Later in the break between Hilary and Trinity terms, I had the opportunity to go visit a friend from West Point who lives in Italy. He is posted at an Air Force base in northeast Italy, so we were able to visit Venice, Trieste, and Aviona while I was there. I really enjoyed Venice. I was pretty disappointed with the Bridge of Sighs (which the bridge in Oxford is modeled after), but was impressed with San Marco's Plaza, the Grand Canal, and the rest of the city. The narrow alley ways that wind through the city and the dozens of criss-crossing canals provided a feel truly unique to Venice. At some points my friend and I were the only two people in a long alley. A few minutes later we would emerge into a bustling square crowded with tourists, cafes, and street vendors.
The Rialto Bridge.
The view from St. Mark's Campanile (1514), about 323 feet above Venice.
One of dozens of mask shops scattered around the city.
The actual Bridge of Sighs. Biggest. Disappointment. Ever. But still cool to see in person.
Looking down on St. Mark's Clocktower and Piazza San Marco.
Andrew and I in the middle of the Piazzo San Marco.
Trieste was great too. The city's location on the coast very near the Slovenian border has had a profound influence on the cities culture. It is off the beaten path, so it had a truly Italian feel unadulterated by the tourism industry. It was also occupied by many different empires ranging from the Romans to Austro-Hungarians to Napoleon. This diverse history was showcased in the Castello di San Giusto, but was also evidenced throughout the town where modern buildings were sprinkled with Roman ruinss. The close proximity to the sea made seafood a staple in the diet. I experienced this when I ordered the "mixed grill" platter for lunch while we wandered through a boat show taking place along the wharf.
My lunch. Appetizing? I would list what everything is, but I have no idea what I was eating.
Roman ruins outside of the Castle of San Giusto.
I have been busy with Rotary as well. Aside from several more speaking engagements at various clubs, I also went to Ascot to watch some horse racing and Abingdon to race dragon boats.
The racetrack at Ascot was recently rebuilt into a massive and impressive sports venue. There were only about 19,000 people there when I went, but the Royal Ascot in July draws 80,000 people each day for an entire week! My initial strategy of betting on the underdog was thwarted after the first race when the colt I chose finished in last place...as expected. Thus I adopted a new approach of betting on the American-born horse. This method was more successful and when we reached the last race, I was up three or four pounds. The last race was more difficult however because there were three Americans in the pool. I decided to wager my winnings on Bomber Command, confident that the American origins and military name were a winning combination. It wasn't meant to be unfortunately as my horse finished with the other two Americans low (very low) in the standings. Despite this sudden stroke of bad luck, I enjoyed spending the afternoon at the races.
The scholars and our hosts from Rotary.
The Dragon Boat Races are Abingdon-Vesper Rotary Club's primary fundraiser for the year bringing in more than ten-thousand pounds to fund various charities and projects. The eight Oxford scholars we brought combined forces with the Toastmasters Club to form the 16-person team for the race. A few days before the race I reassured our team that even if we weren't the fastest boat in the 35-team field, we were certainly the smartest. After the first race, this reassurance seemed to be the only claim we could stake as we turned in the third slowest time out of all the boats. Between races, we helped the hosting club by cooking and selling food at one of their stands. This gave us the much needed time to rest our bodies (from the minute-long race) and rethink our strategy. For the second race, we shuffled the order thinking that improper weight distribution may have slowed us down. We also thought that perhaps a little bit of experience and a better feel for the boat would help us be more competitive. Our renewed confidence was immediately shattered when our second race was two seconds faster, but still in the bottom five. For the final race of the day, we decided to set a more reasonable goal and just try to break a minute, about 5 seconds faster than our second time. Somehow we turned in a blistering 55 second run, taking 10 seconds off our previous time and jumping into 5th place overall!
Cooking some sausages!
Before the races, I had been asked to submit our team's strategy to the announcers so that they could discuss it while we were competing. I wrote "lull the opposition into a false sense of security by coming out of the gates slowly, then turn on the jets and come roaring back for a dramatic come-from-behind victory." What the announcers didn't know--and no one else (including myself) knew either--was that our strategy was not meant for just one race, but for the whole day.
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