Lost Crumbs

Getting lost in Venezia is a given. Even the locals will find themselves lost when they go to a more unfamiliar sestieri (basically a borough). This past Friday (I think it was Friday, but my days get confused here), everyone awoke at a decent hour except for me and maybe one other person. So everyone left the house, taking off for Lido (the long and thin island in Venice with the beautiful beaches) or Murano (glass making) and Burano (oddly-colored houses). I was still in bed. When I finally got up, the house was eerily silent. Finding only one person here, who was studying for some unknown reason, I decided to take the day to go out on my own. I crossed the Accademia and headed off in the general direction of the Rialto and St. Mark's Basilica. Of course, I made it to the outskirts of the Rialto, where there are many expensive and touristy shops... but then I just couldn't find my way onto the bridge! I guess I kept getting distracted by interesting-looking side streets.
So I went down a few of those side streets and got myself ridiculously lost. In thirty minutes of following any groups of people I found, I came upon St. Mark's! I had found my way. So, brave traveler that I am, I decided to make my way home without pulling out the map. I would have lunch (my kind of lunch, as in 4 pm lunch) in a cafe, maybe get a gelato... but first, I would figure out how to get home. So I walked to the water (the grand canal) figuring that Casa Artom is on the grand canal, so it shouldn't be difficult to get there. Except, unknowingly, I turned the wrong way. I just assumed I hadn't circled St. Mark's at any point because I hadn't seen it, so I went in the direction I had come from. I was, of course, wrong.
I walked along the canal for as long as I could stand in the intense midday heat. I was sweating (ew) and getting blisters from my tennis shoes. So I ducked down a calle (street in Venice, though no other Italian city uses this word) to cool off in the shade. As I walked, I realized more and more that I had no idea where I was.
Everything was unfamiliar and oddly quiet. I saw very few people, and those I did see were walking alone for the most part. With intense regret, I opened my purse and pulled out my map. Sigh. I had somehow gotten miles from home. I was about a mile and a half from St. Mark's (if one could possibly go straight in Venice...) and another half a mile to Accademia, which is about a half a mile from home. So I was maybe about three miles from home. Frustrated, I found the street I was on in my map and tried to memorize a couple names of the other calles I would need to take to get to a bigger street.
Clearly, this did not work. I should have known I wouldn't be able to remember those names. I got myself more lost. I was on a street referring to Greeks (I believe "Calle dei Greci"??) and I was NOT prepared to ask for directions. I was going to do this one on my own. My first day out of our area alone, I was going to find my own way. So I walked along the street to see what was there if I kept going... I glanced at a small calle on my left as I passed. Oh wow!
It wasn't a calle at all, but a courtyard. It was narrow and looked just like any calle would, but it ended into a door. And there was another door on either side of the courtyard. It was a little nook of calm in the middle of a labyrinth of confusion. I smiled to myself and even whispered aloud, "This is so cool." Then I pulled out my camera. Hey! I'm a tourist... I can act like it sometimes.

The moment I flipped that baby on, I heard "Ciao!" from somewhere above. I looked around, and up in the window right in front of me, an elderly woman was speaking to me in rapid (but friendly) Italian. I couldn't understand anything she was saying. Between the Venetian dialect, her speed, and the distance between us... sigh. I was completely lost (hehe, in two ways!). "Ciao! Scusa, ma non parlo Italiano," I said slowly. [Those of you who have no clue, that's just 'hi, excuse me, but I don't speak Italian.'] I'm pretty sure it was grammatically incorrect too. However, she expressed understanding "ahh..." and proceeded to speak in (slightly) slower Italian, which I still didn't understand. Somehow I caught a question about what I was doing here (I think she meant in Venice and not intruding on her property... she was being really friendly). So I said "Oh! Studio in Venezia per quattro mesi.... in Dorsoduro." And I pointed in, what I hoped, was the direction of my sestieri. She nodded in understanding and quickly wished me well. She clearly understood that we were going to have a frustrating and confusing conversation if we kept going. So she said, "Ciao!" before I could even tell we were finished talking. I repeated the farewell and left, despite my lack of pictures.
Of course, once around the corner, I took a picture of the street sign and the general area in hopes of finding my way back again. Then I pulled out my map and kept it on me until I got back to St. Mark's (about twenty minutes later) and found a sign for Rialto, which quickly got me to a sign for Accademia. And I eventually made it home, about three hours after I had left.
I guess everyone has to get lost once in Venice.