 29 April 2007Venice And so the day has finally come when we leave the Veendam behind us and return to the real world. We disembark with group 5 Black and find ourselves on the dock with our suitcases.  I am not sure that I like it back here in the real world. Dragging heavy suitcases onto Venetian public transport is not exactly my idea of fun (in this case a crowded Vaporetto - is there any other kind?).  Up ahead the Piazza San Marco comes into view. Our hotel is just one street off of San Marco so the first stop of the day will be to leave our suitcases there.  I've fast-forwarded a bit here because dragging suitcases through the crowded tourist hell that is San Marco was, shall we say, somewhat hellish. But now we're on the streets of Venice and ready to see some stuff. This here is one of the main Gondola docks off of San Marco, which is just by our hotel. I am sure it has a name, but looking it up is too much work and, really, who cares?  This is the Piazza San Marco. I am amazed at the number of tourists here. Don't be fooled by the clear blue skies into thinking that this is summertime. It is still April. But Venice is one of those places that is hard-wired into modern tourist mythology as a "must see". I suspect that it probably ranks just after London, Paris and Rome in most people's top European destinations. One wonders why, however, since there are much nicer places in Europe than stinky Venice. But that's people for ya.  Passing in front of the Basilica San Marco it occurs to me that earlier on this trip I was thinking about where the different apostles of Jesus are buried. It was at St John's Basilica near Ephesus, remember? Well, in addition to that one and St Peter's in Rome we can add this building right here as this is supposedly where St Mark is buried. In typical Italian style the Basilica of San Marco is completely overdone with more flourish than the eye can absorb. It reminds me of someone with too many garden gnomes and other statuary on their front lawn.  One of the features of the basilica that I like best are the multi-coloured columns at the front of it. I had no idea that there was purple marble. I've always wanted a picture of them but the crush of people is driving me insane so a zoom in from the previous photo will have to do.  I am not sure what I was thinking when I took this photo. Usually one has a purpose in taking a picture, but I cannot fathom what it was.  Oh god. I'm glad that we're getting on a Vaporetto and don't have to cross that bridge over there.  Looking back toward the Piazza San Marco with the Bell Tower at the left, and the Doge's Palace and Basilica San Marco at the right.  Ok. So I was wrong. We DO have to cross this bridge after all. Nice.  Crawling across the bridge at a snail's pace I have plenty of time to snap a picture looking across the water.  We finally reach the Vaporetto stop and have a view back toward the Doge's Palace and the Piazza San Marco.  I really don't understand Venice at all. Most sensible civilisations would realise that building a city out in the middle of the water is not the best idea. Sure it's all charming and touristy nowadays, but "charming" was hardly a consideration hundreds of years ago. And the logistics of having a city where the streets are made of water is nightmarish. I avoid riding the bus if I can in most cities in the world (there's a reason it's nicknamed the Loser Cruiser) but in Venice there are no busses. The Vaporetto ARE the buses. Cruising the stinky canals of Venice stuffed into a crappy floating city bus pushes the limits of "charming". But financially speaking it's the only way to get around Venice. In normal cities one would take the subway or tram or a taxi but Venice has neither of the former and the cost of running taxis on water makes the latter option a little to expensive for the grand majority of people. And although Venice is a wonderful walking city you can't walk across the water to other islands. Therefore most of everyone must ride the Vaporetto. And as happens when most of everyone must ride any form of transportation the result is that they are crowded.  Here you can see that the Italians have not yet invented the subway strap. You know what I mean - those straps on subways that are there for people to hold onto if there's nowhere to sit? And yet, here we are on a typically overcrowded floating city bus where 70% of the passengers have to stand and there's not a single strap, bar, handle, or anything to hold onto. The best that tall people can do is cling to the roof beams.  Up ahead is our first stop for today - the island of Lido.  Perhaps a bit of a satellite map orientation would be of assistance? From San Marco at the left we've crossed the open water of the lagoon and over to the Island of Lido, which we'll now walk across and go see what's happening at the beach.  