The station is chaotic and noisy, and luckily I knew to go out of it by a small side exit, otherwise we would have had to wrestle our suitcases -with all the other tourists - down the many front steps. Coming from Trieste, where there were hardly any tourists - here in Venice, the place was overrun with them!
But coming out of the station, you get the classic Venice view. Canal, beautiful buildings, hustle and bustle of daily life, and of course - the tourists.
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| The first thing you see coming out of the station. Wonderful Venezia. |
Our hotel here was 200 metres from the station, said the Internet. Yeah, right. Who would know, because to get there, you have to wrestle the luggage, and yourself, over two bridges and several cobblestones laneways!
So the hotel staff said, "Catch the water bus one stop, and then there will be no bridges."
We bought tickets for the water bus, and had our first of many rides. We spent the next few days on them - going everywhere. It was great - the HOHO water bus!
As for our hotel, it redeemed itself by being in a pretty little private square, and giving us a room with a view of the canal - so we could see the comings and goings of Venice whenever we liked. It was great!
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| This is the first bridge we would have to get the suitcases over, near the station. We decided against it. Too hard on us, and the wheels on the cases. We still have too far to go on our holidays to risk breaking a wheel. |
We actually went over this bridge many times during our stay, but thankfully not with suitcases - it was hard enough without them. All the bridges are so old, that the marble steps have worn over the centuries, and are slippery - so you need to be careful. Add to that the hazards of the Indian and African hawkers that sell fake Gucci or other brand handbags, stupid squeaky toys, and other cheap trinkets to every passerby, and of course, the tourists who stop in front of you, or on any step to block the way, so they can take a photo.
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| The bridge hawkers - both sides of the bridge. They harass you as you go by, and if I hear "Best price for you, Mama" one more time....! |
The weather in Venice was perfect autumn - so it was mild with very little humidity. Excellent.
We took the water buses to all the usual haunts. The famous Rialto Bridge was the same size as the one above, but they blocked off the arches to house shops, which I thought was a shame. Bob didn't approve of the advertising that hung off every bridge in Venice. Especially the most famous one!
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| The famous Rialto Bridge....oh, and the delivery man. |
The first night there, we went to look for somewhere for dinner, and got lost in all the tiny laneways that criss cross Venice. Some are so narrow you couldn't get a child's pram through! And dark! Some have no lights at all, so they rely on the nearest "crossing" to have one. And it is so amazing where people live. In the tiniest cobbled laneway, under an arch, will be a small old wooden door, that will be the entry of someone's home. Some of them were so small, that I would have to bend down to enter, let alone Bob. Several "tunnels" also had private doors, but Bob had to bend over walking through them, so he didn't notice them.
We were happily "lost" exploring dinner possibilities, while Bob was trying to get his bearings, so we could find our way back. We found some shops and sights we never would have found otherwise. We felt sorry for the postman. Bob was amazed at how he could possibly find the dwellings in that neverending maze of alleyways! We decided you would have to be born here to be a Postman. Fun!
Visiting Saint Marco's Square is always wonderful - but I didn't realise how much I missed it. It's a great big piazza, with the St.Marco Basilica, the Bell Tower, and fabulous architecture. There are lots of expensive shops selling gold jewellery, designer everything, and of course, restaurants - plenty of them. I suggested to Bob that we go there towards the end of the day, thinking that the tourists would have moved on, but there were plenty of them left over, that's for sure.
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| One side of St. Marco's Square - the statues at the top which look tiny here - are really big! |
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| Amazing long buildings in St.Marco's Square. This is just one side. There are shops in all those arches on the ground floor. |
We decided to go up the Bell Tower for a bird's eye view of Venice. And what a view it was. Just on sunset, and we could see Venice from every angle. Gorgeous! The tower had 6 huge bells hanging just above us. They had great big "clangers" that hung just above our heads. Here we were admiring the sights, when...next minute....all the bells suddenly go off! They swing wildly, seemingly to hit you, and everyone ducked and grabbed their ears! It was so loud! After we got over the shock of it, the sound seemed to resonate right through your whole body. Everyone was smiling, because for some reason, the sound, vibration, and the whole experience of being there right then, made everyone happy. Bob was one who ducked, and he put his hand up to show me that they were so close, that he could touch one of the clangers as it swung by. I'm glad he didn't actually try it. It was such an amazing experience - we talked about it for days.
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| The Bell Tower in Saint Marco's Square |
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| One of the views of Venice at sunset, from the Bell Tower. |
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| Saint Marco's Square is a huge L shape. The top of the L is open to the water, and this view is the bottom of the L, taken from the Bell Tower. |
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| The top of the L of St.Marco's Square. Note the blue Gondolas. They are all covered and retired for winter. There are only a few Gondolas operating at this time of the year. |
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Two of the bells in action. Eight bells altogether. I can't describe the noise - it's a wonder
we were not all made permanently deaf. But the exhilaration - it was like your whole
body was a tuning fork! We won't forget this amazing experience.
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Arriving in Murano, we made our way to one of the warehouses on the waterfront, where master glass blowers create the famous venetian glass items that you see in the shops in Venice and around the world. This was actually the most disappointing part of our Venice experience. Working on glass pieces were two middleaged men, one the “master” and the other the “apprentice”, I guess. They had several furnaces going and the heat was incredible, even though they were working in a “shed” with open sides. They each had long metal sticks at the end of which was a lump of molten glass. The master worked the glass, and handed it on to the apprentice for the more simple manoeuvres.
