Venetian waters

The Paris syndrome is known as the sickness where Asians - mostly Japanese people - become so depressed that they try committing suicide when they see that Paris is bigger, dirtier and louder that they expected, and not at all the romantic paradise they imagined from movies. Did I feel this way about Venice?

No. But I have to admit I was a bit reluctant going there - when everyone claims something is wonderful, I almost always get disappointed. And the truth is that I had been warned (by several men) to go single to Venice, because the romance in the air would make me feel alone... Well, that wasn't a problem either.

I only spent one and a half day in the city, and assuming you don't want to go to every museum and see every detail of every piece of architecture there is to admire, that is actually enough. Venice is probably perfect for a weekend away.

The famous Piazza de San Marco I honestly found more grand and impressive than truly beautiful. But what I did enjoy was the opportunity to catch yet another view from above - going up the free standing church tower to overlook the city was amazing.

The city is indeed as romantically old and beuatiful as you would expect - but it is also quite worn down, and quite repetitive. After a while you feel like you have gotten the full hang of things - tiny street, piazza, church, canal, piazza, church, canal... and so on.

And apart from the beautiful views, the city does not really have a lot more to offer. Being probably the most touristy place I have ever visited (Paris, Rome and Amsterdam are far behind here), the only thing you can do apart from sightseeing is super expensive, very luxurious shopping.

For a day on my own, though, just walking around enjoying the sunshine and taking photographs of nice views, it did live up to my expectations. The city is actually small and perfectly walkable, so no need to buy the overly expensive visitor's tickets for the boats. But walking here is good exercise - every now and then you would have to do a little stairway up on and over a little bridge, and even more often you would have to turn around, walk back and try a different street because you hit one of all the little blind alleyways suddenly ending by a crossing canal.

Venice is definitely worth seeing, but for cities on water I must say I prefer Amsterdam... not only because it is my second home town, but also because of the much greater diversity and variety, the cultural vibe and - of course - the Dutch gezelligheid ("coziness").

So Venice, I am glad I came to see you, but I don't think I will miss you very much.

My upper-middle-class life in Milan

In Milan I had the luxury of living a very privileged life, staying with an Italian friend and her family in a spacious apartment quite close to the city centre. Thanks to a very good bike sharing system, I also got to see several parts of the city with my friend as a guide. I even went on the back of her scooter - but the Italian traffic was a little intense for me to feel absolute trust, even though she was a good driver...

Milan is not known to be the most "beautiful" of Italian cities - it is not classical and well-preserved the same way you see in Rome, Florence or Venice. But it is a truly fun and active city, and despite its top position at finance & fashion, putting its inhabitants in a somewhat superior position to the rest of the country, it struck me as a surprisingly calm and stressless city. I suppose it still bears the stamp of the Italian happily-enjoying-life mentality.




My friend invited me to come see a ballet performance at Teatro alla Scala, and that's an opportunity you just can't turn down. She had an old teacher with connections who had managed to get us good priced tickets. At La Scala, when it is not sold out, you can in the break of a show switch your cheap ticket for more expensive, presumably better, places for no cost. This was a one act show, though, but I got to learn that Italian women are good at getting what they want... My friend's mother went early and persuaded the super serious-looking theatre staff to switch our tickets. We ended up sitting in the front row. And after the show, this impressive woman on her own initiative negotiated with a very strict young man to let me into the gallery, to see the splendours of the theatre a little from above! I don't understand Italian completely, but it definitely sounded like she used my being Swedish as a reason to get in there...

However, Milan does not only have classical opera to offer - there's also display of more modern forms of art, for instance a gallery showing pictures painted with fluorescent colour and therefore glowing in the dark. And just like in Spain, graffiti and street art is quite popular and well done - this motive I found just next to the church at Colonne.

When it comes to architecture, I guess Il Duomo and the piazza in front of it should be called the city's hallmark. Even though I certainly don't have a weak spot for Gothic churches, I of course wanted to climb the stairs to the roof and look at the view. Doing so you actually walk around on parts of the pitched roof. But, since the city is a mishmash of ages and architectural styles, crammed in side by side, the view is not nearly as breathtaking as some of the other views I have collected earlier on my journey.

Staying with a friend and her family under more than comfortable circumstances for five days, sparked my productivity and I spent large parts of my days working.

Early on the Sunday morning I got up and took the train to the small town Desenzano del Garda, just by the Garda lake on the way to Venice, that would be my next stay. But I wanted to spend a few hours by the lake - unfortunately the weather was not at its best, and most of the day it was cloudy grey and raining just a little bit. I managed to sit by the lake for a while anyway, after the very nice staff in the café at the otherwise closed railway station had offered me to keep my heavy backpack in their storage room. I also walked up and down the quiet streets of the little town, through small parks and piazzas, and was a little bit stared at since I was obviously more or less the only tourist this time of year.

 

In the afternoon, after having a nice cappuccino and picking up my backpack at the railway café, I headed on towards the promised land of Venice. Can something so widely praised actually live up to its reputation?

I'll soon let you know.

Wonderful views of Alicante

A late Saturday afternoon I arrived by bus in Alicante, this popular holiday destination. But, season has not started yet and therefore the city was calmer and with a lot less people than I guess you would experience being here in the Summer.

My first evening I stayed in one of the friendliest and cleanest hostels I have ever been to. With very few other guests, I got a dorm for four people all to myself, and hung out with the staff in the kitchen while having dinner. They were very social and nice, and I got to exercise my Spanish a bit more.

The city centre, or at least the areas of interest, is quite small, and a few hours was enough to see most of it. I walked along the harbor for a bit and also walked almost all the way to the top of the mountainous viewpoint to see the sun set over the city.

As in many countries, there is not much open or much to do on Sundays, so I took the tram to the nearby Playa San Juan. I had been recommended to go here rather than staying in the centre for enjoying beach life. I spent my whole Sunday walking along the coastline, climbing rocks on the natural beaches and sitting in the sun eating picknick. It was a little bit windy and not nearly as hot as in Granada, but Swedish people aren't spoilt with sunshine in March, so I was happily enjoying anyway.

I found my own little cave overlooking the steep hill down to the sea shore, and shielded from the wind and alone with the wide-stretched landscape I sat there the whole afternoon writing and listening to music. Apart from the rather uncomfortable sitting positions and the lack of internet, this may still be one of my favorite "offices" so far on the trip!

Then I spent two nights as a Couchsurfing guest, hosted by a most wonderful Portuguese guy who worked as a flight attendant for Ryan Air. The Monday I stayed in working all day, and he cooked me lunch and dinner and refused to even let me help out with washing up! He put me in the sofa, told me to relax after my work day and enjoy my last eve in Alicante. I told him Swedish men has a lot to learn when it comes to treating a woman like a princess...

Tuesday morning he drove me to the airport and I stepped on a plane, after three absolutely fantastic weeks in my new favorite country Spain, flying off to Northern Italy.
However short my stay, I will miss and remember the splendid beach day and the wonderfully kind people I met in Alicante.