Wednesday: Another Early Morning & Dried Fruit

Waking up early to take the 7:35 vaporetto to San Marco, I was treated to a peaceful morning in the city. From the serene boat ride through the foggy morning air to the open streets on my way to Rialto, I knew the morning would be tranquil. 

Greatly enjoying the absence of tourists, I ventured to the market. Upon arrival, I was stunned by how vibrant the area looked in comparison to the other times I had seen it. Venice is clearly a morning city.

               I spent most of my time at the market observing the fish market, which was surprisingly interesting. Many of the vendors were selling live seafood!

However, I did take some time to venture around the fresh produce. It was here that I learned a very important lesson as a tourist. In the regular market, vendors will approach you as soon as you take time to consider one of the products more closely. Even if you are just evaluating the price of the item, the vendor will be out of his booth standing by the produce with a plastic bag. He will then ask you what item you are interested in, and if you respond with anything other than a nondescript answer of “I am just looking”, you will end up purchasing some produce. Because, once you tell the vendor you like the grapes, he will take his plastic bag and collect a bunch for you. Placing them on the scale, the vendor tells you how much they are, or rather how much you need to pay, because those grapes are yours now.

               As a tourist, I had to learn this lesson. Earlier in the week, I had wondered around the market looking at dried fruit. It seemed that every booth had an equally diverse selection, so I was not sure which vendor I should buy from. That decision was made for me when one of the vendors got a plastic bag and started grabbing me fruit. He gave me an assortment, which I was content with, and enjoyed for the next couple of days. Running out on Tuesday, I found myself back at the dried fruit vendors today to replenish my supply. The vendor that sold me dried fruit earlier remembered me, and used my obsession with dried fruit to earn some extra money. He gave me a lot of dried fruit. When he placed it on the scale, it cost thirteen euros! Needless to say, I learned that I need to be more specific and assertive in telling the vendor what, and how much, I want.

               This lesson helped me realize my identity as an American tourist, as well as the advantages and disadvantages associated with that. On one hand, it is advantageous to be a tourist, because you are not expected to automatically know certain things, shops/restaurants want your business, and you can ask questions when confused. However, experiencing a city as a tourist is not the same as living in the city, and you often have to learn several important lessons before you understand the local customs. In the future, I hope to live in or visit a place for an extended period. I do not want to be immediately recognized and treated like a tourist. For instance, tonight we went to my favorite gelato place. Sadly, my favorite guy who normally serves us was not there. The young adult there instead immediately identified our group as tourists, greeting us with “hello” instead of “ciao”. I, wanting to work on my Italian and experience the culture as much as possible, responded with “ciao”. He continued to speak to me in English, so I continued to respond in Italian. His consistent English can be viewed as both advantageous and disadvantages for tourists. It is beneficial for tourists to be able to communicate in English when they do not understand enough Italian. However, it is also a disadvantage for tourists that want to practice conversing in Italian.

               I hope I can practice my Italian more later this week, but I did enjoy my sorbet. Today, we also went on a Tintoretto tour with Professor Gregory Dowling. In addition to seeing some Tintoretto paintings, such as the ones in the Scuola di San Rocco, we learned a lot of unique tidbits about Venice.

One of my favorites was this statue of a woman and an elephant. Venetians knew how to sculpt lions, but have no experience with elephants- a fact that is clearly witnessed in this sculpture.

               After a long day, I enjoyed a delicious dinner on my own and joined back up with the group for a quick gelato stop before catching the vaporetto back to San Servolo. Tomorrow we have our day trip to Padua; it will be interesting to see how my feelings about Venice change after visiting another city.