Joy of joys, it's ugly cherub day! The day we show our love to the person that matters most.
I don't do Valentine's day. And my wife doesn't expect to either. We find it repulsive that big gestures are made this day when one should be showing their love to another all year round. I can't think of a day I have not said 'I love you' to my wife in the last 4 years. I've known her for almost 5 just to give some context.
We are currently in Venice, in the the Ruzzini Palace Hotel. We were fortunate to have gotten an upgrade - up 2 degrees - from the basic room to a junior suite. Honestly it is like luxury. Now often I hate being stuck inside a hotel for a holiday. But this time around I have enjoyed just lounging around in the warm as the sun streams in through the windows.
We arrived in Venice on Friday, and got a water taxi from the airport all the way to the hotel. Wow. It was cinematic and very fun, watching gloomy, marshy islands go by and the towers of Venice loom ever closer. On a rainy, overcast day Venice can be quite creepy.
Now some may think that I have brought my wife on holiday to Venice for Valentine's day. No. I have not. Almost 3 years ago we got married here, in Palazzo Zenobio. And almost 4 years ago we got engaged (again not on Valetines day). Plus it is the first week of Carnival and also a good opportunity to finally make up for the rather quite Christmas and birthday that I had due to moving country to Germany. I guess it is also a nice chance to celebrate the start of my new job and also the fact that my contract is now being officially extended for the rest of the 3 years. Plus in another 2 weeks we will be moving out of the university guest house and into our new flat where we are allowed to keep pets, and so we can have our cats brought over.
This holiday is the best one ever. I feel relaxed, I have a excellent new job, and life is where I want it to be. The last 3 years have not been the easiest, as there have been some ups and downs but I feel like myself and my wife have come out of it all stronger and happier. I guess it helped that when we got married we were under no delusions that everything would be magically better the next day. Marriage is something you make, not just have dumped on your lap.
Venice of course is important to me in so many ways. It's where I have been on holiday with Sam the most, it is the place of my engagement and wedding, and it is also the subject of my fan ebook for Changeling the Lost. I have read about the city, looked into it's legends, and absorbed as much about it as possible. And so it has been strange coming back having read the books, watched the documentaries and also featured in one of my favourite video games - Assassin's Creed 2. It means that I now longer need to rush about trying to cram in as much of the sights. Instead I can stroll the streets, find the curiosities, wast time having coffee and just truely absorb the place.
The result of all of the above is that Venice seems smaller. Walking between places no longer seems to far. Buildings seem smaller. And at times it feels like the city is even more alive as you notice more features of true Venetian life. Venice, even during Carnival, is actually not that busy, so long as you veer away from Saint Mark's Square.
Perhaps one of the strangest moments came when we were in the public gardens in Castello. This was the main location for one of the stories I ran for my rpg group for Changeling. Now the thing is I have never been to these gardens before. So I was shocked at how my imagination matched reality. There were winding trails past thick clumps of bushes. There were strange classical sculptures that were eroded and looming from out of the hedges. And the trees were tall and let the light filter in. It gave both me and my wife chills. We both imagined that some of the statues could indeed be the dead figures of Gentry, Innamorata, that exuded auras of madness and fear.
So I will leave it there. Sam has plenty of new pictures to post and we still have some time here to enjoy. Instead I will just post this picture of my partner in crime.
Sam I love you.
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