Ah, Venice! (Italy Vacation Part 2)
No sign of Indiana Jones, but we didn't need him to enjoy ourselves in this amazing city.
One if by land, two if by train.
Venice is easily the most beautiful city I've ever seen. How can you not love a city with canals for streets, and that's dedicated to masquerade, wine, beautiful paper goods, confectionary and architectural grandeur? Just reaching it is cool: the train crosses a two-mile-long causeway stretching from the mainland to the main island group, offering passengers a dramatic view of the grand buildings rising from the waters of the lagoon.
The train journey from Rome to Venice was quick and simple. Eurostar is the single greatest invention in rail travel since James Watt said, "So, this steam engine thing, do you reckon it has a future?" The company operates a fleet of very fast trains connecting many, if not all, major European cities: they make rapid transit between major travel centers ridiculously easy and surprisingly inexpensive. It's possible to travel more cheaply on regional and local trains, or even bus, but monetary savings are eaten quickly by time lost, and when you've a limited amount of vacation available time and money can sometimes be one and the same thing. Some people like to rent a car when traveling in Europe, and that's a good option if you're visiting smaller, out-of-the-way locations not served by local transportation, but in many countries driving requires the twitch reflexes of a master video game player (Axeman, I'm looking at you!), and of course there's the hassle of parking, gasoline, insurance, pedestrians with a collective death wish, murderous fellow drivers and wrong turns.
Our arrival in Venice was a little confusing: we tumbled off the train and into the wrong vaporetto(water taxi boat that carries about 50 people from pier to pier), which took us exactly one stop in the wrong direction. Jumping onto the correct vessel a few minutes later, we got our first good view of the city proper as we sailed along the Grand Canal to the Ca D'oro (House of Gold) stop, where we disembarked and walked to our hotel.
The Hotel Gigiorne more than made up for the unattractive and noisy Rome digs! It was built originally as a palazzo in the 15th century and it still looks the part. After a short stint as a confectionary warehouse a young heiress converted it into a hotel in the 18th Century; her descendants still own and operate it today. We'd booked a mid-range room but the hotel upgraded us, apparently at whim, so we lucked out with a plush loft suite! And there were no heating problems here, either. On the contrary, it was so warm that we had to open the huge shuttered windows before retiring to allow some cooler, fresh air inside. (A great plan until a couple of hotel employees decided to take their numerous cigarette breaks in the courtyard garden right outside our window.) Best of all the location couldn't have been better, just a few hundred yards inland from the Ca D'oro vaporetto stop at the edge of the bustling Rialto district, so it was very peaceful at night.
Actually, all of Venice is peaceful at night, because the streets are practically deserted. The city has only about 60,000 permanent residents today, and the vast majority of them are involved in the tourist trade. It was a saddening to realize that this gorgeous, unique city is dying, sinking slowly into the Adriatic as its irreplaceable buildings decay, and that what we see of it today is kept alive only by the artificial lifeblood of tourism.
We spent our first afternoon and evening in Venice just wandering around, walking to and around St. Mark's Square (more pigeons per square foot than in Trafalgar Square, if you can believe that), taking photos of people shivering on their insanely overpriced gondola rides (about 70 euro for 50 minutes), and just soaking up the splendid atmosphere. The main walking streets were crowded with tourists doing exactly the same thing, and reducing our progress a kind of slow jostling shuffle rather than any actual walking. But once off the thoroughfares we found the streets nearly deserted, which allowed us to play a puzzling but fun hide-and-seek with the alleys, squares, canals and bridges. Getting lost was fun: it's an island so it's not like you can get off, and there aren't any cars so the only real dangers are eating too much gelato or falling into a canal (I'm told it happens, especially at Carnivale time).
For dinner we went to a small, dark and cozy osteria (bar) to try ciccheti, the local pub grub: an assortment of deep-fried vegetables, meats and fish. These places sell the terrific local red wine by the very generous glassful, called an ombra, literally shadow. Local history claims the name comes from a wineseller's cart that once plied its trade in St. Mark's Square, moving in a circle throughout the day to stay in the cooling shade of the tall belltower: customers would stroll over for "a shadow of wine." More wandering followed as we quested for dolce, ending up at a little bakery that has created the best canolli known to humankind. We ate our dessert standing in the moonlit Campo S. Apostali, listening to an amateur jazz quartet entertain the other strolling tourists who were also out braving the increasing cold (foreshadowing: your key to quality travelogues). Magic!
Is that…snow?!?
