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Published: September 29th 2016
Once again, breakfast at the hotel. There is a delightful British couple travelling with their daughter and staying at our hotel whom we have bumped into on several occasions already, and we chat with them again at breakfast. It is another fantastic day weather-wise, slightly cooler with a high of 22°.
We have pre-booked a tour of the Piazza San Marco, the most famous area of Venice, at 2 pm. Our plan today is to take the #1 water bus the entire length of the Grand Canal, getting on and off as the mood strikes us, and then finally arrive at the far end of Venice, where San Marco is located, in time for the tour.
I've previously described the water bus experience. The boarding process involves figuring up which quay your bus stops at and which direction it is going (not always obvious). Sometime you have to tap your pass to gain access and sometimes you don't (again not clear why), but in any event you wait on a floating deck with a few benches. The bus is a little less crowded this morning than last night but still a zoo. I'm standing at the stern in an
area outside the main cabin, trying to catch the perfect photograph, when I overhear the unmistakable intonation of Quebec French with a dash of English. It's two guys who hale from Montreal, of course. We chat a bit and express our appreciation of the city's beauty.
I've mentioned before how busy the Grand Canal is. Today we catch sight of an ambulance boat, siren blasting as it zooms down the canal. There are police boats as well. The police also patrol the smaller canals with little jet ski boats as substitutes for motorcycles.
We decide to get off the boat at Rialto. Here the famous Rialto Bridge, the oldest existing bridge in Venice, spans the Grand Canal at its narrowest point. I had read earlier that "Rialto" is a contraction of "rivo altus" or "high river bank" because this is one of the highest points in Venice. We poke around the many little shops nearby, then cross the bridge—an endeavour that leaves you panting a bit, because this is one big bridge. It has shops left and right of the stairs both ascending and descending. Part of the bridge is under construction. On the way up, I notice
Rialto Bridge
Venice, Italyan elderly Italian woman, all in black, lying on a step to one side, hunched up and apparently asleep but with one hand held up with a cup for coins. Sad.
On the other side of the bridge we proceed more or less straight ahead to reach the Rialto Market, which has been operating on this spot for a thousand years. The first section offers mostly fruits and vegetables. Interesting varieties of hot peppers and mushrooms catch our attention. Further ahead, the produce switches to seafood. So many different kinds, including live crabs, lobsters and shellfish of many kinds and sizes. New product is being moved in continuously from docked boats piled high with boxes. The variety of goods, the constant hustle and bustle, and the steady cacophony of haggling voices call to mind the markets of SE Asia.
Returning towards the Rialto Bridge, we stumble on a plaza where stands an old church with a giant 24-hour clock. It is just about to strike 12 noon. It turns out that this is San Giocomo di Rialto, the oldest church in Venice, first constructed on this spot in the 15th century, although the current construction is Gothic. Inside
the small but exquisite chapel is an exhibit of well-preserved baroque-era musical instruments: viols, lutes, hurdy-gurdies, etc. along with re-creations of ancient musical manuscripts. An unexpected pleasure. In the same plaza is a roped-off pedestal where important imperial edicts and criminal sentences were publicly announced.
Back up and over the Rialto Bridge. This time the sleeping beggar woman, in exactly the same position, is on this side of the bridge stairs. It startles me at first because I first think I've lost my sense of direction. But I realize that she has indeed moved.
Our delightful excursion in the Rialto area has taken longer than expected, so we decide to head directly for our tour rendez-vous. We hop back on the #1 water bus and proceed down the canal towards San Marco. By the time we get there, we are hot and thirsty and needing to use the facilities. We walk along the promenade in the direction of our rendezvous point, the Royal Gardens, crossing several bridges and noticing the famous Bridge of Sighs on the right side of the Doge's Palace. Eventually we plunk down at a canal-side café very close to the entrance to Piazza San
Marco. Holy moly, are the prices crazy here! We opt for a Cuba Libre (rum and coke) at $20 each. At least it's real Cuban rum (I believe) and comes with complimentary potato chips. And the line for the bathroom (customers only) is long.
Just in time, we find our rendez-vous point at the entrance to the Royal Gardens just west of San Marco. Our guide is Marina, born and raised in Venice and a graduate in history, and so unsurprisingly extremely knowledgeable about the history of this unique city. Our group, numbering 14, are outfitted with wireless receivers with a single ear bud. They work great, unlike some other units I have experienced previously.
