30 October 2015 - Venice, wonderful Venice!

Approaching Venice by train is exciting as the train travels over water before reaching Venice St Lucia Station.  The skies were clear: an absolutely perfect day to wander the narrow winding streets and canals of this amazing and historic city.

Andiamo a Venezia!

Regionale train

Situated on the Adriatic Sea, Venice has had a long history of trading with the  Muslim world and Byzantine Empire starting during the 9th Century.  By the 13th Century Venice was the most prosperous city in Europe and that grand feeling remains today.  It is as though time has stood still in many of the little lanes, some no wider than an average adult and it is not hard to imagine you are in a time warp.  Even though there are quite a few people in the main areas, there are many little spots where it is possible to be far from anyone else.  Before long you wander into a piazza or dead end at a canal and you may see someone else!  We did buy a map but despite charging 3 Euro when every other tourist office gives the maps out for free,  the details were not particularly accurate when it came to the tiny unmarked lanes.  There are signs at intervals but not quite as frequent as you might hope to direct you to the main spots.

Venice comprises 118 islands connected by 409 bridges although there are only 4 bridges over the Grand Canal.  Walking through the city requires ability to climb steps and negotiate lane ways.  We did see a few people dragging their luggage to and fro but I was glad to just have our couple of day packs with our food supplies and water.

When arriving in Venice by train, the first thing you see after exiting the station is the Grand Canal and Ponte dei Scalzi (Bridge of the barefoot!) and on a sunny day like today, everything was glistening!

Just outside of the station, this is the view!

 And the next thing you see is FOOD!  Tons of it, displayed so beautifully, like a work of art! When we are trying to reduce what we carry, the fancy pasta will have to wait until we can get to the Mediterranean Supermarket in Brunswick Street and relive our Italian experience!

Pasta display

Macaroons and posh as cordial!

Most beautiful displays EVERYWHERE!

Our goal for the day was to wander and enjoy which we did!  Heading in the direction-ish (!) of Piazza San Marco, we stopped at the Chiesa of St Lucia and St Geronimao.  An historic clock (1500) was ticking away so we could clearly see its mechanisms.  This church also houses the body of St Lucia, from 304 AD!  There are churches upon churches in Venice and we didn't peek into all of them. 

Clock 1500 at the Church of St Lucia and St Jerome

St Lucia shrine

Waiting for a customer!

Looking up and looking down and looking down every lane - an absolute sensory feast!

State of disrepair adds to the charm.

All supported by wood beams under the water

Narrow lane but not the narrowest we saw!

Just discussing the next move.

The chimneys, in particular, impressed me here!

Washing day in Venice

A day in the life of a gondolier - very tranquil, not a song was heard!

Even emergency services need to use the canals!

The streets are really one big but very tasteful and lovely shopping experience, well mostly window shopping for us! Window displays are all magnificent and it is a visual smorgasbord of colour and culture.  The mask shops, the pasta shops, the cake shops, the leather shops, the calligraphy shops, the ice creameries, the glass shops, jewellery shops and also the trinket shops add to the interest.  There are also trashy tourist stands and small market areas selling all the same things but on the whole I enjoyed sauntering past and just drinking it all in.

Torrone! (nougat)

A delightful scene of moving village activity!

Quills of Murano glass and pewter - very elegant but I doubt I'd use one!

These quills were feathers!

Calligraphy, quills and manuscripts and beautiful art intrigued particularly Luke who was desperate for a quill.  Being a left hander, quills would be the most difficult thing to write with but I do have a calligraphy set at home which I believe has a couple of left handed nibs as I, too, am a left hander.

Sunlight on the water - sigh!

San Marco's lion

And so the frescoes continue!

The Doge's Palace

We made our way to Piazza St Marco and joined the crowds and bright sunshine for lunch.  I had mentioned to Karl that Venice floods sometimes and was delighted to see it a bit puddle-ish today.  The reflections of the buildings in the water make good photos!  There were raised wooden walkways to walk on to avoid the water.  Apparently, Venice sinks 1-2 mm per year and particularly with high tides at certain times of the year, (the Acqua Alta) so it looks like there must have been a high tide a bit earlier!

I LOVE that Piazza San Marco was slightly flooded!!!

Doge's Palace reflections

 As local industry progressed in 20 th Century and water was extracted from the aquifer under Venice, the subsiding started.  Since 1960's the artesian wells have been banned.  You can see lots of steps into the water which are so covered in foliage that it is obvious that they haven't been exposed for a long time.  There are many buildings and lower floor doorways which are now not in use and there is a sense of charming disrepair about the city.  Much of the render is crumbling exposing the old brick work underneath.  The canal water looks a lovely aquamarine colour in between the old buildings and as the late afternoon came upon us the light was absolutely stunning.

Reflecting the perfect blue sky!

