Venice was a very different place to visit. It was the only place on the trip I didn't research beforehand. I know that researching on trips can be very helpful and sometimes detrimental to a trip. I feel like I'm the type of person who would want to know the background history of every aspect of something before I see it. Joe on the other hand, doesn't mind knowing these things but enjoys the whole 'whinging it' approach to travel. Naturally he was happy when we pulled into the dock in Venice and I declared that I had no idea or plans on what we should see or do there. The city was an architechtural maze of houses that seemed to not be occupied. That was one of the most disheartening things on the trip to Italy I think. I was told later that Venice is so expensive that it drives out most natives and the buildings are owned by rich European and American people who use them as summer getaways. I did enjoy the house across the canal from the non-airconditioned monastary that we stayed in. There seemed to be a normal venetian family living there, who I saw eating dinner, watching tv, getting ready for work and listening to avril lavigne (they love her everywhere in italy for some reason) together. Other than that I couldn't really distinguish from tourists who was just going about their daily lives there. Back to my point. Venice was a breeding ground for commodity fettishism. We discussed in class the idea of 'Italy Inc." and Venice was a perfect example of this. I saw two kids getting their picture taken by their parents in front of the Prada store! I didn't get it. I suppose its nice to get home and walk past your own Prada store and be like 'Well I got my bag in Venice, not in that store that has the same one."
On a completely different note the Giardino was gorgeous, the binale was fun, even though the American showing was horrible. The Binale was a really awesome experience and was a nice refresher after ingesting all of the renaissance and baroque art for weeks. I was really let down that not a single other art student on the trip wanted to go see it with us. How can people dismiss modern art but act as though they are art aficionados? It makes absolutely no sense to me.
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