It's Amore

Ah Venice.

Venice is an amazing place. A sure tourist trap, of course, but amazing no doubt. We arrived fairly late on Wednesday night after an uneventful flight from London. The ground transportation was smooth (a cheap and fast bus from Marco Polo airport to the island of Venice) and the water bus was pretty cool, if not a bit chilly. Still, we didn't want to miss the sights along the Grand Canal, so we sat in the front and endured a very chilly wind.

We got off the water bus at the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge is the most famous bridge in Venice (I think there are four total bridges that span the Grand Canal) and that's for good reason. It's a fairly massive structure that's been there for hundreds of years and is a tourist hot spot. We headed from there to our hotel, the Hotel Gallina. We were told it was half-way between the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark's Square...which it was, if you think "half-way" means "half-way, turn left, and walk another 10 minutes". Really, it's not that far, but when you're tired, hungry, and cold, well, it seemed longer and more out the way than it really was.

Checking in was no problem. The hotel was clean and friendly; we did well. Finding food, however, was a different story. By 11 pm on a Wednesday, your options are limited. We walked and walked but all we could find was overpriced (as in €45/each) cuisine that we weren't willing to shell out for. Finally, in a moment of stark brilliance (read: declining idiocy) we realized that heading for a touristy area was our most likely bet to find affordable food. St. Mark's Square paid dividends, even if it did cost us €40 for pizza, pasta, a beer, and a Sprite.

Thursday and Friday were glorious days. The weather was amazing, the sights were fantastic, and the company won the day. We did some shopping, rode a gondola, and saw some sights (including Doge's Palace which was sweet). But, I'm not going to turn this into a travelogue. Instead, I'm going to do what I always do. Comment on culture and life.

First and most importantly, Ms. Colombia and I made it official on Thursday, October 13th. We're engaged. We bought a ring that she really liked in a store off St. Mark's Square (more on this later). We had been (unofficially) engaged for a couple weeks now but had not announced to everyone because we didn't have a ring and we wanted to spread the word amongst family and close friends first. But now that those two issues are resolved, I'm announcing it publicly.

I have to say that I'm as happy about this as I could be about anything in this life. Since the start, Ms. Colombia has expressed what she liked/loves about me the most in a simple word: consistency. That word expresses, to her, my consistent passion for her, for life, for adventure, etc. It's a simple way for her to sum up key elements of my character without being unduly long-winded (something I'm incapable of apparently). Well, for me, the word that best sums up Ms. Colombia to me is: partner. She's a partner in everything that I do, everything I want to do, and in every dream that may not ever come to fruition (but should). I know that I have a true partner with her and I simply can't express how amazing that is.

This has all happened so rapidly, which is against both of our natures, but I don't have any doubts or second thoughts. Ms. Colombia simply has all the qualities that I'm after (and vice versa), we met at the exact right moment (for many reasons), and in life, you just can't put things on a timetable. Even if we had another 6 months or longer in this country, we probably wouldn't wait anyway.

Second, Italians are rude. At least the ones in Venice. They throw change at you, they push you when you're in a crowd, and, as one gentleman said to me, "In Italy, nothing is easy." I was shocked and appalled at the collective behavior of the people who live and work in Venice. It was not about to spoil my experience, but it was just completely unexepected. I've always had this vision that Italians were some of the nicest people around. Maybe they are, but certainly not in Venice. (We did meet a nice woman at the symphony and she was from Sicily, so it's undoubtedly regional.)

Third, while there are many benefits of dating (marrying! yikes!) a Colombiana, one stood out over the last couple days: this girl knows how to barter. Venice is rife with people hawking goods on the street - some legal and some illegal. The illegal goods are exclusively handbags. Italy, it appears, is a hovel for overpriced "fashions" that I consider mostly craptacular. It is not unusual for people to pay in excess of €1000 for a purse. However, since most mortals can't afford absurdly high prices for items with limited utility that wear out over time, they settle for cheap copies. Ms. Colombia falls in that vein, except that she doesn't even know what the top names are, nor does she care (yet another reason I love her). She just sees a bag she likes and that's that. It could be K-Mart or Burberry, don't matter.

Anyway, the street merchants carry around garbage bags full of counterfeit bags. The Italians don't want you to purchase them, but there really isn't anything that they can do. When the police come, the merchants bag up there stuff and get lost in the maze of warrens that make up Venetian streets.

Back to the point, several times, Ms. Colombia bargained. Each time, the vendors requested prices from €50 to €150. But, Ms. Colombia is no fool. She knows all the tricks and she learns the local custom quick. So, the €50 purse was had at the low price of two for €25 (one for her mother) and the €150 bag was had for, no joke, €10. She accomplished that particular sale by laughing at the initial offer and walking away. The guy followed and said, "how much you want to pay?" To which, she replied, "€10". He laughed at her. They conversed in Spanish, she gave him €10, she got the bag. Don't ask me how. She just gets it done.

Another example. Gondola rides were €80. We didn't want to pay that much. She negotiated. We got the ride for €60, which was her initial offer. Her winning line was in response to the question, "How much do you want to pay?" to which she replied, "We're students with very little money so we don't want to pay anything, but if we had to pay, we would pay €60." Clever girl.

A final example. We went ring shopping. We hadn't planned on it (I was going to wait until we got back to the States), but there were shops, so we looked. She found one she really liked. It's white gold with four (very) small diamonds placed in the band. She didn't want anything too fancy and she didn't care about the quality of the diamonds. She just wanted something that would look nice and have meaning. (More reasons I love her.) This one fit the criteria and I could tell straight away that she really liked it. But the price was €450. Not anymore. Through very effective Span-lian (like Span-glish, but different), she got it down to €225.

Now that's a keeper.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We ate loads of cheap Italian food (mostly pizzas), we did some shopping, saw some sights, went to the symphony, and enjoyed just being together. It was one of those weekends that will be forever imprinted in my heart, mind, and soul. I can't imagine a more spectacular way to get engaged.