After rising a little early to grab breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we made our way to St. Mark's Square, hoping to beat the majority of the tourist crowd for our first and only full day in Venice. We were standing in the ticket queue at the Doge's Palace when the first snowflakes began to fall. We made it inside quickly, only to discover that the almost completely unheated interior wasn't much warmer than the freezing square outside! But no matter, we were finally about to tour the half acre of power from which the city's elected dukes-for-life ruled a vast coastal empire. It did not disappoint: while Versailles and a few other European palaces might be more lavish, the Venetian Doge's lived in surroundings that were at once posh but also more tasteful and very interesting. My only regret is that we weren't allowed to enter any of the many secret passages! We toured all the grand rooms, marveling at the frescoes, statuary, paintings, armory, furniture and masonry, and then peered out the narrow windows of the Bridge of Sighs, the last view of the city afforded to traitors as they were escorted from the palace across the canal and into the dungeons (which were much like dungeons everywhere: dark, cramped and freezing). I particularly liked the paintings depicting the events of the Fourth Crusade, during which the Venetians cleverly manipulted the Frankish Crusaders into sacking Constantinople (1203-1204) and giving Venice control of a good chunk of the Latin Empire for the next sixty years.
After a restorative and warming coffee we ventured across the square and into the Campanille, the belltower, standing in line with other shivering touristos and riding the elevator to the very top. The view from the tower's balcony was utterly fantastic: we could see across the entirety of the Venetian lagoon with all the individual islands and canals spread out all around. But our appreciation of this city in miniature was short-lived because as cold as it was in the square it was unbearable up in the wind! We managed to hold out for about five minutes worth of photos and gawking before practically throwing ourselves into the elevator. Returning to terra semi-firma we visited some of the many little shops that line the square, and had a bit of lunch at the Black Eagle, a neat little pizzeria hidden in a back alley that we discovered accidentally. That's the thing about being a tourist in Venice: if you see something that you want to buy or eat, it's best to do that immediately because there's no way to be certain you can ever find the place again. The city is literally a maze.
In the afternoon we entered St. Mark's Basilica. The design and decoration of this beautiful cathedral emphasizes the city's long connection to Byzantium, and it's filled with loot brought home by centuries of skillful and rapacious sea captains. There are so many gold mosaics that the interior almost glows with a warm light when the sun enters through the stained glass windows. There's also a series of amusing frescoes depicting the rediscovery of St. Mark's remains in the church (he was misplaced temporarily!). More wandering through the maze followed, and I finally claimed the one souvenir I'd been looking forward to since we first decided to visit Italy: a genuine Venetian Carnivale mask.
Next: Il Contrada de Pantera
One if by land, two if by train.
Venice is easily the most beautiful city I've ever seen. How can you not love a city with canals for streets, and that's dedicated to masquerade, wine, beautiful paper goods, confectionary and architectural grandeur? Just reaching it is cool: the train crosses a two-mile-long causeway stretching from the mainland to the main island group, offering passengers a dramatic view of the grand buildings rising from the waters of the lagoon.
The train journey from Rome to Venice was quick and simple. Eurostar is the single greatest invention in rail travel since James Watt said, "So, this steam engine thing, do you reckon it has a future?" The company operates a fleet of very fast trains connecting many, if not all, major European cities: they make rapid transit between major travel centers ridiculously easy and surprisingly inexpensive. It's possible to travel more cheaply on regional and local trains, or even bus, but monetary savings are eaten quickly by time lost, and when you've a limited amount of vacation available time and money can sometimes be one and the same thing. Some people like to rent a car when traveling in Europe, and that's a good option if you're visiting smaller, out-of-the-way locations not served by local transportation, but in many countries driving requires the twitch reflexes of a master video game player (Axeman, I'm looking at you!), and of course there's the hassle of parking, gasoline, insurance, pedestrians with a collective death wish, murderous fellow drivers and wrong turns.
Our arrival in Venice was a little confusing: we tumbled off the train and into the wrong vaporetto(water taxi boat that carries about 50 people from pier to pier), which took us exactly one stop in the wrong direction. Jumping onto the correct vessel a few minutes later, we got our first good view of the city proper as we sailed along the Grand Canal to the Ca D'oro (House of Gold) stop, where we disembarked and walked to our hotel.
The Hotel Gigiorne more than made up for the unattractive and noisy Rome digs! It was built originally as a palazzo in the 15th century and it still looks the part. After a short stint as a confectionary warehouse a young heiress converted it into a hotel in the 18th Century; her descendants still own and operate it today. We'd booked a mid-range room but the hotel upgraded us, apparently at whim, so we lucked out with a plush loft suite! And there were no heating problems here, either. On the contrary, it was so warm that we had to open the huge shuttered windows before retiring to allow some cooler, fresh air inside. (A great plan until a couple of hotel employees decided to take their numerous cigarette breaks in the courtyard garden right outside our window.) Best of all the location couldn't have been better, just a few hundred yards inland from the Ca D'oro vaporetto stop at the edge of the bustling Rialto district, so it was very peaceful at night.
