Venice

Hoo boy, where do I begin?  I stayed on board yesterday to pack and rest up for our one day in Venice.  I originally wanted to stay a few extra days and travel around Italy, but I think we are both ready to go home (however, Michael would be a stowaway on the ship if he could get away with it).  Besides, being tourists is really hard and exhausting work!

Venice is a very old and ancient city, and according to tradition, was founded in 421 AD by inhabitants from the neighboring mainland seeking refuge from the savage Barbarians who conquered Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire. The city was built over 118 flat islands in the Venice Lagoon, all connected with canals and bridges.  The first government was established by the Doges in 697, but the construction of the Doges’ Palace in what is today St. Mark’s Square did not begin until 814.  The Basilica of St. Mark’s was built in 834, but the first one was burned down; the one standing today was built in the 11^th century.  During the Crusades, Venice became an important trading center for shipping in the Mediterranean and the East.  Much wealth and many works of art were taken to Venice as booty, especially from Constantinople, such as the four bronze horses of St. Mark’s (the original bronzes can now be seen in St. Mark’s museum, while today the four horses on the Basilica’s facade are copies).

There are some memorable characters out of Venice.  The journey of the Venetian merchant Marco Polo from Venice to China is one of the most fascinating true stories of the Middle Ages (1271-95).  His adventures and his meeting with Genghis Khan are recounted in the book, “Il Milione.”  Then there was Casanova, the irresistible lover; his adventures are recounted in the book, “Memorie di Giacomo Casanova.”

There are no cars in the city proper. 

I have been to Italy, but never to Venice.  This was the one stop I was most looking forward to on this entire trip.  So the morning dawns early, but not bright.  There was a heavy overcast hanging over the city as we entered the waterway that would take us by St. Mark’s Square and eventually to our berth in the industrial section of town.  Standing outside on Deck 10 forward in the cool air, we were treated to our first sight of Venice.  I wanted to pinch myself to make sure this was real (I couldn’t help myself with the pinching bit).  It was real alright, and there before us was a maze of waterways, and many different type of watercraft plying the waters around us without any consideration for this big behemoth ship moving among them.  Christine, who has been to Venice many times, pointed out the different buildings and sights.  We were all anxious and ready to abandon ship so we could go explore the city.

Our first view of Venice

Sharing the waterways with many different types of craft

A side street

Nice neighborhood

An old hotel on the Grand Canal

The gondola; they do not sing

 

After much discussion about what to do and where to go, we headed off to the People Mover (an automated elevated train) to get into the city from the port.  A shuttle bus drove us from the port to the People Mover, which was a short distance.  Nevertheless, the still suffering Gimpcateers were grateful to have any motorized conveyance to help eat up the distance that we would otherwise have to walk.  The People Mover dropped us at the Piazzale Roma, where a short walk took us to the public “bus” station to begin our ride down the Grand Canal.  The Vaporetti is Venice’s diesel-powered waterbus.  There are seats inside, but most people stand as they cram as many people on as there is space to stand.  We were lucky to find seats as we began our tour down the center of the city. 

We were headed to the Guggenheim museum store in the Dorsoduro section of town (Christine wanted to buy a gift for a friend).  As we travelled the main street of Venice, we could see beautiful palaces and hotels, houses and museums, some carefully restored while others were shabby and crumbling.  Off the Grand Canal, we could see the side “streets” with foot bridges for crossing and boats parked alongside buildings.  Sharing the waterways were gondolas, water taxis, and “trucks” that are used to deliver all manner of goods and services from flowers and vegetables to construction supplies. 

Flower delivery boat

At the midpoint of the Grand Canal is the Rialto Bridge, which is the busiest shopping district in the city.  This is where we got off and headed to the Museum shop.  Venice is a warren of misaligned streets that vary in width.  You cannot walk a straight line here.  So we wove our way up and over (there are stairs on the bridges), made right hand turns, made left hand turns.  We blindly followed Christine and wondered why anyone in their right mind would think that a 10 minute walk really means 10 minutes.  Dragging our tired bodies and aching knees, we plodded on occasionally looking in store windows.  There was glasswork – Venetian and Murano – of all kinds, elaborate carnival masks, and Burano lace.  We hit shopper’s paradise!  When I get too many choices, I go into sensory overload.  I wanted to buy some glass earrings, but could not make up my mind.  Then I thought, how about a necklace to go with the earrings?  Michael was getting fidgety and was hungry for pizza (although we hadn’t eaten for at least two hours).  We finally found the shop Christine was looking for and she made her purchase.

