We arrived in Venice on Wednesday afternoon, and it really was love at first sight. It is such a pretty city, all tiny winding footpaths and canals, little hidden away campos (squares), window boxes spilling over with spring flowers, gondolas gliding up and down, glossy little shops and dusty houses. All the colours are earthy and slightly muted, which contrasts with the light, which is bright even when its overcast. It is such an easy place to get lost in. As I make my way down a street, turning randomly here and there, I am always trying to keep a sense of direction, so I know where I started from and can find my way back. The more turns I make, the more I start to lose my bearings, until I know if I make one more turn, I will be totally lost.
I say “I” because Andrew was really struck down by this lurgy and spent our first day resting up in bed. He has a much better sense of direction than me, so it is a miracle I am back in the hotel at all! Yesterday I went for a long and winding walk, making my way through
a few different areas of Venice, and finding a Titian exhibition at the Gallery Academia on the way. Most of the time I was in a quieter part of Venice away from the crowds so it was a shock to come back to this part and hardly be able to move along the narrow streets for all the tourists. Honestly, I wouldn’t come here during the high season unless my life depended on it, it would be too crowded to move.
Our hotel is located about half-way betwen the Rialto, the famous bridge over the Grand Canal, and St Marks Square. St Marks Square is a bit of a hoot, there are about 2000 pigeons which tourists love to feed. This leads to some amusing, if slightly disturbing scenes. I saw a young girl cowering while a huge flock of pigeons descended upon her, she was genuinely terrified while her parents merrily snapped away with their camera. People seem to want to capture all manner of scenes involving themselves and pigeons; one young woman sat with her hands outstretched waiting for the birds to land on her, and elderly Japanese women danced like flatfooted ballerinas into clouds of pigeons.
I personally aimed a few futile kicks at them while walking through trying not to get divebombed or shat on. Different horses for different courses I guess.
We are definitely slowing down the pace now. We are sleeping in and having long spells at cafes having tea and coffee. They do the tea/coffee thing very nicely here, with waiters in cream jackets, and silver tea services (which actually tend to get so hot you can hardly hold it to pour the second cup but it looks pretty, so thats the main thing!). Of course this is punishingly expensive in a town like Venice so today we had our last such drink at a the Cafe de Florian in St Marks Square, which even has a little quintet (? not sure, seemed to have about 5 players) making beautiful music. Once again, we have been blessed with stunning weather and are constantly counting our blessings, not quite believing what a wonderful holiday this has been.
This morning I went on a 2 hour guided walking tour, which was very interesting. We all wore earpieces and the guide spoke into a little microphone so we could easily hear the commentary
as we walked around. We learnt about the history and origins of Venice, how and why it was built and the various perils it has faced and continues to face. Venice is no longer sinking, but the sea levels are rising, so it amounts to the same thing really. The guide pointed out the salt in the bricks of the buildings. Originally the water of Venice only came up to the waterproof stone blocks (a special stone that comes from somewhere outside Italy, honestly how did they figure these things out in 1000AD?) that were part of the foundations of the buildings. It is now coming up to the bricks, which are starting to crumble as a result.
Venice does have a facinating history, and one that is heavily influenced by the Ottoman empire and by the nearby Greek neighbours. Some of the language spoken in Venice derives from Greek as much as Italian, so it is quite unique. Centuries ago, only the eldest daughter of a household could marry, and other daughters had to go to a convent. Apparantly some convents were party central, so it wasn’t such a terrible hardship.
We finished the tour at St
Marks, which is very beautiful. It looks from the outside rather like a mosque, with very ornate cupolas. It turns out it was copied from a design seen in Jerusalem, where they thought they were copying a Christian building, but it was actually a mosque. Inside it is incredible. The entire 8,000 sqm of ceiling is covered in glass mosiac, which is made of tiny pieces placed at different angles, so light is reflected all round.
There was an enormous chap on the walking tour who was kind of like an older version of Giant Haystack, for anyone who watched TV in the early 80’s in England, and he had to sit down very frequently. At some points I honestly thought he might perish, he was literally dripping with perspiration and breathing very fast, and I really had to question the wisdom of him joining a walking tour. Andrew and I went on a boat tour this evening, and wouldn’t you know it, he was on that tour too!! Boat tour was more suitable, that was sitting down for an hour.
The boat tour was brilliant, we went along the Grand Canal and saw the beautiful palaces (now
mostly hotels as no family can afford the upkeep of a large Venetian building) from the water. This is always their most elaborate side and you can really only see the best bits of Venice this way, I think. We also went along some quieter canals and out onto the lagoon, where the guide pointed out the other islands that make up Venice. We had a Bellini as we went along, and it was all very lovely. Still hot and sunny too, at 6pm.
Tomorrow is our last day in Italy, and we fly to Hong Kong in the afternoon. I am hoping to squeeze in the Peggy Guiggenheim museum before we leave, so that might the last sight I manage. Andrew might skip that one…
There is so much to say about Venice, I think it is first equal with Rome in my favourites of the places we have visited. The native Venetians are being driven out by the high cost of living and lack of normal amenities (the tourist shops have all but replaced supermarkets and other normal parts of a residential area), and there are virtually no jobs other than those in the tourism industry.
Currently there are 60,000 Venetians living on the islands of Venice, and 2,000 leave every year. At this rate, it is predicted there will be none at all by 2040, and it will be a museum town only. In addition, while at the moment there is flooding 120 days of the year somewhere in Venice, by 2050 it is predicted to be happening every day.
So, moral of the story (except that I’ve learned some useless facts), is come now!! Ooh yes, just before I finish, I must tell you a terrible joke I made yesterday. We were walking through St Marks Square and noticed a Police sign. I said to Andrew, I want to report a crime: you have stolen my heart!! I know, straight to the Guinness Book of Records, Cheesist Line EVER! I was quite proud. Andrew, I’m sure, would ordinarily have rolled about with laughter, but being a bit ill instead he had a massive coughing fit. But he was smiling.
Thanks for reading my blog, I’ve enjoyed writing and enjoyed your comments. I look forward to boring you all rigid with the photos once I get them printed!!
