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Serenissima – the old lady of the sea Venice . She is beautiful. She sits in her lagoon check by jowl with the industry that both sucks the life out of her and gives her her lifeblood. Marghera her port and industrial side. Tourists make Venice what it is. Both a pleasure and a delight but the bane of her life. She needs tourists like a man needs water but there is a point when enough becomes enough and she is spoilt by her success. We decided to stay at Serenissma Camping site. One we have stayed at before. It seemed Ok last time and this time at first seemed OK. Our peace was shattered though as the dog next door started up barking and never stopped all night. What made it worse was the fact that the dog set off the local cockerel who crowed from dawn to dusk. We never got a wink of sleep all night. We both tossed and turned as we listened to bark punctuated with crowing. It was a bit of a toss up trying to decide if it was worth the hassle of going into Venice but having got here we really had to
Some of Venices lovely old buildings
From the back alleyways there is still some beauty do it. The bus stops outside the campsite and for 3 euros each we got a return to Venice. So Venice it is. However it did feel a bit like we were spectators at a boxing match. The dog in the blue corner and the cockerel in the red. We wished for a knockout blow but it never came.
We got up at 6.15. There was little point of staying in bed any longer. Time for quick spruce up and off to the bus. It takes about 20 minutes to travel from the campsite to the city. The bus turned up five minutes early and we joined it with another young girl. The bus was heaving. I do have odd thoughts in this situation. Growing up I was told that I should give up my seat for the elderly and for pregnant women and have always endeavoured to do that. I was always brought to believe that men should give up their seat for women and the elderly. Here there were men, young and old, young girls and children taking up seats . Not a thought of giving up anything on this bus. My heart said what a
lousy inconsiderate lot of human beings . It grated but then on the other hand my head was saying that perhaps I did not look my age and that had to be a good thing. Funny how you have one part of you thinking one thing and the other side contradicting yourself. I even wondered what would happen if there was a Titanic disaster now. Would the occupants of our bus say women and children first and would the orchestra play on. I doubt it very much.
The bus rumbled on its way. Part way through our journey the inspectors called. Four of them. Checking tickets. Two to the front of the bus and the other two to the back. They struggle through the throngs checking away. We had put our tickets against the yellow machine and had validated them. So far so good . They checked and smiled and gave us the tickets back. Your heart always skips a beat when they check the ticket and you half expect the ticket not to work.
Arriving in Venice we did what we normally never do . We got lost. We ended up in a square we recognised from
our last visit and stopped for a coffee to assess the situation. On we went . Some alleyways ended up as dead ends. Others ended up against the water. Some sottopassages took us round in circles. Without a map we had to rely on memory and for some reason our memories were getting a touch dim. Still we saw things we had not seen before. Venetion houses in need of a little care and attention but still lovely to look at. Shops full of tat, others filled with silver and gold masks , handbags and shiny shoes. Cakes shops full of marzipan delights made to look like fruit and vegetables costing 1 euro 30 cents each. Panforte in huge slabs. Market stalls full of fruit and vegetables and the smell of fresh fish from the sea. Eventually we did find ourselves in St Marks Square. Probably if Carling made Squares then this would be the most perfect square in the world. The medieval of the basilica and the clock sit perfectly without jarring against Sansovinas Library.
We had intended to have lunch in our favourite restaurant but we were too early for that so instead stood and admired
the beauty of the reconstructed campanile . We had the square almost to ourselves this early in the morning and were able to look at the exquisite mosaics of the basilica. Should we go for a coffee at Florians? We had done this before so decided to head off for the Doges Palace . We had been before but I had only seen the Segreti Itinerie and wanted to see the main building. Rounding the corner we saw a queue. Sadly there was a national strike and the palace was not open until 10.30 . Instead we looked around at everything. Still you cannot have everything.
On our way back we bought some of the marzipan sweets, some jelly sweets for a present, some croissants filled with marmalade. Too sweet for my taste. Whilst buying them I feel into conversation with a lady who was in the same shop. She was like me buying using pointing, gesturing and the odd Italian word. She said how well we did without Italian and I replied that my finger spoke whatever language I needed in whichever country I was in. It seemed to work and if it didn’t then I bought something and sometimes it turned out interesting.
Venice lived up to every expectation but then it does every time. We headed off for the bus station at Piazza Roma and caught the Padova bus home. On the way back the inspectors got on again. Tickets checked we were OK again but two young boys got on and were accosted . They got about ten tickets out of their pockets, tried each one against the machine and they all failed . They had got on and chanced their arms and got caught. I don’t know what the outcome was. Perhaps they would be fined. We got off the bus one stop too early and had to walk back to the campsite. By the time we got there the two boys were at the Padova stop waiting for a bus. What was that all about ?
We paid up having had our fix of Venice for another year and headed for our next stop Soave.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
My favorite activity in Venice is...
to get lost!