The revelation of an invisible city

by Paola Vazquez (Ecuador)

A leap into the unknown Italy

I was there, in the middle of the sea, a boat was protecting me from sinking in the water. It was all fog around me, no visible figures, no blue sky, no sounds, my senses were all shutted down by my surroundings. I felt threatened by the feeling of lonelyness that penetrated my body. Suddenly, as I was there in the middle of nowhere looking at the horizon something started to appear, I was able to distinguish different shapes: a tower, a dome, rooftops and all together drew the horizon of the place to be discovered. "We have arrived to Venezzia", said the navigator of the boat. I stepped out of the boat and in the deck of the island. I was no longer in constant motion as I was for so long in the boat, finally I was responsible for my movements again. I was directed to a place were they sold souveniers from the country and the city. I glanced at those objects and noticed their singularity. Italy, the third country I visited on that trip after being amazed by the Eiffel Tower, in France and the Swiss Alps in Switzerland, had a bigger challenge in making me impress. After traveling in a boat surrounded by fog in total silence, the voices of the people surrounding me became much more noticeable. Although I tried to understand their languaje, their gestures and tone made me feel like an outsider, like a person who enters a museum full of pieces of art and is only meant to observe and appreciate the color, the message, the tecnique. My sense of sight intensified as I entered "Piazza San Marco", the proportions of this place were overwhelming. An empty place where only a tall brick tower raises as a symbol of importance. In front of it, San Marcos Church. A great architectural piece where the depth and colors of the facade make you wonder about its inside. I understood the purpose of the boat traveling. The city was kilometers away, in that distance the visitor had the necessary time to shut down his senses to listen to his heart beat and prepare his eyes for the surprise gathered in one island. Cities nowadays tend to overwhelm us with big lighted posters, Venice, changes the whole perspective. Its identity becomes the lighthouse of the city making it a place from which you are unable to leave without wanting to come back