Venice Hotels
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the glorious floating city
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Joined once again (after some very long flights) by the lovely Caroline we set out to explore the romantic city of Venice. From everything that is said, published, filmed, and reported about this city (including the 'Venice' level in Tomb Raider II which I was constantly reminded of), I had a good idea what to expect... but all that still didn't prepare me for the magical quality of the city, its twisting canals and narrow sidewalks, the ornate buildings and colorful decorations, crossing numerous bridges while controlling the desire to take a picture from every single one. Even riding the water bus (yes there is a whole system of lines, stops, and stations for the water buses) was a unique experience.
In fact we were able to ride in just about every form of water transport available- water bus, traghetti, water taxi, gondola, and even a water ambulance (more on that later). It was a good time to visit- the weather was cool, sometimes cold, but even though St. Marks Square and other areas still had large numbers of tourists, it wasn't the high season when it is hot and even more packed with people (hard to imagine). It was still easy to escape the crowds and see some of the local Venice life.
After lugging the bags via water bus down the Grand Canal to our hotel, we set out to explore and just wander the city taking in the atmosphere and uniqueness. It didn't feel as if the city was falling apart, but it was apparent that the water level has risen in comparison to past years- often stairs leading to the water level from the sidewalk had only the top stair above water. However while noticing that you can't help but be impressed by the sheer willpower and effort to build this city out of low lying swamp, the grandeur of the buildings that were built, and the perserverance to keep it functioning for hundreds of years.
We wandered through St. Marks Square, the most well-known and hence most crowded area of Venice, took a traghetto (a quick, cheap, and easy gondola ride straight across the Grand Canal), ate some gelato and enjoyed some beers (but not together), and managed to miss normal dinner time and rely on the one thankfully close restaurant that served food past 8 PM. This would prove to be a recurring problem in Italy of timing our meals to fall within the narrow bands of acceptable eating times, which seem to be 11:33 to 12:41 for lunch and 6:46 to 7:38 for dinner, depending on your restaurant of course.
The next day we leisurely covered the Rialto bridge, got lost, missed lunch, went through St. Marks Square again, and visited some of the sights. Our hotel was relatively close to St. Marks but it was a bit annoying after walking through the square the 5th time for one sole reason- what, someone please tell me, is so special about feeding the pigeons in St. Mark's Square? I can say with some authority that there are pigeons in, um, 99.9% of every city in this world and they are little more than flying rats that crap all over everything.
So why in this city which is so beautiful would you want to buy pigeon feed (readily available) and sit still for hours to try and get them to eat off of you? Despite this annoyance St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace are truly impressive and worth at least one trek through crowds of pigeon-ogling tourists to visit. The highly detailed mosaic work inside the basilica, the view from the roof, and the ornate rooms of the Doge's Palace next to the dank dungeons across the Bridge of Sighs were well worth dodging the pigeon crap and battling the crowds to see.
After a nerve-wracking fever-filled night Caroline was so sick we decided to go to the hospital and instead of tackling the stairs and water buses we called an ambulance. Thanks to the patient and friendly help by the staff at Ca' Zose where we stayed they finally came within easy walking distance and she spent the day recuperating in the hospital. The doctors were very friendly, the services were free (at least they never asked us to pay), and luckily it was nothing serious and she was able to leave that day after seeing a side of Venice most people don't and getting a cool ride in the water ambulance (at least for me, since Caroline didn't remember it).
The last few days were spent resting and traveling a bit further away from the main sights. The view from the bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore, a church facility on its own island, was fantastic and really shows the extent of the settlement of the lagoon. We bussed over to the glass-making island of Murano, and explored various ornate churches in squares across the city. At one point I looked at a guide to the Venetian Lagoon
and was amazed at the number of other islands surrounding Venice that were settled in the same manner and would definitely be worth exploring. We enjoyed a sunset gondola ride (very expensive but very worth it, one of those things you have to do), some limited shopping (Venice is a very expensive city), and splurged on a water taxi on our way out of town instead of fighting the bridge stairs and water bus crowds. Venice was fantastic and lived up to or surpassed almost every expectation. It is definitely worth a visit, especially with good company, since for me it wasn't a city I would have visited alone.
Books: 1776 by David McCullough. A very detailed look at the state of affairs in the American colonies during that one year when so many momentous events occured, focused mainly with Washington's new army, his leadership, and the first few battles for independence. A great way to see again how fragile and undetermined things were at that time and even the very divisive public view of the conflict.
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| 50. | the glorious floating city - Venice, Italy Mar 28, 2008 (  15 ) |
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