There weren’t many streets in Venice. This city was made of a lot of islands – more than 100 I think, if I remember correctly from my Wikipedia search - connected by bridges at the weirdest places, forcing people to take meandering roads to everyplace they wanted to go. Of course, the main streets guided you to the main bridges, and you could follow these to go to the main places, yet there were a lot of passages and shortcuts that could help you get to your destination faster. For me, all of these secondary streets seemed like dark alleyways, as they were surrounded by the classic three-floor Venetian buildings ad didn’t seem to have much illumination, so I wasn’t very fond of the idea of going through them by now. I also had to see the main streets at least once, in case I got lost later.

Even if the road was long and tiresome as I was dragging my baggage, all my annoyance was gone. And how could I be annoyed in a place like this! The streets were full of life and happiness. It was amazing how many mask shops I could see; they were everywhere, and the most beautiful masks were displayed, full of colors and shapes, with glitter and feathers, simulating gods, nature, demons. As I was going to need a mask for the carnival, I went into a store after seeing a majestic moon-shaped mask.

Then I saw the price.

Well, who wants an exotic mask anyways? A common mask was good enough!

In the sides of the streets there were small stands that were selling standard masks at a reasonable price. I made a mental note to go there to buy one after leaving my baggage.

After a while, I finally reached my destination: an old green building with three different floors. At that moment I was too tired from dragging my bag and too happy to worry about meeting this mysterious woman, so I knocked and didn’t even doubt for a moment about how was I supposed to socialize with this women whom I knew almost nothing about. I just knew she was a friend of María’s… aunt? mother? Grandmother?

Who was this person that was going to receive me for some days?

“Mamma mía, you must be Katherine!”

Wow! So Italians actually said that?

The woman that opened the door had a nice and friendly face surrounded with brunette curly hair. Her generous curves almost choke me when she hugged me.

“Welcome to my humble home! Come in! ”

I had heard about it but still it surprised me. Venetian houses have a very particular characteristic: the first floor is always quite empty. Giulianna’s house was not different, as we arrived to a floor with no lights and only trash and old stuff piled up.

“When it rains, sometimes the lake floods and the water reach this floor” Giulianna explained to me, as if it was the most normal thing to happen. “So I can’t have much things here, as I would have to move them.”

The second floor was small but cozy. There was the kitchen, a small living room and Guilianna’s own dormitory. She guided me to the third floor, where I found two more dormitory, one of which would be mine. There was a bed and a closet, all decorated with a shiny blue. It was a bit too flashy but it seemed comfortable enough.

“Rest for a while, amore mio, you are surely tired after your trip. I will prepare something for dinner. Oh, and before I forget, did you bring a mask for the carnevale?”

I told her I was thinking on buying a generic mask from the stands, and she seemed horrified with the idea.

“No guest of mine will ever go with a common mask to the carnevale! You can choose from one of my old masks. I am sure we can find one that you like!”

Right there before falling sleep I decided that I liked Giulianna. María, I owed you one.