Lessons from Venice: Leaving Day

My last half day in Venice was tearful.  Mom and I were up early so she could catch the 7:15am water bus to the airport and I was hoping to squeeze in a bit of last minute sightseeing.  We had been up later than we planned finishing up in the studio and packing our suitcases (why does it always take such a long time to throw a week's worth of dirty clothes back into a suitcase?).  I was planning on waiting at the dock until the water bus arrived to see mom off, but once again my stomach had other ideas so we hugged and said a quick good-bye before I booked it back to the hotel.  The next several hours were spent in physical and emotional agony.  

I made one last trip downstairs to the studio to return our unused packing supplies and say a quiet farewell to the place that had become like a sanctuary during the last week.  I was really sad to leave such a creative and inspiring place...and to say good-bye to a lovely group of creative and inspiring women.  I wandered out into the courtyard garden to take some photos of the peaceful space and wished that I had taken time to sit out there and enjoy a coffee at some point during my stay.  "Next time," I told myself.

The courtyard just starting to show signs of spring.

A colorful pillar displaying so many of the beautiful colors of Orsoni smalti.

On my way through the lobby of Domus Orsoni I also stopped to snap some photos of the absolutely incredible mosaic work that captured my attention each time I walked by and caused me to re-think what I knew about color and composition.  At that point I had already reconciled with myself that I would definitely be returning to this place to practice my newly acquired mosaic skills and to do a lot more exploring.

I love this collection of pieces!

Wow!

Our home-away-from-home during our week in Venice.

These pieces were shown at the world's fair in Paris!

It is almost impossible to believe that this is a mosaic!

One of Antonella's pieces.  Simply beautiful!

A close up of the rose and border details.

Just as I was about to unlock the door to my room I saw Monika leave hers and Astrid, who must have heard both of us, popped her head out to talk to us.  After staying up until some unthinkable hour, Astrid had completed her eagle mosaic.  Together the three of us returned to the studio to admire her incredible piece and to take an official photo of Astrid with the finished product.  I could tell that she couldn't have been prouder.  

After who knows how many hours in the studio, the eagle is finished!

A close up of Astrid's amazing piece!

By this time I was feeling pretty awful, but decided to join my other three classmates for a final coffee at a favorite cafe not far from the hotel.  It was a glorious day with the sun shining off of the water and we sat outside and took in our surroundings one last time.  I could hardly keep it together knowing that this good-bye would be final and that there was a good chance the four of us might never meet again.  No matter what the circumstance, good-byes are always difficult but in the last seven days I had truly come to admire and appreciate this city and the people I encountered here.  I know that one of my faults is being too quick to give away my heart, but in this case I think the admiration was justified.  Finally it was time to run a few last minute errands (to the post office in order to send off some postcards of course), grab my suitcase, turn in my key, and head off to the airport to catch my flight.  I parted from the ladies and tried to pull myself together in preparation for a long day of travel that was to come.

Lucia on her way to meet us for a coffee!

As I waited on the imbarco to catch the water bus to the airport an elderly woman tapped me on the arm and asked in Italian about my nationality.  I replied "Americano" but mentioned that I live in South Korea.  She smiled and nodded.  A British couple happened to overhear this exchange and we had a nice chat during the trip to the airport about teaching abroad and traveling.  Although I had a deep realization during this trip that South Korea is not really my heart's desire, teaching overseas has opened so many doors to the world that would have potentially remained closed and sealed had I decided to remain stateside.  Venice was one of them.  My heart sank a little as I watched the islands fade into the distance and the airport come into focus.  Checking in was a breeze and after passing through security I kept a lookout for mom, who's flight had been delayed until after my departure.  She spotted me first and we spent the next hour and a half chit chatting and coming up with a plan so she wouldn't have to sleep in the airport in NYC since she was certain to miss her connection back to Portland.  Thankfully we met a lovely young woman in the same predicament who was happy to be mom's travel buddy on the return trip.  We said our good-byes for the second time that day and I was on my way back to Seoul via Istanbul.  I don't remember much about the next two and a half hours, but have vivid memories of the seven hour layover in Turkey.  This is when I started the really emotional process of sorting out a week's worth of feelings and memories.  I spent a majority of my time sitting at a table in an open area reading, writing, and thinking...all done with tears streaming down my face.  The ten hour flight back to Seoul was pretty brutal.  I felt terrible, slept in fits, and did my best to keep down what little I ate.  It goes without saying that I was in no condition to work on Monday...so I didn't.  Thank goodness for those emergency sub plans I had made in advance!  With the trip now history, it was time to get back to real life.  Sigh....