Actually, all of Venice is peaceful at night, because the streets are practically deserted. The city has only about 60,000 permanent residents today, and the vast majority of them are involved in the tourist trade. It was a saddening to realize that this gorgeous, unique city is dying, sinking slowly into the Adriatic as its irreplaceable buildings decay, and that what we see of it today is kept alive only by the artificial lifeblood of tourism.
We spent our first afternoon and evening in Venice just wandering around, walking to and around St. Mark's Square (more pigeons per square foot than in Trafalgar Square, if you can believe that), taking photos of people shivering on their insanely overpriced gondola rides (about 70 euro for 50 minutes), and just soaking up the splendid atmosphere. The main walking streets were crowded with tourists doing exactly the same thing, and reducing our progress a kind of slow jostling shuffle rather than any actual walking. But once off the thoroughfares we found the streets nearly deserted, which allowed us to play a puzzling but fun hide-and-seek with the alleys, squares, canals and bridges. Getting lost was fun: it's an island so it's not like you can get off, and there aren't any cars so the only real dangers are eating too much gelato or falling into a canal (I'm told it happens, especially at Carnivale time).
For dinner we went to a small, dark and cozy osteria (bar) to try ciccheti, the local pub grub: an assortment of deep-fried vegetables, meats and fish. These places sell the terrific local red wine by the very generous glassful, called an ombra, literally shadow. Local history claims the name comes from a wineseller's cart that once plied its trade in St. Mark's Square, moving in a circle throughout the day to stay in the cooling shade of the tall belltower: customers would stroll over for "a shadow of wine." More wandering followed as we quested for dolce, ending up at a little bakery that has created the best canolli known to humankind. We ate our dessert standing in the moonlit Campo S. Apostali, listening to an amateur jazz quartet entertain the other strolling tourists who were also out braving the increasing cold (foreshadowing: your key to quality travelogues). Magic!
Is that…snow?!?
After rising a little early to grab breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we made our way to St. Mark's Square, hoping to beat the majority of the tourist crowd for our first and only full day in Venice. We were standing in the ticket queue at the Doge's Palace when the first snowflakes began to fall. We made it inside quickly, only to discover that the almost completely unheated interior wasn't much warmer than the freezing square outside! But no matter, we were finally about to tour the half acre of power from which the city's elected dukes-for-life ruled a vast coastal empire. It did not disappoint: while Versailles and a few other European palaces might be more lavish, the Venetian Doge's lived in surroundings that were at once posh but also more tasteful and very interesting. My only regret is that we weren't allowed to enter any of the many secret passages! We toured all the grand rooms, marveling at the frescoes, statuary, paintings, armory, furniture and masonry, and then peered out the narrow windows of the Bridge of Sighs, the last view of the city afforded to traitors as they were escorted from the palace across the canal and into the dungeons (which were much like dungeons everywhere: dark, cramped and freezing). I particularly liked the paintings depicting the events of the Fourth Crusade, during which the Venetians cleverly manipulted the Frankish Crusaders into sacking Constantinople (1203-1204) and giving Venice control of a good chunk of the Latin Empire for the next sixty years.
After a restorative and warming coffee we ventured across the square and into the Campanille, the belltower, standing in line with other shivering touristos and riding the elevator to the very top. The view from the tower's balcony was utterly fantastic: we could see across the entirety of the Venetian lagoon with all the individual islands and canals spread out all around. But our appreciation of this city in miniature was short-lived because as cold as it was in the square it was unbearable up in the wind! We managed to hold out for about five minutes worth of photos and gawking before practically throwing ourselves into the elevator. Returning to terra semi-firma we visited some of the many little shops that line the square, and had a bit of lunch at the Black Eagle, a neat little pizzeria hidden in a back alley that we discovered accidentally. That's the thing about being a tourist in Venice: if you see something that you want to buy or eat, it's best to do that immediately because there's no way to be certain you can ever find the place again. The city is literally a maze.
In the afternoon we entered St. Mark's Basilica. The design and decoration of this beautiful cathedral emphasizes the city's long connection to Byzantium, and it's filled with loot brought home by centuries of skillful and rapacious sea captains. There are so many gold mosaics that the interior almost glows with a warm light when the sun enters through the stained glass windows. There's also a series of amusing frescoes depicting the rediscovery of St. Mark's remains in the church (he was misplaced temporarily!). More wandering through the maze followed, and I finally claimed the one souvenir I'd been looking forward to since we first decided to visit Italy: a genuine Venetian Carnivale mask.
Next: Il Contrada de Pantera