The Floating City

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A 2.30am wakeup all is never fun, but I have managed to find a way of contorting by body with the help of the tray table to sleep somewhat peacefully on planes....wake me up when we get there....or if Pringles are on offer mid flight.

With RyanAir's apparent 98% punctuality rate I knew that we would land in Treviso, Italy about 11am right on time for the coach into Venezia and for a lovely stroll around before the sun went down mid afternoon....but this was contradicted by the 100% bad reputation that RyanAir is clearly in denial about.....making us about 1 hour behind schedule, such is life.

Our transfer on the bus to Venice introduced us to the typical italian designed buildings that you would expect to see in well....Italy. Peach or cream coloured stucco houses, with arches for doorways, wooden shutters on the windows and terracotta tiles on the roof....I'd seen this all before in photos, but never get tired of seeing these sights with my own eyes and realising that these places do actually exist! The thing I noticed the most, compared to England, was the space - people had back and front yards! This was, of course in the Treviso town outskirts, everything green and rustic and ah Italian? Mixture of old and new, old buildings that looked like a postcard that Vaughn was quite ready to purchase and renovate along with the vineyards to make his own wine - by traditional foot crushing of course...and the windmill for complete self sufficiency.

We entered Mestre, the mainland before travelling over the Ponte della Liberta (causeway type road) which takes you into Venezia itself. Either side of the road all you see is ...sea. Then closer and closer Venice becomes clearer as you start to see the skyline of the city on water ahead, with bell towers, cathedral domes and the outline of buildings centuries old.

Disembarking from the bus I was on a mission to find a) the luggage drop off and b) the vaporetto stop....the only issue was (and to my naive surprise) signs are not in english and road works fences change the landscape so this took a bit to find. I have now learnt that most things stated in Italian you can figure out, just add a "o" or "eria" or "z" on the middle or end of most english words and you get the gist of what is being said. Cars are not allowed (well more importantly would not be able to fit cars) in Venice. Therefore you exchange anything with wheels for anything with a hull. The Vaporetto is a waterbus which is Venice's answer to the tube. For £7 you can jump on the No.1 Vaporetto and head from the entrance to the City up and Grand Canal, which was what we did. I made sure we stood outside to have a view, rather than getting stuck seated inside as although it was offpeak tourist season, these boats get crowded! The Grand Canal is 3800 m long from end to end and spans 30-90m wide. The Canal is lined by beautifully old and rustic buildings which appear to "float" on water. There is no walkway, the only way to view these houses is by boat. The whole city is made up of these buildings which stand on stilts centuries old. Between some of the buildings you can see smaller Canals that lead to the maze which is Venice, a series of canals, walkways and bridges broken up by buildings built in no particular order.

I had heard that Venice was dirty and smelly, but this was not what we experienced at all. Considering the amount of people that enter the city everyday I thought everything was extraordinary tidy and often saw street sweepers and rubbish collectors to keep it that way. There was the odd moment when we could certainly smell the distinct sea air - perhaps this is worse in the summer months?

The buildings that line the Grand Canal have been built over different periods of history and this is evident in the different types of architecture you see. Venice was once a merchant city and therefore wealthy. Noble Venetian families built Palazzi (grand residence/palace) to show off their wealth. The design of the windows and grand entrance way was a way to show importance and grandeur.

Heading further up the Grand Canal we finally reached the San Marco stop where everyone else seemed to be going. Walking canalside towards the Palazzo Ducale. I was surprised that many of the sites that I had read about were in really close proximity in the area of the Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). The Palazzo Ducale is basically the Palace of the Doge who was the head honcho of Venice back in the day. This was an amazing building with Gothic architecture, but the area was so crowded it was difficult to get decent photos of this. I was more amazed by the Basilica di San Marco ahead which was made of different types of marble all carved in intricate detail, photos just don't do these types of places justice. Unfortunately the top of the building was covered in scaffolding so we were unable to view the building in it's entirety.

