To see my Venice photos click here.
I stayed in a hostel in Venice. Some very nice things about this hostel. One was that I could see the Grand Canal from the front window terrace. As you probably know I am usually a little older than the average age in a hostel. I was warned this time. She said something like, "You know we have to warn people over 40..." I replied that I've stayed in hostels since I was young. This hostel had a group dinner every night at 7:30 PM. The first night we had pasta carbonara and fig cake for desert. The hostel is owned by an Italian guy, a little younger than me, who hangs out with everyone. As far as I can tell, the place is run by Yael, an Israeli, who seems to enjoy the life she leads in Venice. There is a guy who just recently arrived and is working there. He is a recent college graduate from North Carolina, and has a pretty strong North Carolina accent.


The first night when I arrived with the guitar, Yael suggested I play it after dinner. It is always somewhat of a problem choosing tunes and I usally am not prepared for the young set that is in a hostel. But I know what my students like, so I tried "Hey Jude", "Like a Rolling Stone" and a couple of other. They went over very well. In fact so well, the guy from North Carolina comes over to me and says with great enthusiasm, "Man, when I'm your age, I wanna be just like you." I was a little taken aback, but flattered nevertheless.


Then came the moment for requests. As the twenty-somethings try to figure our something from era "Stairway to Heaven" perhaps. Sorry. And I tried to think of something that they would know or like. It actually fizzled on its own after about a half hour. This was perfect for me. The group goes out together in the evening and drinks- some to excess. But it is a friendly safe crowd and everyone makes sure everyone else gets back.
The place we met, I think, was the Palo, a nice little square. We met two Australian guys, about 25 to 30 years of age who work on a rich person's boat. They seem to like the work and have traveled all over the world. They get about 4 or 5 hours on shore to eat or party or do whatever they want.


Many of the young people in the hostel have been traveling for a while, but frankly they don't know much. They remind me of high school students and it obvious that some are just extending their childhood. They know nothing of the culture or the language and seem to have no desire to learn anything about it. They are generally friendly and good tempted and maybe a little "overloved". They find most of their joy in hanging out with people similar to themselves, even though they may not be from the United States. I suppose that I was much the same when I was their age. I had my eyes wide open, but really didn't know much. In fact I remember someone asking me if I was stopping in Florence. At that point I didn't know that Florence was a cultural center of the Renaissance.


Other than the evenings my days were spent alone pursuing the churches and museums that I had not seen on my last trip to Venice. I relaxed a little the last day and decided to sit down at one of the local outdoor bars and watch the World Cup with a bunch of Italians- it was an exciting game but I am sorry to say, the Slovakians looked good from the beginning- coming near a goal in the first 3 or minutes. It is a sad thing, but Italy is officially out of the World Cup Competition this year.