Straniero: The Beautiful Romance

My parents and brother have arrived. First stop--Venice. We traveled across the great Italian land. We drove in an American sized car on Italian sized roads. Yes, daddy, if you ask the car rental for the biggest car they have, they will laugh at you.

After checking into an apartment owned by gypsies, that didn't have heat, we made our way to a magical land. In pouring rain we spend hours exploring the roads made of water, buildings made of marble, and masks made of gold. Venice has become my favorite city of Italy.

If you have ever read the darkness of Poe, you realize the mystery required for any good romance. If you have every read Oscar Wilde you realize the dangerous infatuation one may have with beauty. And if you have ever been to Venice, you understand completely why this is a necessary emotion.

I have heard terrible things about Venice smelling, being crazy expensive and not worth it. Things are, in my opinion that is the closet thing to fact I know...untrue. Venice is spectacular. Go in the rain, and see the gondoliers working to get the water out of the boat for those high paying customers. Listening to the symphony of music played inside Piazza San Marco. Illegally feed the birds, and get landed on by hundreds.

Although I thought my family being here would make me miss home and long to be back in West Virginia, it has actually had the opposite effect. As they experience culture shock, the food, the shops, the traffic, the schedule, I fit into Italy quite nicely. Maybe I am meant to be European. Maybe this is supposed to be my home. Maybe even longer than a year.