Day 3 - Venice (and a canal-side rescue)

Firstly, I  should apologize for yesterday's rant. It must have been one of those days! Today, I promise to be positive and tell you about the delights of our Venetian trip. Today has been truely wonderful: a wander through the Doge's Palace and an idylic boat trip to Burano. The dramatic rescue came later!

On arriving in the Piazza San Marco this morning we noticed that sea water was beginning to rise up  through the floor across the whole width of the Piazza. This was of little surprise, as we learned from our last visit to expect flooding from time to time. It's the nature of life in Venice. As the sea level rises, so does the level of flooding in the city, particularly around San Marco. A peek at the history of Venice will tell you why. The beginning of the flood:

We took a tour through the Palace (Palazzo Ducale), which was the seat of  power for the Republic for nine centuries. The 9th century Byzantine style, later replaced by the present Gothic structure is a pure delight to the senses. Our necks were aching due to the constant straining to view the magnificent ceilings and art upon every wall in every stunning room. We  have never seen such artwork and could have stayed all day. This place housed the KGB of the time - small letter boxes were dotted about in the walls, where the city folk could post little notes to The Ten, anonymously telling them of neighbours who may pose a threat to security. That would seal their fate and they would likely end up in the dungeons and torture chambers deep within the palace. We walked across the Bridge of Sighs - one of the most famous places in Venice - where prisoners would be taken to meet their fate. It's quite an experience.

The courtyard in the palace:

After lunch we caught the boat to Burano. The trip took about an hour - a welcome rest in sun and sea breezes. We spent a few pleasurable hours strolling around this charming town - I'll leave these few photos to do the talking:

 

After the sight of the leaning tower Rachel needed a very large ice cream:

 

 

And one last look before we left Burano and headed back to Venice:

 

 

The boat back was packed and we had to stand all the way, but it didn't matter as we had had a great time:

 

 

 

In the evening we ate out on the Grand Canal, just a stone's throw from the Rialto bridge. We sat right on the edge of the canal watching the gondolas go by. And as the evening progressed the water levels increased until water was lapping up onto the reataurant decking and soaking our feet. We just rested our feet on chairs and didn't care. But soon the water levels were such that the waiters started having to rescue people from their tables by placing empty beer crates, like stepping stones, from the flooded area to the main restaurant. Women took advantage of this and the men, being men, waded heroically through the water to safety. It was clear that this happens on a regular basis as the waiters came out wearing wellies to clear the tables. Everybody had great fun, laughing and joking about the experience.

 

 

 

 

Later on,  while out for late night drinks in a great Irish bar, I ended up carrying Rachel, piggieback,  through flood water. It's amazing just how much you can carry after a few pints!! Don't tell Rachel I said that!

 

I'll leave you with an image of Venice at night:

 

 

Tomorrow we leave for Florence.







Day 2 - Venice (and the Italian Psyche)

“Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice, there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors.” – Henry James

I disagree with Henry James.  As far as I can see, the most disagreeable thing  in Venice is the way the visitor is cynically taken advantage of at every turn. Visitors beware!

If you are a visitor to Venice and you have the peculiar feeling that you are being taken advantage of, there is only one possible explanation - you probably are! You only have to look at the prices in the shops. A water taxi into the city (15 to 20 mins) will set you back at least 50 Euros. The 'service' charge in many restaurants around the Piazza San Marco or the Rialto may be as much as 14.5% - for average to poor service. And it's on the bill before your bottom touches the seat. If someone beckons you to enter or to follow for a 'free' demonstration, remember that your response should be 'No!' There's no such thing as 'free' in Venice. If you are caught short in the city and can't wait to return to your hotel to use the toilet you will be charged 1 Euro 50, but remember to put a peg on your nose before you use a public toilet. And today, as we looked for the correct jetty for the boat to Murano, Rachel made the mistake of asking an official which jetty to use. As she approached the woman along a gangway the woman (in full uniform) deliberately turned her back, spread her arms out at either side of her and bent over and stuck her bottom out towards Rachel in a 'I'm not even going to talk to you' kind of way. This is no exaggeration, I promise you. Undaunted, Rachel walked up, leaned over and around this woman's barricade and asked her the question anyway. The woman merely barked  something back in Italian without even looking. A little later we saw another unfortunate tourist giving the woman hell after a similar encounter. If you forget to say 'No' when lured into a shop for a bargain and spend 50 Euros, don't be surprised to find the same goods a hundred yards down the road for 15 Euros. This is a cynical and manipulative ploy to part you from your hard earned cash. Rude, aggressive and dishonest.

But, apart from that, Venice is a wonderful place!

Today we visited Murano, of glass blowing legend, The boat trip, once you have negotiated the above tribulations, is about 30 minutes duration and you get a good appreciation of  what lies around the central city - numerous islands,  the Lido and the lagoon itself. It's a busy area, full of ships and boats of all shapes and sizes. Murano feels like an extension of the mainland itself and not the quaint little outpost we had imagined. We watched an interesting display of glass blowing, after which we were herded into the shop - don't get me started again!

