“Ciao Bella, Ciao Bella” – is a common phrase my friends and I would hear while walking through the streets of Venice. Sweating from every part of our bodies we lugged our tired legs through the streets, up and down stairs, and across bridges anxiously listening to every word of our tour guide about this spectacular city. Visiting churches such as St. Mark’s Basilica located on the Piazza San Marco we were met with the religious respect of the Venetians, which required shoulders to be covered. Hundreds of people surrounded the area, most of which were similarly wearing “the whisper” listening to the words of a tour guide informing them of the amazing attributes of the church.
Although one would think that the colorful buildings and calm water would appear to most as a sense of tranquility, my friends and I had quite a different experience (although we did enjoy ourselves after all.) After a beautiful day on Lido beach adorned with topless women and men wearing Speedos, we decided to refresh ourselves with a nice meal at an Italian restaurant. We were soon to find out that the selfish American ways did not equally appear in the Italian culture.
Not only would we not be refreshed with a cold beverage and ice, we would also not be blessed with the presence of air conditioning. After a long meal full of conversation we decided to head back to our hotel. I do not enjoy boats, however a 15-30 minute ride was not going to bother me much. Unfortunately we did not recognize that we were headed in the wrong direction until we had exited the boat thinking that we were at the right spot. A few seconds of looking around we realize our mistake and stop to ask for directions.
Grace, being the one who speaks Italian and me being the extrovert of the group, we chose to work together in order to solve our silly mistake. I approached a man and asked, “Dov’è al Academica?” and he returned the question with some ‘jibberish’ that neither of us could comprehend. We decided to take a different approach and ask if they spoke English, which was unfortunately, “no.” An ambulance boat (quite interesting, yet extremely necessary in Venice) was spotted and we decided to ask them for directions. A response along the lines of “Prendere sulla barca numera 31 ed andare 5 fermate” was given and we decided to try it out. However, we saw them laughing and decided to ask a different gentleman who told us different directions. Three hours later, we finally made it back to our hotel and unfortunately, without air conditioning. Lesson learned: bring a map. Hopefully I will remember this on my trip this weekend to Munich.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteYour strongest writing here is describing Lido Beach and your restaurant experience, plus your ordeal getting home.
Both are good choices to exposing the problems Americans can face in dealing with Italian culture and navigating Venice.
I particularly like the way you captured the Italian responses to your questions, and the "lesson learned" ending.
Good ideas, and two perfect accompanying photos.
Some suggestions:
1. Your beginning here doesn't work. They are several disjointed thoughts strung together. One of your friends more cohesively described the power of young women needing a hero to get home, which would have nicely tied your "ciao bella" beginning to your ending. So when you write, think about the symmetry of a focused beginning to the "lesson learned" or resolution at the end.
2. Don't generalize. Terrible wars have taken place among colorful buildings and calm waters. So you could, accurately say, that the sun-drenched buildings and dancing water lights belied the misery of the heat, getting lost, no air conditioning or even ice. You just need more specifics.
3. On the subject of specifics, you need to work more in. Where was the restaurant? What time was it? Outside eating or in? At what stop did you accidentally disembark? How far - exactly - was that from the Santa Maria della Salute stop? (Details help your reader feel like he/she was there with you...).
Best,
Annie