Venice or Venezia?
A tourist mecca
I arrived in Venice after a long train trip from Riomaggiore and found my way to the Hotel San Zulian. I had simple instructions as to its whereabouts but still struggled to find it. I let myself into my room and there I stayed till hunger overtook me and I ventured down to the hotel bar restaurant for a bite. I broke my own rule to never eat in the hotel restaurant and it cost me dearly — the most expensive bite ever — €27 — and I was still hungry. Lorelle, Kiryn and Stacey arrived MUCH later and had pizza for half the price!
The best breakfast — and coffee
Needless to say, I slept in the next morning and woke up to a beautiful breakfast of juice, muesli, fruit, yoghurt, breads and croissants, with plenty of butter and spreads as well as meats and cheese, and a great cup of coffee, which was a whole pot of black coffee and a jug of hot milk. I ate breakfast on my own as, by 8.30 am, I was hungry enough to eat a horse!
Murano- I went crazy with the credit card
Then off to Murano Island by boat to see the glass blowing. I was feeling quite ill but soldiered on nonetheless. The glass ornaments and jewellery and beads were all simply beautiful, and we couldn’t escape without buying a bucketload! First real money I’ve spent extravagantly, but when you see what I bought, you’ll understand why! Lorelle had gone off on her own to explore, while Stacey and I shopped. I shopped till I (almost) dropped, and then headed home while Stacey visited the Museum of Natural History.
An interesting encounter
I sat next to a Welshman on the ride back to San Marco and struck up a conversation. He was a ceramic artist who visits Venice regularly and travels quite a bit for his work. He photographs stacks of chairs as well which I thought was almost as unusual as Stacey photographing sewer drain man-hole covers!
I arrived back at the hotel and once again enjoyed the comfort of my queen- sized bed! A nap before dinner was exactly what the doctor ordered! Kiryn had located a cheaper place for dinner, and we ordered the €13.90 special of pasta, roast chicken and chips washed down with a litre of vino bianco. I grabbed a gelato on the way home before once again flopping down on my bed. I couldn’t get to sleep so watched two episodes of Glee before sleep overcame me.
The Doge’s Palace
Up early to another great breakfast (same as yesterday but with pineapple yoghurt!) before hitting San Marco Square and the Doge’s Palace. Kiryn and Lorelle climbed the Bell Tower, while Stacey and I toured the palace. I had to run through the prison to make it back to the central courtyard for the start of the secret itineraries guided tour for which Stacey and I had paid €12 each.
We could have saved €24 as our tickets weren’t even checked! I suppose she knew how many people were supposed to be on the tour. We went to rooms we had not seen before (the secret part of the palace that visitors to the palace many centuries ago never saw).
It was completely different to the ostentation that was prevalent in all of the other rooms — the rooms were quite bare in comparison. We saw the Doge’s Office. He was the only one who had access to the whole palace. He was chosen from the middle class, not the aristocracy. We visited the rooms where all the public servants worked, as well as the quite comfortable jail cells where such personalities as Casanova spent time.
Political history of Venice
Venice was an independent republic for over 1000 years until Napoleon conquered it, and had a very successful social system in place. The politicians were drawn from the aristocrats and did not earn any money from serving in the Parliament (there’s a lesson to be learnt here!) as they were independently wealthy.
The positions were changed frequently so that graft and corruption could not take hold. The only position that was for life was that of the Doge (Chancellor) and he earned the equivalent of €500,000 a year so was not tempted to give away any state secrets. Very interesting!
We couldn’t get out so had to go the whole way round again so I got to see most of the palace twice. I was enthralled by the Bosch paintings which I had not seen before. Such intricate, weird and fascinating work!
The gondola ride
After the tour, we met up with my sister and niece in the square and headed off on our gondola ride — 45 minutes for 100 euro. There are 434 gondoliers left in Venice but at the height of its prosperity there were more than 10,000!
Venice now relies solely on the tourist industry to survive and the population has dropped from 250,000 to 60,000 as most Venetians can’t afford to live here anymore. We saw the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, the birthplace of Marco Polo, the places Goethe and Mozart lived when visiting Venice as well as many other gondoliers transporting tourists on similar tours. They have a long paddle and row you through the small canals, not push you along with a pole touching the bottom! I learn something new every day!
Still feeling the ravages of travelling and a succession of sleepless nights being kept awake by my persistent coughing (it keeps everyone else awake too, apparently), I decided to call it a day and head back to the room to rest. Feeling a little hungry, I decided to retrace our steps to the little restaurant we had found last night and grab a bite to eat.
Lost in Venice
Well, as per usual, I got lost but enjoyed exploring the narrow streets, walking over canal bridges and experiencing everything Venice had to offer off the beaten track. I found a little restaurant with a 3-course meal for €10.50. Primi- tortellini, secondi- chicken schnitzel with grilled zucchini, capsicum, and eggplant, and lastly, tiramisu all washed down with a half litre of house white. I found some shops filled with curiosities and strange-looking masks as well as picking up 5 fridge magnets for €2. I paid €4.50 for one at the Doge’s Palace!
A night at the theatre
After resting for the rest of the afternoon, Stacey and I headed off to the Theatre-— the Teatri Gallo — to see Venezia; a play about the history of Venice. We arrived early and were offered a prosecco by a gentleman dressed in period costume (who turned out to be one of the actors). We decided on a bottle and were given plastic glasses to take into the theatre with us.
The play was great — all in English — and the history was explained visually by projections on the walls as well as orally through the actions of the actors. At one stage, I was the unsuspecting and unfortunate victim of a scare by one of the actors who had come up to me from behind.
I don’t know who got the biggest scare. I screamed loudly (not my normal scream but a more guttural one because of my throat) and gave HIM such a scare he jumped backwards! Stacey apologised to him after the play ended for my scaring him — what about his scaring me first? Anyway, we had a great time and learnt a lot more about the history of Venice. I can’t believe I knew so little!
I need more books
I’ve run out of reading material so bought a couple of books from the best English bookshop I’ve seen in the foyer of the theatre. We managed to track down our restaurant from last night and ordered calzone and carbonara and shared them, and washed down with the obligatory bottle of house red, of course. And so to bed, but not to sleep!
I was awoken by Stacey’s alarm at 6.30 am. (This was a first!) In our rush to get to the station, I somehow trod on my prescription sunglasses and broke the frame. We packed our bags, ate breakfast, and caught the ferry back to the station in time for our 8.57 am train to Milano (Milan) where we changed trains to Montreux, Switzerland, then changed again in Montreux before arriving in the lakeside village of Vevey for a four-night stay. Heaven!
Venice was expensive — there’s no denying that — but there’s nowhere else quite like it. And it’s sinking into the sea so may not be visible in a hundred years. If you get the opportunity, go see it for yourself.