Marina takes us back to the entrance of Piazza San Marco. Here are the two famous massive columns, topped with the winged lion, the symbol of Venice, and a statue of St. Mark. The columns were involved in certain public rituals. They used to execute criminals between the two columns by beheading. The condemned's last sight would be the clock of San Marco directly ahead.
We walk down the grand alleyway leading to the Piazza proper. On the right is the Doge's
palace, the doge being the supreme leader of the ancient Republic of Venice. As we stroll, Marina narrates a capsule history of the city. It was built on marsh and low-lying islands towards the end of the Roman Empire when barbarian attacks forced the people to seek refuge from the mainland. In a remarkable feat of ingenuity, they drove thousands of massive tree trunks into the bog to support buildings above. Preserved by anaerobic conditions in the bog, those tree trunks are what to this day underpin the city.
But Venice is gradually sinking and there's little that can be done about it. The Piazza is one of the lowest areas of the city and floods are common. In fact, piled all along the edges of the piazza are movable boardwalks that can be put in place quickly when floods occur. Martine explains that that warning sirens left over from World War II are used to alert the populace to impending floods, and that everyone stops what they are doing and pitches in to help prepare the city. Oh and, yes, there's an app for flood predictions as well
Venice grew to because become one of the most
powerful nation states in the ancient world and a hugely influential maritime power. It only relinquished its autonomy with the creation of modern Italy in 1870.
We enter the Piazza. It has to be one of the most dazzling sites in the world. On the left is a long open area hemmed by a long building in a repeating pattern, like looking in a series of mirrors. In front is the ornate clock tower, topped with a gold winged lion. And to the right is the Basilica San Marco, built in 1071, with an opulent facade featuring enormous mosaics depicting how the remains of St. Mark the Evangelist came to rest within these walls. Short explanation: The Venetians sneaked his bones out of Muslim Alexandria by hiding them in barrels of pork. The basilica was for most of its existence the exclusive domain of the Doge.
We enter the church, where no photographs are permitted. Words fail to describe the beauties within. Intricate mosaics adorn all the domes supported by elaborately engraved alabaster columns, separated by intricately carved marble walls lined with gold leaf. At the front of the church stand 14 statues: Christ, the 12 apostles plus
St. Mark. The latter's remains are in a stone sarcophagus under the main altar. At the back is a stunning iconostasis in gold and precious gems representing all the entities in the Christian pantheon.
We exit, and Martine leads us on a merry chase through the narrow winding alleys of Venice. We visit several campos, which, as Martine explains, typically boast a church, a square, and a fountain. There are explanations about the history and significance of each campo which I unfortunately have not retained. Martine explains how the canal and street system developed. In the early days, there were mostly only canals, which followed the course of the original natural waterways. Gradually, the people endeavoured to make sense of the layout by filling in certain canals to make them streets and by building bridges over the canals. That is why the modern city presents a twisted spaghetti ball of streets and canals, at least to the outsider.
Our walking tour ends with a return past San Marco to the Royal Gardens. A satisfying experience. Violet is interested in purchasing some art, so we stroll along the promenade between the gardens and San Marco, which hosts at least
a dozen artists and photographers selling their wares. And guess who's also here: the old beggar women, frozen in exactly the same position. How did she get here from Rialto? Maybe she is able to apparate. We have fun talking to the artists and examining their work. We eventually pick three water colours of stereotypical Venetian scenes from a lady who hails from Sicily.
Time to think about supper. There is a long list of top Venetian restaurants that we could try to seek out, but we are fairly tired after a full day of walking and so decide on a restaurant near our hotel. We have previously noticed that has an extensive menu and has reputedly won several awards. So we board the #1 for the return trip back up the Grand Canal. At the last minute, an entire tour group of 25-30 damn tourists invade the place, and the bus ends up ridiculously crowded, so much so that we disembark at Rialto to catch the next bus. We are so glad we purchased day passes.
After a pit stop at our room, we get the last patio table at our chosen restaurant xxxx. Our British friends
are already there. We order squid-ink tagliatelle with scampis as well as an order of grilled whole squid. And wine. Yum!
Another long, tiring, but very satisfying day. Venice is beautiful and fabulous.
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