Advertisement
Published: April 13th 2012
Venetian canal
The essence of VeniceAfter my six-and-a-half hour train journey (sunday 17th May) from Munich in the south of Germany to Venice in the north of Italy (via Innsbruck in the west of Austria), I finally arrived in the fabled city of canals set in the middle of the Venetian lagoon; which is attached to the mainland only by a man-made strip of land six kilometres long and just wide enough for a highway and some train lines, and separated from the Adriatic Sea (part of the Mediterranean) by a spit of land only about one kilometre across.
Upon arriving in Venice I was immediately amazed by the sight of boats whizzing up and down the Grand Canal directly outside the train station; but even better was yet to come when I checked into the guesthouse I had booked for three nights and discovered that from my fourth floor window I had a perfect view of the whole spectacle! Added to that was the weather - not only was there not a cloud in the sky, but after standing dumbstruck at the window taking everything in for fifteen minutes I was covered in sweat and in need of a shower! Thankfully the dorm had
an ensuite with shower - even if it was only about sixty centimetres across and when I stood up straight my head rested against the ceiling!
After discovering the room also came with a small fridge I decided to pay a visit to the local supermarket, which unfortunately ended in an utter debacle when the lady at the counter barked at me in Italian and wouldn't let me buy a lettuce - for what reason I had no idea at the time; though I discovered later I was supposed to have weighed the lettuce myself and then hit the button that corresponded to my chosen vegetable, thus printing out a sticker with a barcode on it - before refusing to accept my credit card without a valid passport! Oh, the joys of shopping in a foreign country - how I've missed these regular tests of skill and perseverance...!
Having recovered from this experience, I went for a long, slow and most enjoyable walk to explore the city at night - wisely sticking to the sign-posted route from the train station to Piazza San Marco, since not to do so without a map or experience in Venice would be
a guarantee of getting horribly lost - before finally returning to the guesthouse about midnight to finish off my duty-free whiskey while once again standing at the window and marvelling at the scene in front of me.
Waking to the awesome feeling of a cool sea breeze blowing in through the windows, I was soon off to explore the city in daylight for the first time - though in shorts, singlet and sandals I was not surprisingly denied entry into any of the numerous churches scattered throughout the city, a couple of which I had hoped to check out. After returning to the guesthouse for dinner I once again set off to explore the city at night; though this time I stayed well away from the sign-posted routes and chose not to look at my map, thus descovering countless dimly-lit, dead-end alleyways and cute old wooden canal bridges.
For my third and final day in Venice I (begrudgingly) threw on a pair of long pants and a half-decent shirt and took a vaporetto (passenger ferry) from the train station to Piazza San Marco, passing underneath all three bridges that cross the Grand Canal - Ponte Scalzi, Ponte Rialto
Hole-in-the-wall bar
My Brazilian Peroni-drinking buddy, Roger and Ponte dell'Academia. My first port of call being the Basilica San Marco, I checked out the impressive interior before going up to the viewing platform about twenty metres above. After that it was time to take the lift to the top of the nearby Campanile (Bell Tower) for a far more impressive view from about sixty metres up - a panorama that extended in all directions, beyond the boundaries of the city and out across the Venetian lagoon.
Another vaporetto ride later, I rewarded myself for my efforts by ditching the long pants and collared shirt in favour of my trusty boardshorts and singlet; and took another ferry around the eastern flank of the city and over to the Lido Venezia - the long, thin strip of land that separates the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. Picking up a pair of sunglasses and a new beach towel along the way - to replace the ones I had left behind at the Little Creatures brewery in Fremantle a fortnight ago - I made the short walk from the lagoon side of the Lido to the seaside; where I finally took my first long, lingering look at the Mediterranean
Romantic view
Venice at night Sea, before plunging head-long into her soothing waters.
Having pretty much ticked off all of the sights that I had wanted to see in Venice by now, I had the luxury of spending my final evening in the city just wandering about at my leisure and soaking up as much of the atmosphere of the place as possible. It is easy to see why Venice receives so much hype - and so many visitors. For all of the historic cities that I had seen last year on my first trip through Europe (so many of which - especially in the northern countries - had themselves possessed a network of canals), not one of them could hold a candle to Venice when it comes to sheer beauty. Over-populated, poorly-sanitized and slowly sinking it may be, but this is still a truly unique, romantic and eye-catching city. If Venice were a woman, she'd surely be a sultry, aging femme fatale - far from perfect, and a little rough around the edges; but still more alluring and capable of seduction than a rival half her age.
