My hunk of burning love...

You all are going to have to let me know which blogs you like the best because I happen to think that I may do some of my best writing in the airport. We shall see, as it were, I am at this very moment sitting in my hidden restaurant in Alicante airport. The mere fact that I know about this “diamond in the rough” is a testament to how very well we have gotten to know one another, this airport and I. I shall dearly miss flying out of here to begin all my adventures. Having strayed off topic I think it important that I focus, where were we? Oh yes, quite correct, we were on a train… a train headed for an infamous floating city.

Venice, one of the most famous cities in the world, a prime destination for anyone in their right mind, was within my grasp. I don’t know what the rest of you see in your mind’s eye when you think Venice, but I think romantic gondola rides and a peaceful lunch by the water’s edge, a glass of wine in my hand, of course. I forgot to remind my mind’s eye of a few things, because while Venice was on my to-do list, in my picture-perfect world it unfolded a lot differently. I will fill you in as I go…

As soon as I stepped out of the train station, I let out a gasp, one of shock and awe. It is so different to see a city floating on water. People using boats as their transportation, ambulances floating on by, and its as if the world was flipped upside down, and Venice decided to make its own parallel universe. Luckily this parallel universe looked just as I imagined it would.

Does it look like what you pictured?

Here, however, is where my dream world started to differ immediately from the real world. First of all, the company left something to be desired. Don’t get me wrong, they are all great people, one of them being my best friend, but it was not supposed to be four girls with me. I am sure you can guess who was supposed to be with me, but in case you are a little slow on the uptake, I will fill you in. My HUNK OF BURNING LOVE! My stud-muffin, boo, snookie, cupcake…I think you get the picture. Whatever you want to call him, he wasn’t there so I had to kick myself more than a few times during the day as a reminder not to pine over my imaginary lover.

The first thing we did in Venice was alight at St. Marks Square. It was nice, but there were so many tourists that we decided to head off in a different direction. One of the travel site suggestions for Venice is to get lost walking the streets. We took the path less traveled taking multiple turns, walking over mini-bridges, and in no time we had no idea where we were. It was fun to just take pleasure where it came, whether it be window shopping, snapping a photo, or sitting on the side of a canal, not having a destination was relaxing.

While we were meandering through Venice we passed a wine store that had a great offer on their house wine. They put it in plastic bottles and it only cost 3 Euros. While in my dream world I had my wine (in a glass) sitting casually at a fancy restaurant on the side of the canal; in the real world I had my wine (in a plastic cup) on a gondola ride. Not such a bad trade off. Wine, however, goes straight to my head, and for a while I was floating in the clouds, beyond happy to be in a gondola in Venice. Something I had dreamed of, but never thought could be a reality.

After our gondola ride we went in search of lunch, and I ran smack into the next disparity between fantasy and reality. Venice, my friends, is quite expensive, and believe it or not, in my dream world I was not a starving college student. In fantasyland I was rich, dressed to the nines, and could go to whatever canal-side restaurant that tickled my fancy.  Obviously that was not the case in Venice real world. When we went to order at my fantasy canal side restaurant I realized the budget could not withstand such a hit. Lunch, in the real world, was down a small alley with a nice gentlemen waiter who sent free risotto, “for the Blondie”, as he called me. I think he may have noticed how thin our pocketbooks were.

Pity risotto:)

After our stomachs were no longer grumbling we continued on our merry way. Soon after, we stumbled on a market that was familiar. If you have seen, The Tourist, you will recognize the exact place where Johnny Depp jumped from this balcony in an attempt to escape his pursuers.

My feet walked where Johnny Depp ran...

I believe that a certain phenomenon started the second day of our trip. Around 3 or 4ish in the afternoon tempers would start to fray, nerves would be jumpy, and everyone became a little crazy. Oftentimes we added coffee or chocolate to the mix and it became the perfect recipe for wild disaster…

Take 1 of crazy with coffee in hand

Luckily the phenomenon would only last for about an hour, and then we stopped embarrassing ourselves in public.  I happened to snap a shot of this wall in an area of town that was less touristy. I love this wall. When I have a house I can’t wait to do something similarJ

growing wild

All in all, while there were some large disparities between my dream Venice trip, and what actually happened, it was a wonderful day. The day trip did convince me that when I am rich, and have a lover, a return trip might be in the cards. So if you are a stud-muffin millionaire who is interested, go ahead and call me!