Rome is an amazing place (for architects). So I discovered that one of the churches on walking distance from our apartment is actually a very famous one (my history classes are stocked away deeply in my brain ;)): San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (for the interested ones, it's by Borromini).
Furthermore our apartment became a new meeting point, but I don't mind. It's nice to have people around even if sometimes our apartment is more crowded then an average market, or let's say, "louder" :)
This weekend I decided to go to Venice to see the Architecture Biennale and also the city ofcours. Uni didn't start yet so there's no reason not to go!
It was a bit hectic in the beginning because the place I could sleep at first eventually turned out to be a "no-go"... (but more about that later)
First off all I have to say that Venice is different then any other city I have seen so far. The moment you get out the train station (after a 6h ride from Rome if you take the "cheap" option) you realize that this is something ells. The comparisation; "city X" is like the venice of "country Y" is, so far as I discovered, ***.
It's a city build on water and not a city where water flows through.
It's amazing, beautiful,... but also very defining for the daily life. Everything happens by boat, and that has a big impact. I really understand why it has it charms but I couldn't live there... (a massive amount of tourists, there are only 60 000 people living there, and the island(s) itself(ves) is/are quite small).
The second day Eline (who gave me the idea to go for the weekend) and I went to the Biennale. Because she knew someone studying at the architecture-school of Venice, we could follow a motived guide through the first part. It was also on this meeting where I met 2 very friendly people who helped me out...
Like I mentioned my overnight residence was canceled so the first night I had to stay in a hostel, but for the second night it was fully booked. Luckily these people offered me a place to stay. One for Saturday night and one for Sunday, so not only did I see the city I also saw some city-live behind the facades. Thanks a lot ! It's the living prove that there's always a solution and a friendly person nearby.
All together, the biennale was very interesting and really lived up to my expectancies.
It was huge so at the end (at 18h it closed) we couldn't see it all anymore and made a selection. Although it was a pity we had to specify, it had been a long day too. Never the less, it was most definitely worth it.
Sunday it was Venice-time. We did some walking around town, visited the jewish quarter with some synagog's and some other tourist-must-seen things. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side so it rained all day. Although every city looks better with sun, Venice is probably one of the cities that can pull it off to have a rainy day too... my shoes on the other hand not.
Let's say they smelled worse then hell :p
The final day was, besides from more rain, blessed with a "spectacular" sight. It was aqua alta and San Marco square was flooded... So also this day presented me with wet feet but like the biennale, it was worth every raindrop !
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