The Tourist

the other day a few of us had a get-away at a resort in the States

my only wish was to soak in the outdoor jacuzzi

it was drizzling outside

after dinner some of us went ahead and plunged into the steaming tub anyway

due to rain we all wrapped our heads with the beach towel

and it was pretty hilarious seeing each other in a “turban”

we had fun chatting away in the steaming outdoor jacuzzi

in the rhythm of the falling rain

i felt happy and i felt like a tourist

later that evening we picked The Tourist  to watch

since the movie was filmed in Venice

i so wanted to “revisit” the tourist spots

i quite enjoyed this little cute movie

Angelina Jolie looks princessy, regal and elegant

and the scenery in there brought so much memory…

~~

Venice has a special place in my heart since childhood

all because of a huge painting of a gondola on a textbook 

that drew my attention

and i wished then that i would love to visit Venice one day

and ride on the gondola on the Venetian lagoon

and be serenaded by the gondolier

~~

years later my wish to visit the ‘City of Water’ came true 

here’s an anecdote of my Venice excursion…  

my traveling companion knew that my one sole desire in Venice

was to ride on a gondola 

before embarking on the vessel we had a couple of hours to kill

so we visited the museums, the Square, the Rialto bridge,  the curiosity shops etc

and had THE best gelato ice-cream ever at the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark Square)

when the time came for the romantic gondola tour

i vividly remembered we had to meet at a certain place

at a certain time for the cruising…

and i waited for closed to 45 minute but there was no sight of my tour group

i started to panick and thought

 “O oh… could i be at the wrong place?” *NOOO!!!*

another hour passed by which seemed like ages

and i finally saw my group coming towards me

in time to join another boat tour  to the colorful island of Burano

 

everyone was wondering where was i

and i felt so embarrassed for remembering the wrong waiting spot

and so very sad that i had “missed the boat”

but… but… all things have its blessing in disguise

while being a lone tourist for a couple of hours

i got to enjoy other fun sight and sound of this lively city…

here’s a common sight of how merchants transporting their goods from the boat to the stores as there is no van or trucks in this ‘City of Water’ except pedestrains

while watching everything gorgeous happening around me

and listening to the operatic singers serenading their clients

suddenly there was a big bang on the water near where i was

it’s a boat accident in this oh so narraow canal

a motor boat crushing onto another boat

and bumping other gondolas which cause one gondola to almost tip

it was quite a sight to see   

how the  gondoliers had to suddenly stop their loud operatic singing halfway in the air

and quickly maneuvering their individual huge vessels

while engrossing with the commotion

suddenly there was this super loud honking behind my back 

and as i turned around and this was what i saw… i was like wow…

a Cruise ship in the midst of all these boats, gondolas, motorboats, ferries etc

even though this toursit had missed her once in a life time gondola ride

she better not miss taking a snapshot with the gondolas

which she was so fond of since childhood 

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