The Quest for the Holy Grail....or just a hair dryer

Last night there was a slight change in plans...I ended up not going to Carnevale, but I did get to see the fireworks from my room, which were rather impressive I must say! I took some pictures of them, but the pictures (obviously) don't do the fireworks justice:

I like how the first two have "faces" in them. Not quite sure if that was on purpose or coincidental.

And in the style of Carnevale, here's a picture of me with a mask:

It's a rather scary mask, but I liked how it was held up by a pole thingy. It reminded me of Carnevale in the movie Casanova. Speaking of Casanova's times (okay so I wasn't really, but now I am!), the island where I'm staying (San Servolo) was used as a psychiatric hospital from then until the 1960s. Apparently they had passed a law in Venice saying that all mental patients must be separated from "normal people." The island next to us was also used as a psychiatric ward (this one was for men, that one for women). In the past 10 years, both islands have been renovated and reopened for use. This one is a school with paint-chipped walls and a brick wall with iron barred-"windows" around it, that one is a luxurious 5 star hotel with a pool, spa, and 3-hole golf course. I found it quite interesting how they could take the same buildings and convert them to such different places.

Anyway, on to the holy grail and hair dryers. I asked at reception (yes, I must admit this does have more of a hotel feel than a dorm room feel to it) where the nearest Baptist church is, and she asked in a rather rude tone, "you want to go to church??!" I answered that yes in fact I would like to, and she grumbled as she called someone up (maybe the 411 Italian equivalent?) and asked where a Baptist church might be. Turns out it's the next town over, and I'd have to take a boat to the bus terminal and then a bus to the city, and then find my way to wherever the church may be located in the city. She asked "why don't you go to a Catholic church instead?" I'm thinking I'll watch Pastor Burnham online on Sundays.

Tonight I am privileged enough to have a private night tour of the Basilica di San Marco, without tourists. I've been told that soon I will come to resent the presence of tourists, but I think they didn't quite establish good rapport with me the first day I got here with my 100 pounds of stuff. There are 60,000 residents of the historic center of Venice (which is shaped like a fish, how cool is that?!), and everyday 1 million or more tourists pass through the city. I can't even imagine how annoying it must be for Venetians to have that many tourists around.

Actually, I find it much more annoying that all shops here are extremely tiny, and don't have anything you need. Pharmacies don't have hair dryers, neither do supermarkets. Well, I guess they'd be better described as a mom-and-pop grocery stores (think the Ephporium size, in Williamstown), because by the end of the day they've run out of bread, milk, and half of everything they stock. It was more bare than a Florida Publix the night before a category 5 hurricane is scheduled to strike. So anyway, today marks my second attempt at finding a hair dryer and straightener, among other things. I was directed to the electronics store, so I'm hoping to find a cheap microphone there too so I can get Skype up and running tonight or tomorrow. So now I bid thee adieu to continue my quest for....a hair dryer. Arrivederci!