How to beat the Italian heat, Wall style!

We knew our sojourn to northern Italy was going to be a scorcher: 90^o+ each day, horrid humidity. The thought of walking around crowded cities, trying to feign interest in churches and monuments, whilst lugging a panting dog, just sounded dreadful. So, we opted instead to spend two days on Italy’s lakes: Como and Garda.

Lake Como – Our first stop was the town of Como, itself. Sadly, George Clooney was nowhere to be found.

The Walls looking hot in Como (and I don’t mean sexy).

Como’s Duomo and crazy hill-top Villas.

Then, we headed to the beautiful town of Bellagio, known for its ritzy villas. No Clooney here either.

The streets of Bellagio.

Driving around Lake Como was no joke. Steep cliffs on one side. Straight down to the lake on the other. Hair-pin turns. Narrow roads. Confident resident drivers. Whoa! Don’t forget about the bicyclists, who put their lives in even greater risk than the drivers. We had it all!

Lake Garda – First stop around Lake Garda was the town of Lazise, where everyone got suited up for some swimming!

Yes, our dog has a life preserver. Safety first, bro. She clearly loves it!

After trying to wade through the stone, mud, gravel bottom of the lake, we made a critical decision that saved the day….

…rent a paddle boat!!

With a slide? YES, PLEASE!!!

I mean, come on, a girl who looks this good in a life preserver deserves to spend her day on a luxury paddle boat!

Our final stop on Lake Garda was the town of Torri del Benaco, for a snack and to let Liv get her land-legs back!

Torri del Benaco and Lake Garda

I’m not going to lie…I was a little skeptical about Venice. I had read so much about how crowded it was with tourists, how stinky and dirty the canals were in summer, and how many mosquitos used the canals as a breeding ground. Not to mention all the usual hype. When the hype is bigger than the actual event (think High School prom), it can often be disappointing.

However, none of this was the case when we arrived. Venice is as lovely as everyone says it is. Being totally lost couldn’t be more enjoyable. The crumbling buildings and decaying foundations add charm and character. Every bridge and every corner had something quaint to admire.

Rialto Bridge

Piazza San Marco and the Basilica are breathtaking, really. One of the most beautiful I have seen, inside and out. The huge mosaics found in every nook and cranny, are truly unbelievable. The mosaic in the Nave of the Basilica is over 4,700 square yards alone!

The Basilica holds the remains of Gospel author Saint Mark, who was blown off course during his travels and ended up in the Venice lagoon. An angel came to him and said that he would lay in peace in this town. After Saint Mark died, his holy body laid in Alexandria, Egypt for seven centuries. In 828, two merchants from Venice decided that they were going to re-claim their patron Saint and bring him back to Venice. They hid his remains in a pork barrel in order to smuggle them out of Muslim-occupied Egypt. One of the mosaics inside tells the story of how, during the several decades needed to build the Basilica, the remains of Saint Mark were “misplaced”. Thank goodness someone finally found them in a hollow column in the Basilica, and they were soon placed under the current alter.

My favorite part of the Basilica was the four bronze horses. Copies of the horses are placed outside, where the originals once stood. You can see them in the picture above, amongst the columns over the main entrance. Their age and sordid history made them so interesting to me. Carbon-14 dates the horses at 175 B.C.! Legend says that they were made in the time of Alexander the Great. Nero then took them to Rome. After that, Constantine decided he wanted them in his racecourse in Constantinople. In 1204 some Venetians stole them during the looting of Constantinople and brought them to Basilica di San Marco! This isn’t the end of their story though. When Napoleon conquered Venice in 1797 he decided that the horses should grace the top of a triumphal arch in Paris. When Napoleon’s empire collapsed, they were returned to Venice to stand proudly over the Piazza. When modern man, pollution, and probably a lot of pigeon poop started to erode the horses, they made their way inside the Basilica, where they currently stand in the museum.

We enjoyed some really interesting surprises during our wanderings through Venice. While waiting to enter the Basilica, there was a civic ceremony being held on the Piazza. We were treated to music from a singing, dancing, running, camouflage and feathered-hat wearing brass band!

As we crisscrossed the canals, we couldn’t help but notice all the boats that were docked along the buildings. Ok, it is a city built on a lagoon, so that doesn’t seem too unusual. However, there was no conceivable way to reach some of these boats. No small dock, no door, no dingy.  Then, we found our answer. Just scale the wall, one step at a time.

The funniest part was that we saw this guy on the street not five minutes later. There was no mistaking that bag and those shoes (they matched his shirt…blue suede). Apparently he wasn’t trying to get to his boat after all…just leaving the house for the day!

Another surprise was the Piazza at night. Besides being beautiful, it is flooded. We had read and learned about the “Acqua Alta”, which is the flooding that occurs when tides are at their most extreme (usually November and March). However, I think what we experienced wouldn’t even be considered flooding by the Venetians. Instead, just the normal wetness that comes along with the full moon. So, instead of ruining our shoes, we just kicked them off and waded through!

We headed across the lagoon to the island of La Giudecca for Birthday dinner and a beautiful view of Venice’s sunset skyline.

Finally, we spent our last day in Venice on the island of Murano. Despite the rain, we enjoyed walking the streets, finding respite in the dozens of glass shops, and peeking in on glass blowers hard at work.

Murano in the rain

When my mother turned 30, she was given a surprise party in my grandmother’s backyard. Shortly after the party she took a trip to Italy and visited Venice. Whilst there, she purchased a necklace in Piazza San Marco for my grandmother that reminded her of my grandmother’s birth sign, Gemini.

Before my grandmother died, she gave the necklace back to my mom. My mom has been wearing it for over 30 years, enjoying the memories that it invoked.

When I turned 30, my family threw me a wonderful surprise party on Chincoteague Island. My mother’s gift was the last to be opened. Inside the small box was the necklace and a letter.

A portion of the letter reads: “It seems to be the perfect time for me to re-gift the necklace. I feel I have merely been the necklace’s caretaker, awaiting the appropriate and meaningful hour to pass it to someone as special as her granddaughter, born on her day, now turning the same age as myself when I purchased it for her.”

I never met my grandmother, but I am proud to share a birthday, and the dynamic personality quirks of a Gemini, with her. Each year, on our birthday, I know that my mother is happy to wish me a year full of joy and adventure, but is also missing her own mother and the ability to wish her a wonderful year.

Before we left Chincoteague last year, Joe and I vowed to make it to Venice before my next birthday. We sat on the Piazza at a little table, listened to the music, enjoyed a drink and the beautiful view. Just as my mother had. Each day, I donned the necklace and wore it through the streets of Venice “with aplomb”, just as my mother taught me to.