Today being a sunny spring weekend there are plenty of people (locals included) out on the streets of Lido.  The beach is also full of people enjoying the good weather and sun.  Here you can see a kind of raised walkway for people to come out over the beach without having to walk across the sand and mingle with the riff-raff.  As crowded as it is here it is still not as bad as Scheveningen beach in the summer. I don't know how Europeans can stand this kind of thing. To me this is not a beach, nor is it much fun with all these people around.  Out on the water in the distance are some sailboats crowded together.  I've had enough with the beach riff-raff myself and head up onto the raised walkway for a look around. You can actually see a lot better from up here, up and down the length of the beach.  You might wonder why I took a picture of these two old chicks. That was not my intention, I promise. They just walked into the shot. The point is the spacing between the individual people sitting on the beach which is slightly wider (generally speaking) than one would see on the beach at Scheveningen at the height of summer. That slight bit of extra space has a tangible effect on how crowded the beach "feels". Compare this to the spacing that I am used to, which is that the closest person to you sitting on the beaches of British Columbia is 50 to 100 metres away from you. That is, if there is even anyone else ON the beach.  And so we leave the beach behind us and cross the island again.  This statue of a lion has a fallen dead branch and leaves on its head that looks like a crown of thorns and somehow reminds me of Aslan from CS Lewis's The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.  The island of Lido is a stark contrast to the central parts of Venice in the lagoon. The streets here are lined with trees and large expansive homes.  A statue of Madonna and child in a wall nook on the walk back to the Vaporetto dock.  The view from the Vaporetto stop looking back toward San Marco.  The Vaporetto arrives and we wait while passengers step off.  San Marco in the far distance across the lagoon.  Back on the water again we set off across the lagoon.   Rounding the main island of Venice the famous islands of the glass-blowing factories of Murano come into view.  Another satellite map orientation shows our continuing route around the lagoon.   We continue along side the main island of Venice for a bit.  We are heading for the Cemetery Island of San Michele, which requires changing to a different Vaporetto line.  I find the signs for public transportation in different cities to be interesting. Some cities design the signs better than others, but I am glad to say that Venice's are pretty good. You get a lot of information from them. As you can see we are waiting for Vaporetto 41 or 42 at stop "Ospedale".  Back on the Vaporetto again we crane our necks to see over the other passengers as we approach the Cemetery Island of San Michele.   And so we arrive at the island of San Michele, which serves as a cemetery for the inhabitants of Venice. Obviously land space is at a premium here in the Lagoon (so much so that one really wonders why bother creating a cemetery island at all since the mainland is just as close and has unlimited space).  A single family's crypt has the bodies stacked one atop the other.     It is a warehouse of death, as you can see. Endless stacks of tombs, like filing cabinets.  Like a library there have to be ladders for mourners to reach the tombs at the very top.   Watering cans hang next to a pump for water for the convenience of visiting mourners.     I thought this couple was interesting. The wife lived another almost 50 years until just recently after her husband passed away in the late 1950s.  Here we see that new graves are still being added. This fellow died this year (2007).  There is even a Milosevic buried here. Some distant relative to Slobo, perhaps? And only a year old when he/she died.    Look at this guy's tomb. Imagine him designing this before he died. "Yes, I want my sarcophagus right on top with steps leading up so people have to climb up to see me!"   In the distance an elderly couple stroll through the cemetery.  Here we see the inside of the gate that we saw earlier from the Vaporetto.  Through the gate the main island of Venice is visible in the distance.     There is even a special section for the war dead. (Visible in the previous two pictures.)     Back outside the walls of the cemetery we look across the water to the islands of Murano.  We wait here for another Vaporetto to carry us back to the main island of Venice again.   