My Summer in Venice: Two Weeks in Venice

I wrote this almost a week ago, but haven't been able to post it.

I’ve been in Venice for two weeks now, and I’m not sure what I think of it. For the first few days it felt a little weird to be here since I can’t just go back home if I get bored or whatever. After settling in, I really began to enjoy it here. It’s out of my little bubble I live in and I was basically forced to meet new people that, back in Boca Raton, I never would have said a word to. I’m not the kind of guy who enjoys going out with big groups; my idea of fun is locking myself in my bedroom and playing guitar. Speaking of which, I haven’t even touched a guitar since I left the United States, and I’m losing my fucking mind over it. Anyway, I’ve met a lot of new friends since I’ve come here and done a lot of things that I normally don’t do or that I’ve never done before. This past Thursday was one of those nights that I probably won’t forget any time soon.

Era veramente una delle più bellissime notti della mia vita!

We went over to the girls’ apartment after school and dinner to hang out. At one point we were sitting around and one of the guys started talking about if you just be yourself and do what you want to do things will work out (or some shit like that) and behind me from the computer the song “You Can Go Your Own Way” by I think Fleetwood Mac was playing. I don’t know why but it was like the most epic moment I’ve ever experienced. It reminded me of like one of those 80s brat pack movies like The Breakfast Club, except it wasn’t as fucking stupid as that movie. It was great.

A little bit later everyone went to the bar by our apartment but since I was still pretty stoned I wasn’t really feeling up to walking down there so I stayed at the girls’ apartment by myself, and sat on the couch listening to Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. It was pretty epic since the album faded in right as they were walking out the door and everyone came back right after the last note played. Venice is such a quiet place so when you listen to music, all you hear is the music and the rest is silence. I’ve never enjoyed Pink Floyd so much. Normally there is always something else happening that distracts me from the music, but that night I just sat there by myself listening. Everything sounded so much clearer and I could hear every little detail of the album perfectly. The whole album just made perfect sense. David Gilmour is one of my favorite guitarists so it was great to really listen to his playing. I’ll have to crank the Buckethead up one day while I’m here that way Big B can melt my face off with his super cool solos.

After I came out of my Pink Floyd coma by way of Gina scaring the shit out of me, I was in a weird haze all night. I was extremely relaxed and just sat there listening to music and enjoying the company of the people around me. For the first time I felt totally at ease and content with everything around me. This is why I came to Venice! Right? Well, this feeling lasted through the next day when we went on our tour of the villas (more on that some other time) but it faded quickly on Saturday. We went to the beach on Lido and it was fun but as we were waiting to vap it back home (vap it: to take the Vaporetto, the water bus service in Venice) I got tired of being with these people. All of a sudden, I just wanted to be alone.

It’s a strange thing how fleeting a moment of ecstasy can be. Luckily, I don’t fret over most things like that. I try to enjoy things as they happen, because I know how the universe sometimes likes to work. John Keats talked about this shit all the time in his poems and odes. The very presence of extreme joy necessitates pain because the joy isn’t going to last; it won’t last. There is always loss. The very fact you have joy means there will be loss, because the world we are in will bring about pain and suffering. But here’s the good part: the opposite is also true. Just like you relish joy, you should embrace the painful times because that won’t last either. So I guess from all this bullshit I just wrote here the one thing I’m trying to say is that while I had one amazing night followed by a turrible day, there are many more great nights ahead and many more turrible days as well. I have four more weeks before I leave Venice and go to Milan so we’ll see where my adventures will take me between now and then.

Now for some photos! I have a few hundred photos on my computer that I haven't been able to upload since we don't have internet.