Venice

Day 1

I have arrived in Venice. I am writing this after a dinner with my tour group while we sit out in the plaza. I am finally mostly warm, even in the evening (though it is a cold time right now here in Venice). I can wear shorts!! Vancouver was always too cold for me and shorts and it was even chilly in Holland.

I really liked arriving in Venice compared to Amsterdam, I'm sure because I am more used to travel right now and also I am much happier then when I left Canada. Venice is fantastic. My first impression is that it is a very 'other' city. Amsterdam was very different than Canada but it had streets and sidewalks, cars and pedistrians all which was recognizable. But in Venice there is no car traffic, it is all winding streets and buildings, and TONS of tourists. Winding through the main street there are so many shops selling the same thing (masks, glass) but from the second floor up everything looks amazing. It is also easy to step off the main tourist road and suddenly you are in quiet narrow winding streets, crossing over tiny canals with laundry hung to dry between the buildings. In fact, those tiny streets are the best thing about Venice so far. The bridges are also very different compared to Holland, they arch high over the canals and are only for pedestrians. I have not seen any vehicles since arriving at the bus station.

There are tons of small hotels amongst all the twists and turns, I have no idea how you would find them for a booking, I doubt they have a strong web presence. Our hotel is nice and close to the train station. It seems I am up for another lesson in how to flush the toilet, plus the bathroom has one of those old fashioned style keys (imagine something from gothic literature). You don't put the key in all the way, you need to fiddle around to find the locking mechanism.

The tourgroup is lovely and it is nice to have company viewing the sights. We are all here for similar things though the Italy tour is definitely a bit rushed. However, I am quite keen on the idea of coming back for another visit someday. If I find work in Europe this may be quite possible.

On an unrelated note, while I am aware that Michael Jackson has died, I see from the conversations with the tour guests that I have missed the full brunt of the media spectical of North America. I thought it was too much when the Vancouver RSS feed was dominated by stories but I see I got away lightly.

Day 2

Wow. What a day, it's only 4pm but I've been on my feet since 8:30. I've done a lot of walking. I started the day by heading to the Rialto bridge which crosses the grand canal. In Venice there are no streets, at least in the North American sense, just many tall buildings with bigger or smaller alley's winding in between. I can understand my guidebook making a joke about addresses are difficult. Sometimes instead of an alleyway there is a canal. To find the Rialto bridge I just followed signs pointing to it as I wound my way through the streets.

I got to Piazza St. Marco quite early and there I ran into the girl who I sat beside on the way into Venice the day before! She is a translator for a tour group. Then I went up the great tower and had a great view of the surrounding city. It was nice to be there so early as I had no line.

After the tower I went straight into the Doge's Palace. Wow. How amazing! It was simply gorgeous. Grand paintings on all the walls, In the courtyard I saw the mouth where you could slip in anonymous notes about problems against people.

The Lion of Saint Mark is everywhere, and I always say it with the book open (I was told that was when Venice was not at war). The only time I saw the lion with the closed book was at the Arsenale.


This room in the Doge's palace was huge, it was one of the official rooms but with a great seat for the Doge. I must say, my only familiarity with Venice is through Kushiel's Dart. If you have read the book, I saw the cabinents that would have held the names of the 'hundred worthy families' (of course, it is something a bit different in real life). The Doge's Palace was just amazing and I felt I could have wept at such beauty and grandeur. Truly this was the best part of Venice for me, it was just so beautiful.


Also at the Doge's palace was the prison. This was built on the other side of a canal and so the bridge leading to it is sealed from the outside and romatically called the Bridge of Sighs. In the prison I saw a well worked carving that must have been done over a long period of time by someone in the cell.

I also saw the grand staircase used by the Doge, this seems to be a theme, in the Escher gallery/palace only the queen and her ladies could use the main stair. I'll have to see about implementing a similar protocol whenever I get a place - the grand Carly staircase...

Also in Venice I have been drinking a lot from the fountains, they are in many Campo's (plazza type places) and I've just been filling up my water bottle. I've been told the drinking water is fine.


I also found the Venitian hospital. It has a very dramatic front. Around the back they have ambulence boats. In The Hague they had ambulence motorcycles.


I also visited the Basilica of Saint Mark's Square. This was another gorgeous building. I thought stuff from the 1500's was old in Holland but now we are looking at mossaics from the 1100's. First I visited the museum which was at the top of the Basilica, it had the really old artwork, music books and tapestries that you could examine closely. Then I went downstairs, skipped the line... and went straight into the Basilica.


There are so many church's, old buildings, stone carvings, statues, I have stopped noticing. Venice is amazing and I already am thinking about coming back. I would like to do the secret tour of the Doge's residence, they take you into other places not generally accessible. Oh yeah, in the Doge's Palace display on weapons I found a chastity belt. I couldn't take a picture but maybe I can find one online.

After all that walking I went back to the hotel and met with the tourgroup. We went for a Gondola ride through the canals which was very interesting, there are lots of canals with no walkways beside them so you see part of Venice that you could never see if you kept walking.

After the canal ride I left the tour group who went out for dinner and instead I walked to the Academics Bridge. This is the third and last bridge that crosses the Grand Canal. I walked to the veryy entrance of Venice and though I really really wanted to take the ferry back home I couldn't figure out how to pay. So instead I walked all the way back again. It was a very long ways, today I have walked at least 20 km's and I am finished for the day. Tomorrow is Verona.

Oh yes, I was told to expect all the Italian boys whistling etc. However it hasn't happened yet. I'll claim it's because I am surrounded only by tourists in Venice...