Venice revisited

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I know I briefly made an entry about the day I spent in Venice, but since I’m typing on my own time instead of a 30 minute internet café timeframe, I thought I’d go more in depth and hopefully get some pictures up.

I got up early to go into Venice. I think I had rehearsal that afternoon, so I wanted to have a few hours to get to know Venice. We’re still strangers, Venice and I.

I set out from the cruise terminal and found the city okay, but where I went from there I couldn’t tell you. I walked down street after street, side street after side street, waterfront after waterfront. Every corner led to a street lined with shops and restaurants and every canal had a gondola in it. It definitely has to be one of the most photogenic cities I’ve ever seen. Everywhere you look is a postcard waiting to happen.

Of course, part of the cities charm is its labyrinth like layout. The streets aren’t linear and there’s no way to use water to help you keep your orientation. And after making a million turns, I was sufficiently lost and while the city was amazing to look at, my feet were killing me and I had no idea exactly how long it would take me to get back to the ship. Suddenly the beauty wasn’t captivating enough because every time I thought I was back on the right track I’d find myself somewhere else completely different and disorienting. That didn’t stop me from getting as many pictures as possible, but I knew my feet were going to hate me at the end of the day.

I did manage to find one recognizable landmark. I found my way to St. Mark’s Square. I love traveling through a city and seeing places that have been filmed so many times, you almost feel like you’ve been there already. But this place has never felt as real before. It’s just like this faint memory that suddenly becomes really vivid. I went through the same thing when I saw parts of Central Park for the first time, or several of the monuments in Washington DC.

So yeah, St. Mark’s Square (although I never knew it was called that) is this gigantic open area with a cathedral on one end, and a museum on the other. It’s full of people and pigeons and lined with restaurants with outdoor seating. It also happens to have several drains throughout it that begin to seep water when the tide is up. That’s just a subtle reminder that you’re walking through a city built on water. So anyway, while walking through the square taking in the breathtaking grandeur, I slipped and fell totally on my butt. This was probably one of the most heavily populated areas of Venice, full of tourists, and people eating lunch, and museum goers, and I completely ate it in the center of the square. I’d like to think that Venice is such a self absorbed city that few noticed my clumsyness, but I’m more inclined to think that a few people probably had quite a laugh at the American tourist. A nice British couple helped me up and assured that I was okay, which I was apart from a sore butt and a bruised ego, and then I booked it to the nearest place that wasn’t there.

So my impressions of Venice? It’s a very expensive city with a whole heck of a lot of people, local and not wandering through its streets daily, and an equal number of pigeons. I’ve never had so many birds fly toward my head in one day. I’m surprised I didn’t land on one when I took my spill. They’re everywhere. But yes, it is a beautiful city, and if I had money, it is definitely a place where I could spend a lot of it and feel very fulfilled doing so.

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Comments

[JM in Transit]

i'm likin' the pitchers!
that's my folksiness shinin' through... just in case you're not getting enough of it out there in "notamerica" and you're a-jonesin' for a dose of down home. you're missin' out on oodles of pre-election fun out there! *creepywink* --- but anyway. these pictures really are amazing. I can't wait to hear your stories!!! be safe and have fun!