This is waaaay overdue...scusa tanto!
From Helsinki, we flew to Venice, the city on stilts. There are no cars in Venice, it's a pedestrian and boating city through and through. This also means that Google maps doesn't work, so we got lost a little more here than in other cities. That was ok, though, because part of the joy of traveling is embracing the journey. I found Venice to be particularly beautiful; every alley was picturesque and quaint, every piazza looked like it was the focus of a postcard.
We arrived on a boat, in fact, and spent a lot of time taking the vaporettos (water taxis) all around the islands situated there. The water is a beautiful turquoise color, which complements the terra cotta roofs and constant blue sky perfectly. The Grand Canal is the busiest thoroughfare, full of police boats, taxis, gondolas, and other water craft. It seems like a very romantic way to get around on a regular basis.
When we arrived at our docking station, we pulled our suitcases over the cobblestones, across the Rialto Bridge to the airbnb place we were staying in. It was an actual B&B, so we were taken care of nicely by the owner and her American-speaking associate Dmitri.
We wasted no time in going out to see some of the sites. First up: food, what else. The nice thing about staying at an airbnb place is that the hosts have lots of suggestions for local, non-touristy spots. We were not disappointed at our first restaurant. We sat outside and shared a bottle of wine and I had an arugula, prosciutto and Parmesan platter that was delicious. Fortified, we ventured farther into the city.
We meandered through the narrow streets to the San Marco piazza, the famous piazza where the big cathedral. palace, and lots of museums are located. It is placed right at the opening of the canal and, historically, this was the portal to the world of wealth, elegance, and commerce when Venice was a European powerhouse, back in the 14th century.
We rode to the top of the campanile (bell tower) to get a 360 view of the city...stunning. I think Galileo may have used the campanile for some of his observations of the sky. I can see why - it would be a perfect place to star gaze and contemplate life.
After that, we rode over to the island of Murano, known for its beautiful Venetian glass. The island is one workshop after another. We got a quick glimpse of some of the glassblowers at work. After picking up some souvenirs, we got our first (of many) gelato. La dolce vita!
Venice has a lovely tradition of having ciccetti (chee-cheh-ti) before dinner. Italians, like most of Europe, eats dinner much later than Americans - around 9 or 10, sometimes later. Around 6 or 7, they partake in small finger foods and wine to tide them over until dinner. Here's the way it was explained to us: "The food is just so you can keep drinking the wine." No more needs to be said, sir, that's just fine with us. We found a quiet little bar tucked into a back alley where we saw no tourists - usually a good sign that there's decent food to be found. We had our ciccetti and talked, soaking up the ambiance of Italy and it's romanticism. Later, we found dinner outside on a restaurant patio near the Rialto bridge. It was delicious!
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The next day we went to St. Mark's Basilica. It is the third largest church in the world. I had already seen the second largest (St. Paul's in London) and we would see the first largest later in our trip in Rome (St. Peter's). St. Mark's was beautiful and quite a patchwork of influences. There seemed to be a lot of pillaging that went on to create the facade of the cathedral. Lots of Byzantine architecture, along with Roman and Gothic. We purchased tickets to ascend the steps to the top of the dome. There was an interesting exhibit about the cathedral up there plus views to boot. There were four bronze horses that were a focal point for the cathedral. They have seen the world, having been taken from Italy in the 1200's, stolen from Constantinople, taken by Napoleon and then returned to Venice permanently (presumably). I thought they were beautiful.
After the basilica, we took a break from sight-seeing by strolling along the Rialto market and buying some fresh fruit to eat on the bank of the canal. The colors and textures made for great pics, don't you think? I think markets and grocery stores are a great place to really feel the essence of a city. It's an authentic life situation where people are joined by common interests. Food does that for people, which is why food is such an important part of the Italian culture. It's the ultimate comfort food. It brings people together.