But the skill with which this man worked was quite special.

We wandered around Murano for a while before getting lunch. The narrow streets and canals have a wonderful dilapidated beauty.

While eating lunch at the side of a canal we saw an unusual sight. The photo below is of a DHL delivery man delivering numerous boxes throughout the town.

Glass is blown here on a very large scale. This next photo shows a glass sculpture, standing about 8 to 10 feet high, in one of the side streets in a residential area (I've just shown the detail here):

I must end today's blog (or is it a rant today?) with another very peculiar and sad observation. We wandered into a lovely church building in Murano. It had some amazing art work on its walls, some beautiful sculpture, a peaceful and still place to get away from the heat and the crowds. And there, at the end of the room an enormous golden sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. Around it were ornate carvings in marble. And at the bottom a slot machine for coins.  If you were to insert 2 Euros the whole spectacle would light up for 5 minutes only before plunging back into darkness. If ever there was an image or description of organised religion, this was it!

Tomorrow - Around the Islands (part 2).

Day 1 - To Venice

We arrived at Manchester Airport at around 11am on Monday 21 May and negotiated the usual queue at the EasyJet desk and wondered why they encourage you to check in online before you arrive, as if it's going to make things any easier or quicker when you get to the airport. The security queue was fine but we were held up by a family that had somehow forgotten what its bags looked like between putting them into the X-Ray scanner and getting them out again! The queue began to snake behind us, but we were through and headed into the departure lounge for lunch.

With only an hour until our flight we had to be quick but Rachel wanted to start as she means to go on and ordered a burger the size of a house. The courage of most ordinary people would fail at the sight of it but Rachel showed the way with jaw dislocating action like something you would see in a wildlife film. Impressive!

Our flight went without a hitch and we were going to be at least half an hour earlier than scheduled and soon we were decending towards San Marco (Venice) Airport. On the approach we could see the city spread out before us like a map and could pick out the various domes, towers and spires we had visited before. The expanse of water between the airport and the city slid past beneath us and we could pick out the thin lane of traffic (boats) that would soon ferry us to our destination.

We were ready for the usual reception at Italian border control and were not disappointed as we were met by our first miserable, bored-looking official. We could have walked into Italy dressed as Batman and Robbin and this guy would not have noticed. After buying tickets for the boat (bus) we walked the 5 minutes to the jetty. We passed a long line of taxis at the taxi rank and, after a minute or two, noticed a large gap between the taxis. It turned out one of the drivers had fallen asleep at the wheel - his chair was reclined and his belly rested on the steering wheel. The driver in the taxi behind was also asleep. The long line of waiting drivers behind seemed not to care. Skies were blue and the sun beat down - a far cry from the constant sheet of cloud we left behind in Manchester. It felt good and we had long forgotten the border official.

We sat in the cabin of the boat with another English couple, here for only a couple of days and together we poked our heads out of the windows to take in the passing sites on the approach to Venice. Water taxis sped in both directions - this was the water lane we saw from the plane - and were clearly breaking the 7 mph speed limit. But this is Italy after all. It took about 45 minutes to get to the point where the boat turns into the narrow city lanes and we were suddenly in Venice.

Boats moved in all directions in an environment where rules seemed to be the last thing on anyones mind. The Vaporetto sped by, packed to capacity with locals and tourists alike. Yound people lay on the numerous jetties like basking seals and gondolas bobbed up and down in front of the stunning architecture. And soon we were floating beneath the famous Rialto Bridge and slowing to our stop.

It was clear from the outset that the directions from the hotel website were going to be less than useless and we soon abandoned them. One of the rules of getting around Venice is that you just wonder around the narrow streets, turning at random until you accidentally end up at your destination, wide-eyed and completely unaware of how you got there.

This is how we arrived at the Taverna and entered into the restaurant to be met by a friendly lady who immediately confiscated our passports and, throwing them onto the kitchen worktop, told us we would get them back when we leave! This is another frustrating but seemingly necessary process if you want to stay in Italy.

In the evening we strolled about the local streets and suddenly happened upon the Piazza San Marco - the main square - magnificent in its busy splendour. Quartets played, tourists sat chatting, eating and drinking wine and the towering campanile looked on. We settled upon the Ristorante La Serenissima and ate pizza.

Tomorrow - the Islands.

Ready to Go

This time last year me and Rachel were looking forward to our USA roadtrip and a month travelling across the States. This year we are scaling down to a couple of weeks in the north and east of Italy. After the USA, Italy is our favourite place to visit. In this trip we will re-visit a couple of places we've been before: Venice - this time we will visit the islands. Florence - last time the crowds and the heat got the better of us. This time we'll do it right. We've never visited the east coast and so we plan to do it this time and explore the coastline around Rimini and from Rimini to Venice. We'll pop into Bologne as well.

We hope you'll follow us as we explore Italy.