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| Master in the whiteT-shirt, getting a glob go glass out of the furnace. |
Unfortunately, the “master” was either not very skilled, or was not going to create anything wonderful while the tourists were watching. They made several vases and jugs, but in very simple shapes, so there was not much “blowing” going on. Not much in the variance of coloured glass that Venetian glass is known for, either. The apprentice simply rolled the hot vase shape in small pieces of fine coloured glass, which stuck to the hot vase, and they put it back into the furnace to melt. This created a random multi coloured “stripe” effect, which I thought was not at all attractive, and I would certainly not want to buy it. They had a showroom there with the completed pieces for sale – but they were all the same, and certainly not worth the money.
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| Men at work - for the tourists. We saw all kinds of other stuff, including sorted coloured glass on the back wall, so I hope they are creating fabulous glass items when we are not looking. |
When I was in Venice many years ago, I also came to Murano to watch the glass blowing. At that time, the glassblowers were older, and much better at their craft. They created specifically coloured, complicated items that were a joy to watch being made. The blown glass was very delicate, in beautiful designs, with filigree, twists and bubbles. I was disappointed that today, there are either no highly skilled craftsmen left, or they just choose someone to do simple glass objects to pacify the tourists, while the true “masters” work in privacy to create their amazing work.
We were so disappointed, we had to go off and have a coffee and gelati! Genuine Italian lemon gelati will soothe any disappointment.
You may wonder if we took a ride in a Gondola, like proper tourists – and the answer is no. We spent so much time on the water as it was, and the Gondola men we spoke to wanted huge prices to take a short tour. This is because summer is over, and many gondola owners have bedded their Gondolas down for winter, so there are fewer gondolas available... and that the owners were rogues. They would not let us book a time we wanted either, which would have been around 4pm, as that was before peak hour, and before it got too dark. In peak hour, there are so many buses ferrying workers home, that the wash from them churns up the canal, and the light Gondolas bob about like corks in the wash. Romance dies pretty fast when one person is hanging over the side talking to the fish. So we gave it a miss.
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| Bob yakking it up with the local boys. This was a bridge near our hotel, and these boys were "hiding" here, instead of being with the other Gondolas near the station. Bob asked them about a ride, he reckoned they were brothers and their surname was Dodgy. |
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| We saw lots of churches, art, architecture, people, and of course, shops. This is one of the pretty churches. |
One of the funniest things we enjoyed watching were the handbag hawkers in a little square in front of the sweetest little church that we found in a small piazza. The hawkers spread their wares out on the ground, hoping to entice the tourists – like the ones on the bridges. But while they seem happy on the bridges, in this Piazza, they were nervous. While we watched, suddenly they would leap up, grab their stuff and run into a tiny alley opposite. The handbag chaps slid all the bags up their arms, and the others had their stuff on sheets that they scooped up and ran for it. Then they would watch from the alley, and sure enough, a few minutes later a couple of Carabinieri or Police would stroll past. When the coast was clear, the hawkers would be back setting up their businesses. We never saw the “cockatoo”, but he was certainly on the job. Hilarious!
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| Hawkers setting up again, after another of their runs. |
There are so many restaurants and small eating kiosks dotted all about Venice, so there is no way you could be hungry. But thirsty is another thing. Most of the passing kiosks have plenty of bottled water and drinks, but they don't have a fridge and simply leave it out the front in the sun. Some however, resort to creative ways to try and cool drinks. They set them up in a pyramid shape and have water pouring over them. Venice is the only place we have seen this cooling method in Europe.
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| No fridge? Cool drinks like this..under a constant shower of cold water, which trickles all the way down over all the drinks... with, of course the obligatory offering of a coconut snack as well. Very creative, and it works! |
While we were here, we were also getting ready for our upcoming cruise – and found a laundromat to do our washing. This was great, because, well, frankly we needed the machines, but also it gave us an opportunity to chat up the locals. We met a couple of nice locals who were able to answer some of our Venice questions. Their opinion was that while Canal Venice is a beautiful place to live, it is not a city for older people. The original houses, most of them protected by the National Trust, had only narrow staircases, some spirals, to their 3 and 4 story buildings. This was difficult for older people, and also younger ones with shopping, or children and prams etc.
When selling or renting an apartment, the furniture was usually included, because removalists were so expensive. They have to haul all furniture by boat, and if the stairs are too narrow, have to hoist the furniture on ropes and pulleys through the windows. Emergency personnel have trouble evacuating people, as they can't use ordinary stretchers. They have stretchers that are like chairs, that have to be carried down. Other than that, unemployment was low, cost of living high, but wages were good, and there are many shops to buy whatever you need, and restaurants, clubs, and theatres for recreation - so it was a very nice place to live.
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| A classic view of Venice. Gorgeous! We had dinner in the restaurant in the bottom left hand corner. Those arches light up at night, and look lovely. The white boat on the right hand side is parked in front of a small square, which is where our hotel is. Our room faced the canal, and we could see the restaurant every night, and hear the music being played there. Lovely! |
There are so many places to go, see, discover and enjoy in Venice, but we simply ran out of time. It would take a month of Sundays just to explore the tiny little alleys, with their special shops, artisan galleries, and quaint restaurants - and then there are the connecting water alleys to explore by boat as well. It is a truly unique and amazing place!
But we had to go – we had a boat to catch – a big boat!
See you on board!
Till next time...
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