Wedding in Venice!

     Yesterday was the wedding ceremony of Korey and Sabina (Corey is one of Stephen's co-workers and Sabina is Corey's Italian fiancee).  The wedding was in Venice and since it is on the Italian coast, it was a long day!  Stephen and I left the apartment at 8:50 and arrived in Brescia, where Corey and Sabina live, at 10:00.  While waiting for the bridal party to get ready, a large group of us went to a nearby cafe for a quick coffee before getting on the two-hour ride on the tour bus to Venice.  We had some small sandwiches on the bus and arrived in Venice around 1:00.  In Venice you cannot travel by car; they solely use gondolas and water taxis for transportation around the island, so after getting off the tour bus we got on some water taxis and headed towards a different part of the island.

     We got off the water taxi near the church, and we immediately went inside and began the service.  It was Russian orthodox and while the officiant spoke some Italian, I did not understand what was  happening.  The ceremony was much longer than other weddings to which I have been; the officiant did almost all of the talking (and singing) while the couple and witnesses stood by listening.  Afterwards, Corey and Sabina both had to kiss a crown and then wear it, and then all four of them walked around the table a few times, and that was about it.

     After the ceremony was finished we threw rice outside of the church and stood around talking.  Corey and Sabina also had their newborn baby baptized while we were there, and since I have never been to a baptismal of this sort, it was really different.  It was also very long and in a different language, and the baby (which is almost always exteremly quiet and calm) cried very loudly while it was being annointed with water.  The officiant also took the baby and dipped her into the fountain of water and oil three and then raised her up out of the water about three or so times.  Of course, at this point, the baby was hysterical.  After that it was some more annointing, and then that was finished.

     Corey and Sabina got in a fancy gondola and then took pictures around the city for an hour while everyone else got dinner because by this time it was 6:00 and we had not eaten since the small sandwiches on the bus at noon.  After dinner we met up with everyone in Piazza San Marco and took another water taxi ride back to the bus.  The bus ride home was much more quiet, and we arrived back in Brescia around 10:00.  It was a long day with a lot of walking and sitting, but the city was beautiful and the water taxis were a lot of fun!