Actually, I think I left my heart in Venice

by Karen Harrington

Venice is sinking, but that is not the only reason you should rush there at the next possible opportunity. Most women have a sense that Italy in general is good for her ego. It’s true. Venice is gentlemanly. Venice is flattering. Venice is romantic. And yes, it can be all these things even if you go with your girlfriends as I did last week.

The highlights of the trip were many, but foremost had to be sharing the trip with two of my best girlfriends – an art lover and a photographer.

Why Venice?

I was there with my husband last April. I fell in love with the city not only for its place in history, but for its beautiful decay, for its sun-washed colors and watery landscape. No one structure is the same color from canal to roof, but rather, a wonderful blend of shades, cracks and layers. Sort of like your favorite girlfriends. So, I felt my heart ache as the airport shuttle dragged me away from the city. As fate would have it, when I returned home my first ever advance check was in the mailbox. Not wanting this incredible earning to go for anything mundane, I searched for a trip that would match both the joy I felt at becoming published and the amount of the check itself. Okay, so I had more joy than money. Still, I found I could afford a celebration. What I found was four nights in off season, cold and foggy Venice in January on the cusp of Carnivale. In a time of year the locals call “brutto tempo.” Bad weather. No matter. The idea of fog on the canals lured me in.

While there we three walked for hours each day without any real goal in mind. Sure, we wanted to visit St. Mark’s Basillica, feed scores of fat pigeons and have a bellini at Harry’s Bar (a five ounce bellini that will cost you your entire Starbuck’s budget for a week and have you exclaiming “Euro-kidding me!” when you get the bill). Alas, we left the rest of our walking to our sense of wanderlust. Okay, so this strategy gets you lost again and again. We searched for the Rialto Market for a ridiculously long amount of time, asking directions of countless kind Venetians and one Frenchman who merely said, “Don’t you have a map?!”. So you can understand it when I tell you we felt like we’d hit the Holy Grail when we finally stumbled upon the not so lovely fish stench permeating the market.

But we were there. We found it. We walked through its maze of multi-colored produce stands and seafood. After finding it, the city seemed to acknowledge our perseverance and directed us along its uncrowded, foggy streets with greater patience. (Or maybe we just stopped trying to find anything on purpose.)

We found other great places to leave behind our Euros. We ate the best bruschetta and pasta aglio lio e peperoncino (spaghetti with olive oil and peppers). We discovered Limoncello. We saw the same painter twice in one day as he moved his easel from one part of the city to another presumably to take advantage of the light. We spent an hour inside a mask shop trying on tens of sublime and sexy masks, leaving our faces glittery for the rest of the day. And in a nod to Venice‘s romantic reputation, we watched a gondolier nearly miss hitting his handsome red-haired head on the bridge he was crossing under because his gaze was on us and not the canal below. And then, as he popped up on the other side of said bridge, he watched us again. That scene alone would make a great first chapter for a novel I’d like to read.

So women, go with your girlfriends! Men, take your women! Let me be your blogeteering ambassador. Allow me to share my photo album until you do have the opportunity to visit La Serenissima yourself.

Ciao!

Karen Harrington is the author of JANEOLOGY, a debut novel Booklist calls a fascinating mix of legal thriller and compelling character study.

www.karenharringtonbooks.com