this is exactly the type of mask Juliet might have worn. The store owners were so happy and appreciative that young people like us appreciated their craft and wanted to continue supporting it. I was just happy to get a piece of history that was authentic and held so much symbolism to the beloved William Shakespeare. For my things I saw, I drew one of the masks I purchased and also am including the two actual photos of my masks.
Continuing on with my love for Shakespeare, the final experience I took away from Venice was seeing the Ghetto in person. In case you haven’t picked up on it already, I am a HUGE Shakespeare nerd. Therefore, seeing the place he wrote an entire play (“The Merchant of Venice) on was a life changing experience. It is not England but it is very close and made me come to the conclusion that Shakespeare had to have come to Italy in his lifetime. How can you describe something you have never seen in so much detail? Have you ever tried? It’s not easy. I saw many of the exact landmarks in the location he wrote about in the Ghetto of Venice. No way it could have be made up and that was so incredible. No words can describe the feeling I felt when I put the physical to the author I love so dearly. I was speechless and awestruck that I was even blessed with the opportunity to be there.
Well eventually the rains started moving in and we had to rush back to our hotel just in time to miss them. I am sad that we did not have more time in Venice with nicer weather to soak up every minute we could. However, the time we had was still wonderful and a refreshing break. The pace of life in Venice is even slower if you can imagine and there was far less tourists. We got to see and experience how these people truly live and a piece of my heart will forever belong to this magical city!