Now it was on to business!  The business of finding the pizza restaurant that was recommended.  Retracing our steps, we needed to go in the opposite direction from where we got off at the Rialto Bridge.  Our leader had faith and led the way, stopping occasionally to ask for directions.  Just a three minute walk (uh huh, rolling my eyes).  Just go over two bridges and turn left….. We were ready to mutiny!  

But Christine did not give up and we eventually found Al Profeta Pizzeria (calle Lunga San Barnaba, Dorsoduro).  When in Venice do as the Venetians do – eat pizza!  We each ordered an individual pizza, except Barry ordered the lasagna. The guys were happy, they got beer.  We enjoyed our meal sitting outdoors in a backyard courtyard.  Toward the end of the meal, it started to rain.  

Being from the Pacific Northwest, a little rain never stopped us.  With our trusty bumpershoots deployed, we wound our way through the streets to find the closest waterbus station to continue our tour of the Grand Canal and eventual destination of St. Mark’s Square.  The southern loop of the Grand Canal is where we saw most of the historic monuments and churches as well as the big hotels.  The waterway opens into the San Marco (St. Mark) Canal where we disembarked at St. Mark’s Square. 

Waterbus stop

The Venetians call St. Mark’s Square simply the Piazza.  It is lined on three sides by splendid palaces.  St Mark's square was described by Napoleon as the most beautiful dining room in Europe.  It is the only true square of Venice that is deemed worthy of the name.  The Piazza is dominated by the Byzantine Basilica of St. Marks that is a unique architectural masterpiece and that forms one side of St. Marks Square.  Facing St. Marks Basilica with your back to Piazza San Marco, to the right is an opening to sea and the bay of San Marco which in the old days was the main entrance to the city. The Doges Palace sits next to the Basilica.

Since it was raining, the Piazza was almost deserted.  People huddled under the covered walkways in front of the shops.  Yes, there were the requisite pigeons, but even they had the good sense to stay out of the rain.  We wanted to go to the Doges Palace, the original 9^th century residence of the doges, but the line was too long.  The line to get in the Basilica was also too long, but we spied a door that was for tour groups to enter.  Christine and I approached the attendant and asked if we could go in this door instead of standing in the long line because we had a case of bad kneeitis.  Christine lifted her pants leg to show the brace she had on her knee and voila, in we went.  They guys couldn’t believe it! 

St. Mark's Square; the Doges Palace on the right

A nearly deserted Piazza

We toured the Basilica where St. Mark’s body was buried and can you say, WOW!  The first church was built in 830 but burned down in 976.  The Basilica as we know it today was built in the 11^th century; almost everything in it was booty from the countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Egypt.  The magical gold mosaic ceiling covers almost an acre.  

Basilica of St. Mark

Gold mosiac

After our tour of St. Mark’s we headed over to see the Bridge of Sighs.  This famous bridge got its name supposedly from the sighs of the inmates as they were led over the bridge to face either torture or death.

Bridge of Sighs

At this point, it was still raining and what is the fun of being outside at St. Mark’s Square if one cannot sit down at the myriad of tables and sip some coffee or wine.  In the movies, you see the square jammed with people.  James Bond would sit at one of the cafes and …. Oh my imagination can run wild with all that intrigue that has taken place here in the movies.  So the decision was to return to the ship.

We boarded a very crowded waterbus back up the Grand Canal and shortly realized that we had gotten on a local instead of an express.  What a looooong trip back to the Piazzale Roma.  We retraced our earlier route and arrived back at the ship in time for cocktail hour.  We were totally pooped.  Michael and I begged off dinner as we had to finish packing.  Our wakeup call was for 3:30 am; there was a car waiting for us at 4:30 am to take us to the airport for our 6:45 am flight home. 

Once again, we had a short time to spend in such a splendid place.  Venice, too, deserves a return trip.