Have you ever been off and on airplanes for over 24 hours straight? It's a different kind of exhaustion, particularly if you're like me and can't sleep on airplanes. (I would do it again tomorrow if I could) Despite that, we were all excited to be in a new country.
Things like that tend to take longer to register in my brain. I had wanted to go to Europe for so long, that it was difficult to imagine that I had actually gotten there. In truth, it wasn't until we got on the boat and approached the buildings of Venice that it began to click that we
were really there. The first thing I noticed was a huge bell tower, and how the buildings clung
on top of one another.
As we rode up the grand canal, we caught our first real glimpse of this beautiful country. The water was murky and settled against the sides of buildings. I could see doors and windows of what would have been previous floors now submerged underwater.
We got off the boat and they helped distribute our suitcases while I stepped aside and took some pictures of the buildings that surrounded us. (I would learn that I could not control the urge to take pictures of the beautiful architecture at every opportunity.) I am a person who appreciates the beauty in historical things that are showing their age. Throughout the trip, I would get most excited to see the ruins. I was caught between my wonder and innate sense of curiosity and the agonizing truth that there are aspects of culture and history that we will never get to know.
My first day in Venice affirmed these things about myself. As I walked the tiled roads and reached out to touch the brick and plaster buildings, I felt the historical energy that drew me there in the first place. And I've spent every day striving to make a life for myself that will allow me to continue having those experiences.
Have you ever been to Venice? If so, what did you feel when you passed through the gates of the Grand Canal for the first time?
Adventure on, and don't forget to always be yourself!
Leah Miller
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