I coerced Kelly to come for a run with me from an intense nap that she was taking. It poured and thundered most of the afternoon. It was humid and the city looked refreshed after the rain stopped. We ran a good portion of the city and it was a really thrilling agility run. We had to weave in and out of people and dodge narrow alleyways. It rained pretty hard but the slits in the stone walkways seemed to take care of the precipitation without any problems.
I’ve been meaning to talk about how docile and well mannered the Venetian dogs are. I found three exceptions on this run. I happened to be staring at one thinking how friendly he looked and within in the second I thought that, he lunged at me. Some profanities were mentioned but we forged on. Most are unleashed and don’t cause any problems. They follow their owners around as any true obedient companion is supposed to do. The second instance was a pup leashed to a railing. He was barking and his owner repetitively hit him until he behaved. The third was a well tempered bull dog mix wearing a muzzle.
I have not seen many runners at all in Venice. I saw a few where we were staying in Florence. People blatantly stared at us. They gawked at my robotic ACL brace as well. I saw one man today while we were out shopping wearing a full length ACL brace and I had complete and utter sympathy.
The run and the rain were great. It acted as a sort of cleansing from the gluttonous behavior I’ve been subjecting myself to, as well as giving the city a clean start.
View from my bedroom during the storm.
Italians tend to exercise in sport facilities in a formalized way, not in public. The only visible exception are cyclists and the occasional pickup soccer game. My guess is the runners you saw in Florence were foreigners (did you see any Italians there? It's rare).
ReplyDeleteFor a real thrill exercising - go for a swim in the canals.
Our Venetian Professor frightened us on day one claiming that if you touch canal water, you'll contract blood poisoning.
ReplyDeleteI've been avoiding it...
I don't think the Florence runners were Italian, but the hostel was right next door to the soccer stadiums! Too bad I'm missing the world cup experience. Well, I think I'll catch the beginning.