Of Shoes, and Ships, and Sealing Wax

[akirlu]

Mmmm. Hah. Hummhumhrrrrchm. Is this thing on...?

Goodness me, I guess it's been a while now, hasn't it? I imagine I shall never catch up, if catching up is even the right word for documenting my days and discontents over here on the increasingly inappropriately named LiveJournal. But hey, gotta start somewhere, putting one word in front of another. Or rather after. Because writing anything from the last word backwards would be even harder than writing is anyway. So let me not do that.

So what have I been up to, exactly, besides ignoring LJ for months at a time? Well, Hal and I spent a couple of weeks traveling, back in October. A week in Venice, another in Vienna, with side trips in Italy to Vicenza, Bologna, and Ravenna. (Though clearly that ought to be Vologna, just to keep up the theme of Cities with a V in Their Name.) We picked our timing pretty carefully, to optimize for smaller crowds and least chance of aqua alta flooding, but even taking into account our advance planning we had truly stellar luck with the weather, remarkably fine apartments through AirBnB and Hal's keen eye for great accommodations, and in all had a marvelous time. I've been slowly weeding through the Imperial arsetonne of photos I took on the trip, editing and posting them to flickr as I go. Still haven't gotten beyond Venice, though, so there's quite a lot more to go.

While we were in Venice we got temporary transit passes for the vaporetti (water buses) and took extensive advantage of them to get around. Most of the passenger seats on a vaporetto are inside, like on a bus, but if you go all the way through the back passenger cabin there's a set of glass double doors that lead to a few outside seats at the very back. I discovered this on our first morning in Venice and from then on we made sure to snaffle up outside seats whenever there were any free. Never have I enjoyed a finer "back of the bus" experience, and it's ideal for taking lots and lots of pictures of the passing scenery as you get from place to place. Hence part of the reason for the arsetonne of photos -- I had means, motive, and opportunity.



Before we left the country, though, I spent several weeks scrutinizing my options for shoes for the trip. It's funny: I'm not typically a super girly girl, yet the biggest stumbling block for packing light for me is shoes. Will I have the right shoes that "go" with all my outfits and still let me do what all I plan to do? My usual approach is to pack too many pairs to ensure options; not a good strategy for packing light. The problem was made extra knotty in that we were attending the opera in Venice and Vienna, so I needed shoes I could dress "up." Also there was the danger of flooding in Venice (so ideally good to have waterproof footgear), and we expected to do loads of walking in all our destinations. In the end I bought a pair of black Clarks' wedges. Again with spending triple digits on shoes, but my experience with the Ecco sandals I bought for Sasquan suggested that sometimes spending a bundle on really good shoes is worth it, and yes, again, totally worth it. I walked all over Venice, Vicenza, Bologna, Ravenna, and Vienna in those Clarks and they were comfortable and bouncy and supportive right from the very first day. And still work with a little black dress for the opera. Win. They are admittedly not waterproof, but I decided to bet that the risk of aqua alta wasn't very high and skip the galoshes entirely, and that bet paid off too. So yeah, here's me a convert to buying $100 shoes. Go figure.

Oh, there's so much more. And so much I didn't get to -- never once set foot in a Venetian stationery store for some of that insanely beautiful writing paper, fancy wax seals, or any of that. Never did get out to Burano, either. Bought no masks, rode no gondole. And yet it was a good trip, and good fun. And more on that in the next installment.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photos!

Heh. My idea of packing light is one pair of walking sandals for everything. I really resent the space shoes take up in a suitcase!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Venice is a ridonkulously photogenic place, which helps.

I thought about packing my walking sandals but they're actually pretty bulky, and, in the end, not as versatile a choice with the rest of my travel wardrobe. If I had been going more casual they would have been fine.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

1. The photos. I swoon.
2. The shoes. I need good black shoes for standing in a choir singing, I'm going to buy a pair.
3. Still swooning.
4. I hate having the wrong shoes and they are bulky as fuck, but I still always take 3 pair.
5. I am really happy you're updating here again.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Flatterer. But your swoons are duly noted and appreciated. And I will try to live up to the implied trust that I will keep up the posting here.

With respect to shoes, I ended up with three pair but really could have gotten by on two: the wedges and a pair of loafers. The flats I brought along "for a change" were just not supportive enough for the amount of walking we were doing on a daily basis. Eventually I'll get this figured out. I feel like I'm closer...

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

In my vast old age, it has finally dawned on me that spending stupid money on shoes isn't stupid money spent--it's really very well spent indeed, specially if one is shopping for versatile shoes for travel. I was miserable in Japan because I had the wrong shoes for the amount of walking we did. But when I was in Europe, I had the right shoes all the time and my feet were fine. Don't ever doubt that it's money well spent, even if it feels profligate. I totally support your expenditure.

Also, I'm still here, alive and kickin'! LiveJournal is most certainly and absolutely still live. :-)

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

Almost accidentally, I discovered four years ago that wearing Keen's hiking shoes as my regular daily shoe led to my complete recovery from a rather nasty case of achilles tendinitis which had plagued me for years. I buy one pair a year and still use the old pairs for barn shoes. Even the oldest pair still keeps my feet dry in snow and mud.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Because of the amount of walking I do, I've become a convert to relatively spendy shoes as well. Have been enjoying your photos in various venues. It looks to have been an excellent trip.