But every love affair has to come to an end, and so after leaving Venice
Perfect reflection
The Arno River in Florence on wednesday morning, I first got off the train in Bologna a couple of hours away to the south-west; before continuing on to Florence - the epicentre of the Renaissance in the fifteenth century, renowned for it's outstanding architecture - in the heart of Tuscany. Eventually arriving at the camping ground I had booked into after a prolonged bus trip through peak-hour traffic, I couldn't believe my luck to once again end up with a view to die for - the camping ground was located on the side of a hill beside a square known as Piazzale Michelangelo, which afforded a perfect view of the entire city! And what's more, I had scored a three-person fixed tent (more like a cabin really) all to myself; and had arrived just in time for half-price drinks at the bar during happy hour!
So after settling in with a couple of beers and enjoying a view dominated by the massive Duomo (Cathedral), I eventually headed off down the hill for a closer look at the city's centrepiece; stopping off along the way to take in a beautiful sunset over the Arno River from the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) - supposedly one of
Grand facade
The West Front of Florence's Duomo only three bridges in the world devoted entirely to markets and stalls, and the only bridge in Florence to have survived the war intact. Now of all the churches and cathedrals I have seen so far in Europe, the Duomo would have to be the most impressive - not only for it's size (being the fourth-largest cathedral anywhere in the world), but also for being one of the most beautiful, covered entirely in white, green and pink tiles. So after sitting down for dinner at a little streetside restaurant in the shadow of the Duomo, I eventually crossed the river again and tackled the steep walk back up to the campground.
The next day I was up early and dressed in my 'church-going' threads to check out the Duomo from the inside, which included a close-up view of the magnificent fresco that covers the entire inside of the dome from a walkway around the base of it, followed by a 360 degree birds-eye view of the entire city from the very top of the dome - ample reward for those who tackle the four-hundred step climb up from the Cathedral floor. Back on terra firma, I embarked on another
Heavenly vision
The incredible fresco covering the inside of the dome long walk that took me past many of Florence's most famous churches, buildings and piazzas - including the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), Galleria degli Uffizi (former home of the Medici family who funded much of the renaissance), and Palazzo Pitti (which was originally built for the Pitti family - rivals of the Medicis - before being bought by the Medicis and linked to their former home by a secret passageway above the Ponte Vecchio).
The following morning I managed to make it to the Uffizi Gallery by eight o'clock - the scheduled opening time - only to find that a couple of hundred other people had already beaten me to the punch! Thankfully though I only had to line up for about half-an-hour before being let in, at which point I had to pass a security screening that was more thorough than Swiss customs! Not being renowned for my love of art - nor for my love of crowds for that matter - I didn't linger too long; though I did manage to last a good couple of hours, and was particularly impressed by Botticelli's 'La Niscita di Venere' (The Birth of Venus) - though this was possibly due
Florence from above
View from the top of the Duomo to the simple fact that it featured a young woman posing nude!
After spending a frustrating couple of hours on the internet desperately trying to sort out my accommodation for the next few days, I decided a change of scenery would be a good idea - so I took a bus to a small town about an hour away named Siena, which is built on the side of a hill and has one of the best-preserved old towns in Italy. Aside from boasting a curiously sloping central piazza and a town hall who's tower provides panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, Siena also boasts a cathedral that - while slightly more modest than the Duomo in Florence in terms of size - is certainly no less beautiful, featuring the same white, green and pink tiling as it's sister cathedral.
And despite getting thoroughly lost upon my arrival in Siena because the train station was off the map in my Lonely planet - always a recipe for disaster - and then getting a hell of a leg workout from all of the uphill streets (none of which seemed to go downhill for some reason?!?), the excursion was definately worthwhile.
Tuscan sunset
Sunset over the Arno River Funnily enough though, I had caught a train to Siena only because I couldn't find the bus terminal in Florence; but ended up taking a bus back to Florence after stumbling upon the bus terminal in Siena, in my attempt to find my way back to the train station! Perhaps I should pursue a career in writing travel guidebooks?!? Or perhaps not.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0276s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
