Many young children dream of becoming dolphin trainers or professional athletes or even President of the United States. Depending upon the day, I either wanted to be a pastor or a Broadway showgirl.
Most young children eat only mac n’ cheese or McDonalds chicken nuggets. I preferred Caesar salads and salami sandwiches.
Many young children dream of visiting Disneyworld or Legoland. My ideal vacation destination was Venice. I have always had an easy answer to the question, “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Since the age of five, my answer has been Venice.
The interest in – or perhaps obsession with – this particular Italian city stemmed from an especially intriguing episode of Busytown, my favorite childhood TV show, which I used to watch every morning before kindergarten. The episode featured a city with canals instead of roads, boats instead of cars. After turning off the TV that day, I pulled on my red high tops and asked my mom before heading out the door, “Venice isn’t a real place, right?” When I was informed that Venice was indeed an actual city that people can visit, I was instantly fascinated. I knew that one day I would go there.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I finally found myself in Venice yesterday, after fifteen years of anticipation. And despite my fear that the city would not live up my high expectations, I was not disappointed. Venice is truly one of the most magical and unique cities in the world.
With all the chaos of getting to Venice with a bunch of friends, deciding what to do, and so on, it didn’t sink in right away that I was really there. But I remember this moment: I was sitting along the ledge of a canal, in a floral dress with my feet dangling over the edge, enjoying my gelato (chocolate and pistachio) out of a green plastic cup. And suddenly it struck me. I’m in Venice.
My day in Venice was perfect weather-wise, almost 70 degrees and sunny. And all things considered, we covered a lot of ground for one day. My friends and I explored San Marco Square and the basilica with its amazing gold mosaics, we ate tasty calzones from the cheapest lunch place we could find, we walked along the beautiful Rialto bridge, we rode through the Grand Canal on a water bus, and we watched an impressive glass-blowing demonstration on the nearby island of Murano.
I couldn’t get enough of the peaceful canals and the charming bridges and the gondolas gliding by, captained by men in striped shirts and straw hats. It felt like a fairytale. I had finally made it…to Venice, my dream destination. So now when people ask me, “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” I’ll scratch my head and answer the way most people do with, “Wow, good question…”
No comments:
Post a Comment