We catch a Vaporetto that will drive all the way around through the Murano islands before heading back to the main island of Venice.   Leaving Murano behind us now. We are poor tourists for not even stopping here to look around and buy some blown glass.  Leaving the Vaporetto and back on the main island we can see our route thus far. From here we continue on foot back to San Marco.  A view of the Cemetery Island of San Michele as seen from the main islands.    Walking through the streets of Venice.     And so we arrive the at Jewish Ghetto. It is not well-known that the word "Ghetto" actually originated right here on this spot. In the 1500s it was decided that all the Jews in Venice needed to be rounded up and sent to live in a single confined area to keep them away from the rest of the population (a decision that was to follow with unfortunate frequency over the next hundreds of years). The place they were sent to was a small "island" of the main islands of Venice that was separated from the others by wide channels and could be guarded by trust-worthy Christians. This small island was the site of a former factory named "Geto" - and from that moment the languages of Europe had a new word.  This rounding up of the Jews was not unique or exclusive to the Nazi state, but obviously the Holocaust was an horrific ultimate expression of that kind of thinking. There is a Holocaust memorial here in the former Jewish Ghetto of Venice.      The buildings here tend to be taller than are found elsewhere in Venice. The reason for this is the lack of space of cramming so many Jewish people into a small area.  As you can see there remains a Jewish presence here even today.    Eventually there grew to be too many Jewish people in the single island of the Ghetto and it expanded to other small neighbouring islands as well.   Ever since my favourite pizza place in Medicine Hat closed, I am always on the look-out for a new favourite. This does not qualify, however, unfortunately. But it was still pretty good.      This balcony reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, which actually was supposed to have taken place not far from Venice in Verona.   The sun begins to go down and casts the city in reddish light. Check out the almost full-moon in this picture as well.     Up ahead the famous Rialto Bridge comes into view.  Climbing the steps up the Rialto Bridge as millions of tourists and Venetians have done for centuries.   Views along the Grand Canal of Venice as seen from the Rialto Bridge (which was itself once the only means of crossing).  A view of the Rialto Bridge in the fading light of the day.  The Rialto Bridge from a distance through the forest of piles and moorings that line the Grand Canal.  Sunset over the Grand Canal of Venice.  The moon over Venice.   The Grand Canal as seen from a Vaporetto.  And so we arrive back at Piazza San Marco at the end of a long day. This is Harry's Bar, once a favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, but now a touristy hang out instead. Established by the famous Cipriani family of restaurateurs, and financed by an American in Venice who thought that there weren't enough good bars around, the Harry's Bar of nowadays is not what it used to be. I love how Michael Palin described his visit to Harry's Bar in his book "Hemingway Adventure": "Now bars can be good or bad but they are always a hundred times better if you know the barman and he knows you. When Ernest Hemingway entered Harry's he was doubtless received by Harry himself, shown to his favourite seat ('They were at their table in the far corner of the bar, where the Colonel had both his flanks covered') and served a double martini without ever having to ask. From those days come the classic Harry's Bar stories, such as that of the elderly customer who, having waited an hour for a table, sat down, heaved a sigh of relief, and declared, 'Now I can die'. "Harry's Bar today is merely busy, full of people trying to be Hemingway. Drinks are pre-mixed and served with a dash of boredom. The room itself is small and, when full, is like an overcrowded cabin on a 1950s liner. "Harry's Bar has become a global brand - a clock on the wall shows 'Harry's Bar Time' in Venice, Buenos Aires and New York, and there is a book for sale called Legends of Harry's Bar. And maybe that's the problem. Harry's Bar was a legend. Now it's a legend that knows it's a legend, and that's very different"  And so our journey comes to an end, at Piazza San Marco by night. Tomorrow we return North and back home again to The Hague. But, as always, before we retire let's check the Daily Logbook one last time: Fact of the day: St Mark's Square floods more than 35 times a yea - 4 times the 1970 rate. Distance travelled (Venice back home to The Netherlands) = 1550 km Total distance travelled = 7639 km |