Peacocks on the side panels of the Doge's Palace - one of the lovely scenes from our lunch spot under the arches.

Friends from another era!

Flanking the Doge's Palace are women of notable characteristics.

Mythical creatures amongst the realistic ones - where do the ideas come from?

More of lunch time views

In Piazza San Marco, the Doge’s Palace and the other grand buildings that flank the square towered above the crowds as  they have done since for centuries.  There has been a building on this site since the 9th Century.  Fires over the years have destroyed various parts of the palace and it has been rebuilt in stages. The white marble exterior and reflections in the puddles left by high tide reminded me of the Taj Mahal on grandness scale.  We took shelter under the arches from the sun, which seemed quite intense because of all the whiteness of the marble and ate our lunch with a million dollar view.

The ornate pillars - just EVERYTHING has extraordinary details - plain was not in fashion!

Gondola mooring!  This may be where James Bond comes roaring up in Moonraker.

On the waterfront looking over to a couple of the islands we took time to absorb the iconic view of Venice plus gondolas plus lapping water plus skyline of domes and towers.

So sunny - hard to keep our eyes open1

Let's go climb a lamp post!!

The front of the Doge's Palace.

The Bridge of Sighs

 Not far from here is the Bridge of Sighs built in 1614 which links the Doge’s Palace with the prison. It is called the Bridge of Sighs because it is where the prisoners got their last look at freedom as they were moved from the courtroom.  Now, it is over a small but busy canal laden with gondolas.  We didn’t take a gondola ride and decided against a vaporetto ride (7.50 Euro each for a one way ticket) but really did love winding in and out of the little streets.

Luke enjoying Venice!

Parade of Gondolas

Ti amo!

Well timed handstand between crowds!

Tim's handstand

In every piazza there is a well and Luke wanted to sit on each one and have a photo taken!!

Leonardo da Vinci in Venice!

Ponte Rialto

The Grand Canal

Anyone for chilis?

Ancient instruments in the Church of St Vita - just near the Ponte Rialto

We saw a numbe rof these 24 hour clocks but couldn't read them!!  It was 3 PM at the time of this photo.

Steps to a pedestal - for ?speech giving, ?public shaming ??????

And still not the narrowest lane we saw!

Late afternoon and the lighting is amazing!

 What is it with all the beautiful masks?  These masks are worn during the Carnival of Venice which was re-established in 1979 and brings the tourists flocking to Venice in January each year.  The Canrival started in 1162 when the Serene Republic of Venice (Serenissima Repubblica) triumphed over the Patriarch of Aquileia.  Over the centuries masks were allowed then forbidden for various reasons.

Masked friend!

The masks have different meanings but two stood out for me.  The Bauta, covers the whole face and is often gilded and worn with a tricorn hat and black cape.  In the 18^th Century the masks were mandatory at decision making events so the citizens could be anonymous, a bit like the secret ballot of today!

The other mask, which Tim told me was used by doctors, is the Medico della peste mask which was worn by plague doctors.  In the era of believing that disease is transferred via the miasma, the long beak of this particular mask was filled with sweet smelling flowers to protect the doctor from the odours.  The doctor also wore a black cape, black hat and white gloves and had a stick for poking his patients so he didn’t have to touch them.

Masks!

More masks!

The lovely smell of good Italian leather captured me and I did buy a little bag which will come in handy at work and replace my “sporran” for pens, phone and scissors.  I am sure I’ll get great use out of it!

Tim, who rarely asks for anything, spotted a tee shirt with great graphics on it in the spirit of Grand Theft Auto (mmmm) and so that was his bit of Venetian memorabilia for a bargain 7 Euros. He also was keen for a Medico della peste mask on a key ring.  Luke and Annika also got key rings to add to their collections. 

 

Another significant purchase was the ice cream of the day!  Certainly not disappointing!  The Italian ice cream is so visually appealing, standing firm in huge smooth stalagmite-like mountains and the taste is unbeatable!

Ice creams!

So narrow, that Tim can barely do a handstand!

Back to the station - one more bridge to cross!

Waking the plank!

I had my camera ready but he didn't fall in!

Luke ventured only a little way!

Getting braver!

It's not just the kids who have fun!

From the station steps - a lovely view!

From the station steps!

Cement mixing boat...and the concreter got barrow loads of wet concrete and wheeled them to the building site!

Essential services continue by canal - DHL deliveries!

 We concluded our day in Venice by walking back to the station.  I was glad we’d chosen the 1642 train back to Bologna as by the time the train left, the sun was already setting and it was fully dark in no time.  We all loved our day in Venice and the weather had been so amazing and we’ll all remember it fondly.  We remarked that the lack of vehicles made everything feel unhurried and peaceful and really the noisiest transport was the gentle putt-putting of boats or the splash of gondoliers' poles!

Homeward bound, taken from the train!