St Mark's Square was worth the look, but we hungry and tired, we decided to take a wee wander to find something to eat, thinking on our return the crowds may have dispersed a little.....they hadn't. Not wanting to pay top dollar for food near the main square we ventured into the maze of alleys and found so many hidden shops, pizzeria's, gelatto stands, mask shops, clothing shops, shoe shops, art etc etc. It was great as you just didn't know what was going to be tucked around the next corner. We managed to find a small Pizzeria and had our first slice of proper italian pizza which was the equivalent of half a pizza in the UK. Just a simple tomato paste base with salami and cheese was all, had a bit of a kick and was nice enough....to Vaughn's horror I still prefer my apricot chicken, what can I say I am a uncultured domino's fan. I made sure I got the "eating Pizza in front of the Basilica" photo before carrying on on our adventure through the alleyways.

I think the best way to experience Venice would be to stay there and have alot of time with no set agenda. Unfortunately we were not staying there and had limited time so map reading it was trying to navigate our way to the Rialto Bridge which was a "must see" thing to do so the books say. The good thing was, although we were on a mission to find the next spot there are so many surprising things to look at on the way. We came across a chapel that is not even mentioned on the map, which was one of the most incredible churches I have seen. Amazing painted vaulted ceilings and gold ornamental designs everywhere, intricate marble carving and the building only lit up by candles everywhere and the natural light coming through the windows. I think many of the buildings in Venice can look somewhat empty and nothing special on the outside, but when you go inside, entering through something like a small side door off an alleyway the whole building opens up and it is incredible what you find.

Meandering through the tiny streets, suddenly you come to these open spaces with a market area, cafes or an open canal with gondolas lined up before entering back into the maze again. It is very easy to get lost, but you don't mind getting lost because you keep on discovering other random things. I loved coming across wee bridges with a gondola floating through and looking up when going through a small alley and seeing window sills with baskets of flowers and wooden shutters - very chic! Some streets are more like tunnels where you have to duck to get through to the next part which you hope is where you are meant to be.

We finally found the Rialto Bridge which is a top spot for tourists and as such is covered in people. It is an interesting design with the bridge itself spanning the width of the Grand Canal, with wide steps either side of shops which have been built through the middle. The views from the Bridge are awesome, you can see right up the Grand Canal which is excellent for picture taking, but unfortunately photos of the Bridge itself from below were spoilt by the advertising banner that was hung in the middle.

Heading back to San Marco we stopped for nice coffee (nice to travel to a place that makes amazing coffee), looked around some of the mask shops (Venice is famous for Carnival masks and has a annual festival) and successfully made it back to the Basilica. Unfortunately the line was still HUGE and so we wait. I had noticed that there were a number of temporary raised walkways dotted around the place and soon realised that this was due to the Acqua Alta floods which can occur during Autumn. This is when the tide rises and the area floods sometimes up to 1.5m. This occurred just before and after we left Venice so we were very lucky to see the city the way we did, without gumboots!

By this time the sun was coming down slowly and so by the time we entered the Basilica di San Marco the light was rather dull and this place needs to be seen with light streaming in! We paid the extra £5 to head upstairs to the museum area which provided amazing views of the square below and inside the Basilica from above. The Basilica is incredible and looks like it as been painted in gold. Every wall, vaulted ceiling, archway and floor is covered in mosaic design and is unbelievable. It was a shame that we only went in late in the day as it would look magnificent in the sunlight.

It was nearing the end of our first day in Venice, so promising to return in a couple of days to explore some more we headed back on the Vaperetto for a long crowded journey down the Grand Canal. At this time of the day, everyone and their dog had the same idea which made for a rather cosy trip. Every stop about 10 people got off and about 50 more took their place. The conductor just kept on ushering people on, more and more so we were like sardines. I was lucky and found a seat when it was vacated half way down the canal. I'm not sure about the capacity regulations on boats in Italy, but I swear that boat was at least 3x past capacity....ah well I'm sure the Italian's know what they are doing, they built Venice afterall!

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Photos

Amazing chapel
This was just one of many chapels that were not even featured on the maps...mindblowing artwork and detail

Entrance to the Basilica di San Marco
No photos allowed inside :(

Vaughn beside a Medico della peste masked display
Medico della peste were worn by the Plague Doctors back in the 17th century....morbid fact