Venice is the most pleasant of the Italian cities we have been to. A small amount of research would have explained a lot – Italy is split in two; the rich northern Italy, and the struggling southern Italy. The further north you go, the more pleasant it is. But I appreciate seeing both. Life isn’t all candy after all.
The historical centre of Venice has basically been built on a several platforms that are sitting on big concrete pillars that have been sunk into the ocean and mud beneath. Because the pillars are sitting on mud, naturally, they are sinking. So one day Venice will probably disappear just like the fabled city of Atlantis, but not in our lifetime. You can see buildings tilting as they sink at a faster rate than their neighbours.
Much of the whole historic centre of the city exists purely for tourists with nothing but souvenir shops selling masquerade masks, glass blown figurines and ‘I love Venezia’ t-shirts as far as the eye can see. Venture just a little further out and the streets/ally’s get wider and the feel is a little more authentic and relaxed. We went for a walk to the University and stumbled upon an old church running an exhibition of Da Vinci’s machines. We went in (obviously) and loved it. The man was pure genius.
Putting aside the millions of souvenir shops and the hundreds of Africans selling ‘real’ Louis Vuitton bags on the streets (on bed sheets so they can pick them up and run at first word of the cops – there were heaps of these guys in Naples too) , the city is beautiful and the sights are wonderful.
Today we visited St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace which were both historically fascinating. These buildings make a point of saying ‘Hey world, I’m Venezia and I’m stinking rich’, which was the point back when they were established (they covered everything in gold, literally).
Gondola rides are about 80 euros (approx. $155 AUD), and as the narrow water ways are, at times, choked with them, they don't appear to offer that famed slice of Venetian romance. Besides, I can’t think of anything worse than sitting next to your lover for 40 minutes with some dude standing behind you, peering over your shoulder, interrupting you all the time and making you feel incredibly not alone. So we are happily passing on that cookie-cutter, straight-out-of-the-box, one-size-fits-all ‘romantic’ experience.
On the advice of many friends and family, we have invested lots of time in just walking around the city and getting lost, which has been great. It has allowed us to see all the various shops, both touristy and not so touristy, the rare grocery shop, and a fair amount of residential areas (wiki tells me about 60,000 people live on the sinking city). There have been a few times where we have genuinely been lost, but when there are gelato vendors everywhere you can only adopt a certain amount of concern at the situation.
Our hostel is pretty cool & in the centre of things. It's amazing to step outside our front door and be 3 meters from the water’s edge, with a view of St Mark's Square. Just so relaxing and wonderful. I had a peaceful breakfast this morning at a little cafe on the water's edge just up from our hostel...what a spectacular thing to wake up to in the morning, I just sat there feeling so lucky. Also (mainly because I don't know how to ask for milk in Italian) I had my first strong black coffee shot served out of what looks like a dolls tea set cup, which seems to be what you get when you ask for a coffee around here. People just shot them at the counter and continue on their way. It was strong, but not entirely un-enjoyable. There isn't an ounce of concern over leaving everything in Australia anymore, not one thought left. This is brilliant.
