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Published: July 13th 2008
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A day in Venice is plenty. We had planned to steer clear of the museums and churches and instead spend the day browsing through cultural Venice and its neighboring islands. The vaporetto stopped at the Rialto Bridge and we got out. The beautiful bridge was built in stone on a single arch during the 15th century. The bridge has three walkways: two along the outer balustrades, and a wider central walkway leading between two rows of small shops that sell jewelry, linens, Murano glass, and other items for the tourist trade. We walked along the shops as I gazed at the Venetian masks and lovely trinkets. Experiencing the hunger pang, we bought greasy pizza and coke zero from a pizzeria and ate, sitting on the steps of the bridge, watching the gondolas glide past with tourists; at the same time, reading some interesting history.
Rialto was the first harbor of Venice. The barrels, boxes, spices, wine and oil perfumes which were unloaded on the bank of the Grand Canal were housed in the warehouses called “fondaci ". During the day, the goods brought outdoors were sold on the stalls around the church of San Giovanni Elemosinaro. The market could be
reached by an opening in the bridge called the “monete”. It was from Rialto that the streets started. They were all in beaten earth and covered with rubbish, since the Venetians had the bad habit of throwing garbage out of the windows. The streets were a real quagmire when it rained or during high tides. The only scavengers were the pigs which were abundantly bred because they destroyed a large quantity of rubbish by eating it. With streets such as these, men and women used shoes with very high heels to go out on foot.
Since people went around on horses, the bridges were without steps in the early centuries. Venetian Women used to stay at home, getting some air and sitting in the sun with the old people and children on the roof-terraces and the verandas called "liago ". It was a serious problem for the young women to find a husband. Annually in spring, all the girls and boys met with the Patriarc on the island of Olivolo in San Pietro di Castello were marriages were arranged under the olive-trees. One year, during the feast-day, some pirates attempted to rape the girls and to steal their dowries,
but unfortunately failed. From then on, during the feasts big dummies called "marione" were used instead of the girls. Interesting!
We took the vaporetto to Piazza San Marco, the heart of Venice. Standing in the great big square with the pigeons, we got a good view of the Doge’s Palace, the St. Mark’s basilica and the Bell Tower. The piazza originated in the 9th century and the colossal bell tower that rose up to look at the sea over the shoulder of Venice was adorned with statues of gargoyles. The bell rang, marking the hour. It was noon. And Rajesh desperately wanted ice cream! We bought creamy gelatos from a gelateria and wandered over to the Doge’s Palace.
The Doge’s Palace was built in the 9th century and was the residence of the Doges (chief magistrates) until the fall of the Venetian Republic in I797. It was a public palace and the seat of the administration of justice - the highest and richest symbol of Venetian civilization. The exterior facade is decorated in white and pink marble, and it looks rather like a marble wedding-cake. The 15th century Giant staircase is crowned with statues of Mars and Neptune,
symbols of Venice's power. The torture chamber was open to the public and connects to the Bridge of Sighs. The Bridge of Sighs is a small stone bridge that connects the Doge's Palace with prison cells. The bridge received its name because of the sighs of the prisoners that were lead to the terrible prison cells. Reminded me of the Tower of London!
Piazza San Marco is the central landmark and gathering place for Venice, extremely popular with tourists, photographers, and Venetian pigeons. We did not want to go inside the Doge’s Palace nor climb up the Bell tower as the whole tourist population was bent on it. We were desperate to stay away from the crowd and decided to escape to the islands surrounding Venice. But before that, I had a chore to complete. We went behind Piazza San Marco, over to Academia passing numerous designer boutiques in the narrow alleys. Hermes had boxes with Indian themes displayed on the windows - “Laila Majnu, Shivaji”, etc. We passed YSL, Gucci, Chanel and reached the book shop we were looking for. We had to get to an internet, it seemed like days since we had left our country and
we had to touch base with our friends, family and workplace.
Venetian masquerade masks have livened up parties for a long time. I stopped at the souvenir shops that lined the pier to buy a Venetian mask magnet. Venetian masks are a centuries-old tradition of Venice. Worn during the Carnevale (the Carnival of Venice), they come in all different colors and shapes. The Venetian Carnival is one of the oldest and most enchanting festivals in Europe. The Carnival officially began on Boxing Day, December 26, and reached its climax on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. But in the 18th century dressing up and anonymous games with masks were an inseparable part of the Venetian daily life and society. The Venetian fashion of wearing masks seemed close to paradise for many foreign visitors thronging the souvenir shops, including me. And I just couldn’t resist buying Venetian mask earrings as well. I knew Niki would love those!
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