We write from aboard a train in Northern Italy; taking us
from Venice to Florence. The lush green
fields with pastel houses are an interesting contrast to the canals and
concrete urban-ness of Venice.
We loved Venice. It’s
a controversial tourist destination in that visitors either love or hate
it. We were in the former category based
on: our ability to get off the beaten path, our interest in history, and our
trip’s timing (late October – good weather with smaller crowds).
Venice’s population of 55 thousand is small relative to the
millions of tourists that visit annually.
Consequently the economy is geared to serve tourists. Common sites included tourists restaurants,
stalls hawking souvenirs, gondola drivers offering rides and tourists
meandering around with cameras. There
are heaps of tourists traps but there are also just as many great exciting
places to try. We took a great tour on
our first full day and were rewarded with dense history, architectural trivia
and insider dining tips. A little bit of
research and one can handle the hordes and skip the traps with ease.
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| San Marco Square - home of the tower and Saint Mark's Basilica |
Venice as an idea is really cool. It’s a city built in a lagoon on mud
hills. It came to prominence during the
middle ages when barbarian invasions forced Italians to take safety in the
seas. Venice grew in prominence from the
9th to the 15th century.
Venice’s growth was fueled by trade with the East and managed expertly
through political and military maneuvering.
Venice’s wealth was concentrated amongst the noble families. The noble families returned the money to the
city through churches, artwork, and celebrations. Venice today is full of gorgeous churches
ornately decorated on the exterior and interiors and chuck full of beautiful
artwork. There are also many museums
housing the overflow of great artwork made by Venetian artists or sponsored by
wealthy Venetians.
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| One of the countless beautiful churches in London |
We knew Venice was famous for canals but what surprised us
was that it has only canals and sidewalks.
There are no cars, Vespas or bikes allowed. The majority of buildings are right on top
of the canals so getting from one place to another can be tricky as one has to
zig and zag through sidewalks and plan strategically to find the bridges. The first day was quite difficult. By the second day we learned to use sign
posts for key landmarks to navigate through the labyrinth. Our intrepidness was an asset as we explored
the paths less taken and were open to new experiences right around the
corner. The canals make Venice a scenic
romantic place with plenty of good photography options.
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| The mean streets of Venice |
Venice provided an opportunity to indulge in Italian
cuisine. We had our fair share of Gelato
pre and post dinners. The first night we
found a unique local wine dispensary which provided great wines at low
prices. We purchased bottles of Prosecco
and enjoyed them in a piazza at dusk.
We also sampled an Italian aperitif called Spritz. It’s a mixture of bitter sweet alcohol with
club soda. It goes down very easily and
cleanses the palate to increase one’s appetite.
The Spritz helped clear the way for the pizza. We found a local place, Ae Oche, that provided great
thin crust pizza with a tasty tomato and mozzarella based sauce. The most interesting type we had was Venetian
which had mussels (in the shell), clams, prawns, octopus, crawfish, and
calamari. Somehow it all worked together
to provide a tasty seafood experience.
Lastly I will leave you with a great Mitch Hedberg joke: "In Venice, Italy they don't have streets, they have canals. So in Venice, we gotta keep the kids off the canals. In Venice if you're not book smart, but you do know what's going on, you are canal smart. "I got canal smarts [man]!"
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