Back to the piazzo di San Marco to wander through the Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. The Doge was the head of state in Venice long ago and his palace was in the midst and part of all the important aspects of the city - it encompassed the living quarters of the city's leader, the jail, the judicial quarters of the government, and the venue for some of Europe's most lavish parties. There were amazing frescoes all over the ceilings and walls of the judicial chambers, an impressive military cache of armory and weapons. We got to go over the Bridge of Sighs, named because prisoners would supposedly sigh as they caught their last glimpses at the outside world before being locked up.
Gondolas crossing under the Bridge of Sighs
We did a LOT of walking that day. After the Palazzo Ducale, we went clear across the island to find the Wake Forest study abroad house, just to say hi. It took us about an hour to get there and when we finally found it, we discovered that it was being renovated and were (rudely) turned away by the contractor. Oh well. Our feet had had enough by that time and we decided to catch a vaporetto to take us around the Grand Canal partly so we could get back where we needed to go and partly just because it was nice to go for a boat ride. By this time, it was about to be sunset, so the lighting was lovely. In the middle of our ride, there was a pop-up summer thunderstorm (think North Carolina gully washers. It was over in about 5 minutes, leaving just as quickly as it came.). We did manage to jump inside the covered part right as it hit, so we didn't get soaked like some others. What was fascinating to watch, though, was how quickly the water level rose. It's easy to see why this is a sinking city. Waves were crashing from the canal onto the sidewalks and you could see business owners rushing to get makeshift barricades in place so that their stores weren't flooded. One hurricane and this city is toast. They are playing a dangerous game.
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The following day was our last in Venice. We went over to the Naval Museum and arsenal. We saw lots of old and interesting boats. We also rode over to Burano, another small island close by, which is famous for its lace. What was remarkable about Burano is the colorful houses. They were vibrant and looked like they should be in the Caribbean or Charleston or something. Again, the blue sky and turquoise water made the scenery just pop. We ate lunch there and rode back over to Venezia to collect our things and make it to the train station to go to Florence.
Entrance to the naval port
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Other insights about Venice:
A comical thing happened the first morning we were there. The owner at our B&B, Andrea, served us breakfast each morning. She was an older woman and spoke not a lick of English, so we had several lost-in-translation moments. The first morning, we didn't quite know how it was going to work logistically, but we got a loud bang on the door when she was ready to serve. When we opened the door, she promptly bustled in and started chattering away in Italian and waving her hands in the general direction of all our stuff, strewn across the little table and chairs by the window. We didn't understand at first, but I figured out that she wanted us to clear off the table so she could set things down and we could eat there. The way she was looking at us, we got the feeling like she thought us heathens for not reserving the table for the breakfast items. Of course we obliged her and kept it a sacred space after that. It was like having an Italian nonna scold us. It didn't have all the amenities of a hotel, but that kind of character was what we were looking for, honestly, in airbnb.
It's a city that depends on tourism. There's really nothing else that holds up the economy. It is certainly a beautiful city, but the feel of the city is not exactly authentic. It's hard to get away from "tourist menus" and over-priced experiences, like gondola rides. When we ate dinners, we were always approached, even inside restaurants, by hawkers selling cheap stuff for sky high prices. That got a little old, hence finding the places where Italians went meant not only good food, but also peace while you were eating. This became of utmost importance to us.
Venice was a great place to start our Italian journey. From there on out, the heat and sun became major factors in how we maneuvered around cities and structured our days. One of the nice things throughout Italy was the free water fountains in the center of many piazzas. They used to be wells and supplied water for neighborhoods. At first we were skeptical to drink the water but quickly ditched that idea because of the convenience and free-ness. We felt like we had found Atlantis when we turned the corner and found a fountain.
I probably remarked 10 times that I was a great planner and packer. We both packed all of our things in carry-on bags, which were easy to lift up and down stairs and into train compartments and airplane overhead bins. We saw people hauling suitcases that looked like they stuffed their entire houses into them. In Venice, especially, I was redeemed in my careful planning because there are stairs to go over every bridge, which are every 10 feet, approximately. And the cobblestones certainly don't make it easier. Pack light, travel easy...that's my motto.
From Venice, we took the train to Florence. The train ride was beautiful, easy, quick. I think it's the best way to travel around Italy. I promise to write a post about Florence soon!
