Ava in Italia

After several whirlwind days in Rome–traveling the streets late at night and getting up with the sun in the morning–we made it to beautiful Venice! There was an instant difference in the two cities that the group could feel the second we got off the train. Rome had buzzed with energy and excitement, while here there was instant peace and tranquility. For the first time, you could relax without constantly being on your guard for pick pockets and creepy mimes walking the streets of Rome at night.

Oddly enough, Venice felt familiar to me. It reminded me of Clearlake, a lake in Northern California, my summer home away from home. The rocking of the boats, slow pace of life, and sparkling green water made me feel like I was back on the lake with my family. The only real differences? There were no hot dogs, swimming was illegal, and the locals still had all their teeth.

After unpacking in my charming little apartment near the Rialto Bridge, my friends Coco, Micah, Anna Marie, and I were ready to meet up with the rest of our group for a lovely canal-side dinner. We watched the sunset paint the sky with beautiful oranges, pinks, reds, and purples from the top of the Rialto, a moment of peace I hadn’t felt since the quiet villa days in Borgo San Lorenzo, our home base during the Italy Program. As we settled at our table for dinner, a passing boat sent a playful splash of water over the edge of the canal soaking the girls closest to the water and setting the tone for the memorable night before us.

The menu was intimidatingly full of fresh seafood options. Raised primarily on chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and well-done steak, I was quite nervous to dive into this new food group after having only tried shrimp before. Dr Horner surprised our table with a tray of seafood so fresh it looked like it had just jumped out of the water–shells, eyeballs, and all! After a brief moment of shock (you could say I was shell-shocked), I started with the prawns. They seemed safe since they were the tiniest and most shrimp-like. I gathered my courage and took a huge bite of the little, lemon-covered crustacean in my hand. I chewed through the crunchy shell to the cold, fishy meat inside. “Hey, that’s not too bad!” Elle and I, who split nearly every meal together in Italy, both declared that prawns were our surprise favorites from the fishy feast.

As the night went on, an old Italian man served as our DJ and singer. Once the first few notes of “That’s Amore” floated through the air, Elle and I jumped up without a second thought and began to twirl through the Venetian streets like the two giddy, uncoordinated tourists we were. Soon, surrounding customers couldn’t help but join in on our fun and the whole street turned into an impromptu swing dance party by the canal. There was something so sweet about that moment that has since stayed with me. Being able to stomp around the streets of Venice like absolute fools with one of my best friends, dancing to our trip’s theme song beneath the breathtaking Venetian stars, felt like pure magic.

Once we got our main course, grilled scallops I began to feel a lump in my throat. No this was not me getting emotional over our time dancing or the beauty of the night, but an allergic reaction. I ignored it for the rest of the meal but quickly realized my sense of taste had vanished earlier in the evening. So not only could I not taste but my throat was beginning to feel puffy on top of there being a sharp pain whenever I would swallow. Should I have probably stopped eating the seafood at this point? Absolutely. Did I? Of course not–I didn’t want that to ruin the night. Later, I quietly told Elle and Ryan my symptoms and they were understandably concerned for my health. I reassured them that I would not die from shellfish that night and would let them know if my symptoms grew worse. Praise the Lord that Coco had some allergy medication and a spare EpiPen in the event that the shellfish chose to progress its damage.

It finally hit 10 pm, quiet hours in Venice, and the restaurant servers came out with headphones for us to continue to listen to our beloved nonno DJ. He had grown fond of our group after our dancing and said he had a special song for us up next. To our surprise, “Alice (Who the F is Alice)” began to play over our headphones as we dined. The song, which drops several expletives starting with the letter “F”, knocked off the headphones of our entire group in unison. The DJ quickly understood the kind of group he was dealing with and in an attempt to make it up to us closed the night with playing “Hallelujah.”

The night ended with a walk through St. Mark’s Square, where lightning suddenly cracked across the sky in a glorious bolt of white fire, illuminating the square and rippling water. Rain began to lightly sprinkle on us as we decided to dance the night away yet again in the open square. That night was such a remarkable display of God’s power and the beauty of His creation. I can say confidently that Venice is my favorite city in Italy and our first night there perfectly encapsulated everything I love about it. Venice not only stole my heart that night but it taught me how to slow down, embrace the water, and dance through every unexpected moment.