Venice
Trip Start
Nov 23, 2005
1
107
133
Trip End
Feb 27, 2007
Venice,
Italy
Friday, September 15, 2006
We had not planned to come to Venice. So we were not prepared. We had no map or guide book and knew nothing about the city, other than it was full of canals. After we got our bags and made our way off the ferry we discovered there is a free bus. It takes you into the main part of the city. After the bus dropped us off we headed over to a building that had a huge sign on the front, it read Hotel Reservations
Attractive building in a side canal
. When I went in to ask if they could find us a room, they said they don't do hotel reservations anymore. So I'm not sure what they do then? We made our way to a tourist information, but they were of little help. They don't do hotel reservations either. They handed us a list of hotels and their phone numbers. This was not of much use to us. A map with hotels marked on it and a rough idea of their prices would be of the best use to us. We started to wander around looking for accommodation. This is not an easy thing to do in Venice. You have to lug your bags over the canal bridges which have a lot of stairs. We went down a small alley way and managed to find a room for 90 euros, that equals $135 Canadian, a steal for Venice. We were lucky to find it since it was the weekend and it gets very busy. The rooms in this hotel are usually 150 euros, but this was a small room that was cheaper. Small was an understatement. It was the smallest room on the planet! There was only about a 2 1/2 foot aisle beside the bed. It was not even a double bed. They call it a French bed, it's like a single and a half. The bathroom was somewhat small as well, but being Europe they manage to cram a bidet into it. The shower was so small we would hit our elbows while we washed. It was almost impossible to bend over to wash your legs. Why don't they skip the bidet and make the shower bigger? Despite all this the hotel staff were really nice
Boat racing through the canals
. The price also included one of the best breakfasts we have had in a long time. A buffet with hard boiled eggs, toast, yogurt, fruit, cereal, tea and coffee. We love hearing people talk here. The language is so musical sounding and they talk with so much expression and movement. We were able to pick up words very easily. It is much easier than Greek. You will be surprised by how many words you already know. Hello is bonjourno, welcome is prego, goodbye is ariva derche or they just say ciao, and thanks is gracie. Our favorite word was scuzzi. We laughed when we found out this was really the word for excuse me. At home we had seen a silly Subway sandwich commercial featuring Italian bread. They kept using the word scuzzi, but we thought they had made it up. We enjoyed going around the city saying scuzzi when necessary.
We discovered the evening meal is eaten late here as well. You won't see most restaurants even open until 7:30pm or later. There were lots of pizzerias, sandwich shops and bakeries. The food displayed in the windows was enough to make you drool, especially the baked goods and pastries. Some of them are quite reasonable to eat at, especially if they are a stand up place or you do take away. Of course there are amazing pasta places and lots of wine and olive oil specialty shops.
There were lots of interesting shops to look at, there were lots of different things to shop for. There is a nearby island that is part of Venice called Murano. It is very famous for it's hand blown glass. The same technique has been used for over a thousand years. It is really expensive, even the smallest piece will break your wallet
bridges over a canal
. There are shops full of beautiful carnival masks. Some are very elaborate and decorated with feathers and incredible detail. Others are in animal forms, like cats or look like opera masks. They can run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Fashion is definitely a key word here. The clothes are amazing. The people are always dressed well. Even during the rain the ladies have designer gum boots and matching scarves. There are shops full of Italian leather shoes and coats. Even the kids clothes are highly fashionable. They are still big into fur coats here too.
It is such an different lifestyle in Venice because of the canals. All daily activities revolve around the water. You hail private taxi cabs in the canal just like you would in a street, it's really bizarre. There are also larger bus boats, they are much cheaper than the private cabs. We took a boat ride of the Grand Canal. It is a 3.2km long ribbon of water that loops through the city like an inverted S. The most important thing to remember in Venice, don't step off the curb!
We passed by beautiful buildings and churches. Everything has to be done by water
buildings reflecting in the water
. We saw the garbage boat, the fire boat, the police boats, and courier boats taking large stacks of people's luggage to their hotels. You even come by boat from the airport! There is also the ambulance boat, a funeral boat, and the Coca cola delivery boat. Of course the canals are filled with the famous gondolas. If you are really lucky you can spot a flower filled one delivering a bride and groom from the church. There was not much singing done by the gondoliers. We only heard a few of them doing it. Walking along side the canals and over the many bridges is a really unique experience. During the main hours of the day the boat traffic gets very busy. You have to know the rules of the canals well, and be able to handle your boat with great precision. The grand canal during morning up until midday is chaotic with traffic. Small, medium and large boats are weaving around each other in all directions.
Yes Venice is really sinking, but we were told not to worry. It is not happening at such a fast pace that will have you drowning overnight while you're sleeping in your hotel room. They have done things to try and minimize the amount, but it is still at an average of a half inch a year. In some places they have had to raise the sidewalks. We saw buildings with windows and doors that clearly used to be higher above the water line
Busy traffic in the Grand Canal
. Most people's homes, if you walk out the front door it opens right into the water! Not a place you could live if you sleep walk.We spent one day wandering around St Marks Square and St. Marks basilica. The basilica is a fine example of Romanesque-Byzantine style architecture. Some of it dates back to the 12th century. It is beautiful inside and out. It is full of old frescoes and gold gilding. The marble floors are in unique patterns. There is a clock tower which gives you an amazing 360 degree view of the area. It is a totally different perspective looking at the rooftops of the city, and very strange because from this view you can't see any of the canals. It looks like a normal city. The square is very large and surrounded by beautiful buildings that have many columned archways. There is a big attraction of pigeon feeding. Trafalgar square in London has nothing on this place. There were thousands of pigeons. Each time a person would show up with a small bag of seeds they would be covered and surrounded by pigeons. Unfortunately people do not realize what a hazard this is creating. We saw more than one pigeon that had become victim to being stepped on or crushed in the chaos. Poor pigeons.
We went to the area known as the Jewish Ghetto. Ghetto not meaning a bad neighborhood like how it has become known in North America
canal intersection
. This area was instituted by the Venetian Republic in 1516 as a compulsory residence for the Jewish people. It has five old synagogues. Some of them the oldest ones in existence. There is also a square with memorials to the many Jewish people taken from the community and murdered during the holocaust. It was a very nice area to stroll through. It was quiet and tranquil compared to the bustle of the main canal areas. We went across the Rialto bridge. It is a stone bridge completed in the 16th century to replace a wooden pontoon bridge. It was once the only link between the two banks of the Grand Canal. There is supposed to be a house nearby the bridge where Marco Polo once resided, but we couldn't find it and nothing seemed to mark where it was on our maps. We also went to view the Ponte dei Sospiri, or in English known as the Bridge of Sighs. It leads to the prison, the prisoners would sigh as they were made to cross and face their sentence on the other side.
We had a great time in Venice and wished we could keep traveling around Italy, especially since Rome was only 3 hours away. We can only see so many places and we thought if we only see one place in Italy, Venice was the one. It was a good place to stop off at so we could continue heading west into Europe. We will definitely have to come back to see more of the country.
Next stop, Frankfurt, Germany, just for one night as a stopover between flights.
