Friday, April 2, 2010

Therapy and Venice

I've been doing therapy on my newly repaired knee for the past month and haven't had a chance to travel for a while. Therapy has been going well and my knee is feeling better everyday. I'm not quite surrounded by elite athletes like I had been in the past. This time around, I go to therapy and listen to older Italian women talk about what they plan on cooking everyday for the next week. In fact, food is basically the only thing talked about during the few hours I'm in therapy each day. It's also normal for various cakes and limoncello to be passed out during the course of therapy. Needless to say, it's not the intense atmosphere of the Olympic Training Center training room. My therapist understands the athlete mentality though, having been a professional soccer player. He pushes me more than he would his other clients, which is exactly what I want. After about 4 hours of therapy a day for the past month, I've been able to get back to traveling...

NOTE: I did have a little bit of a set back with my surgery. While I was at therapy last week my therapist noticed that the scab around my scar didn't look that great...in fact it was infected. I headed to the clinic to have it looked at. When the nurse started to clean out the scar, I heard him say the Italian equivalent of "WOW!" Being curious about what he was looking at, I asked if I could see too. When I sat up and looked at my knee, I saw that the scar was completely opened and I could see all the way to my bone. WOW was right...I wasn't quite ready to see that and I almost passed out! I laid back while he finished up, trying to take deep breathes so that I wouldn't pass out. He stitched me back up again and they released me after making sure that I was able to stand up without falling over. Not a huge deal, but it's just another thing to have to deal with.

My first trip post surgery was to Venice. Of course, I'd heard quite a bit about Venice over the years, but I'd never been there before. I had been getting knee advice over the past few weeks from my old physical therapist from the OTC and she mentioned that the USA Women's Gymnastics Team had a competition close to Venice. I thought it would be a good chance to see the canals, watch Team USA, and have her take a look at my knee, so I took the train up to Venice for the weekend.

When I took that first step out of the Venice Santa Lucia train station and saw the Scalzi Bridge over the Grand Canal I couldn't believe that it was all real. I doubt there is any other city in the world as unique as Venice. For the next few hours I got lost down the streets and canals. I think that's the best way to see Venice. Forget the map. I eventually found all the main sites, but I saw so many other things that I would have missed if I had just followed a guide book.

I woke up early the next morning and took the water taxi to the island of Murano. This island is where some of the most beautiful glass pieces in the world are made. The canals are lined with shop after shop each selling endless amounts of small glass pieces. After a while the number of shops gets a little ridiculous, but it still worth seeing. The best part of the side trip was watching some glass blowers work. It's a pretty interesting watching the glass being made. If you ever take a trip to Venice make 20min the trip to Murano.

When I travel alone, it always makes the trips a little better when I can find some other travelers to hang out with. In Venice, I found a great group of Americans who were also traveling. We saw the sites during the day and went out to the bars at night. Three of the girls convinced me to take a gondola ride and it turned out to be awesome. It always seemed like taking a gondola ride was something I would do with a girlfriend or wife, but I guess three girls isn't so bad...haha. It's not the cheapest 30min ride in the world, but it's worth it. We all ended up having an amazing lunch in Piazza San Marco. We bought prosciutto, cheese, bread, wine, and fruit and sat in front of the Doge's Palace while we ate. Doesn't get much better than that.

Oh, one other thing about Venice. All around the city are these signs trying to rally support for Venice to host the 2020 Olympics. WHAT?!! Italians are a funny bunch. They do a lot things very well, but organization isn't one of their strengths. I don't remember seeing one stadium, let alone the MANY stadiums needed for the Games. Olympics in Venice...nice thought, but not gonna happen.

Overall, the Venice trip was great...and Team USA won the competition. The weather is getting better out here and I'm am really looking forward to my spring/summer trips. Traveling during the winter was fantastic, but I'm definitely more of a warm weather guy. I've got some great trips I'm planning for the summer...the next few months should be pretty fun.