I actually would've rather have stayed in bed all day, except that my bed was super uncomfortable (what is it with these hotels and their super flat pillows?) and I was in Venice! I had to go check it out! The South African Trio wasn't feeling the trip either, particularly because the weather was miserable and the place is expensive, but they decided to go take a look, anyway.
The thing is, I kept telling myself, that I won't remember how crappy I felt the day that I was in Venice. I'll remember how beautiful it was and how I spent that time with Nicole. Also, on my wishlist was to buy some Venetian glass jewelry, which I couldn't very well do from the hotel, so I dragged my miserable self out of bed and headed down to breakfast.
Breakfast was even more miserable than I was. I consisted of cardboard flakes, weak mixed juice, bitter coffee, stale croissants, and bruised apples. It seemed that I wasn't the only person at the table that wasn't keen on the day. Nicole said it seemed as though the whole tour group had lost its joy. Her reasoning was that everyone was feeling homesick because they'd heard about the family Christmas everyone had enjoyed back home that none of us got to take part in.
A lot of our group also slept as badly as I did due to illness and the discomfort of the bed. It was a quiet bus ride to the ferry, at any rate. Jen put it down to the "mid-tour blues" that she says most tour groups tend to experience, since we are about halfway through our trip. Whatever the reason, the mood on the way to Venice was subdued.
We boarded the boat and headed away from the mainland towards the islands. Luckily, the trip wasn't long and so Nicole didn't get seasick. My head just felt worse and worse, though, and massaging my neck, where the painful tensions spots were, wasn't helping. I decided to take some painkillers, which I swallowed without water, since I didn't have any and didn't want to steal a sip from anyone else in caseI gave them my germs. I chased the pills with an apple I'd taken from breakfast (one that wasn't too bruised).
On the island, Jen gave us a quick overview of Venice. Basically, the island is busy sinking and bankrupt Italy is spending a borrowed fortune on trying to save it. Way back in its heyday, it was a central point on the trade route, making it rich and powerful. When the trade routes changed, it made it's money from brothels and casinos. Now, though, its only source of income is tourism, which is why so many shops were open despite it being a holiday. Very few Venetians actually live there anymore.
To get anywhere on the island, you have to walk. There are no cars or even bicycles allowed. We enjoyed a walking tour in the morning with a very amusing Venetian lady who explained the city's history to us in more detail. Everywhere you go, there are wooden ramps stacked because Venice will often flood and those ramps make it easier to cross over the water. Earlier this year, though, the flooding was so bad that people were swimming through St Mark's square.
Luckily, we didn't experience any flooding while we were there because it sounds pretty gross. Locals make their way around in gumboots when the tide is too high, and it seeps up through the ground and drains underneath the city. I've heard Venice can smell pretty bad when that happens. It didn't smell particularly offensive when we were there, but the water does smell like pond water, so I'm sure the floods make the city far less romantic.
As it was, though, the canals and narrow streets were enormously charming. The quaint little shops are all on the ground level with apartments above. Everything is expensive in Venice because things need to be transported across from the mainland via boat and then carried to the shops, restaurants, and hotels. All waste needs to be transported back to the mainland via barges. It's due to this hassle that so few locals live there now.
Our guide also explained to us that all emergency services, such as police, fire, and ambulances, get around using power boats. In order to preserve the old buildings, the boats in the area need to travel very slowly so as not to create waves. Only the emergency boats are exempted from that rule. Interestingly, even though we have seen quite a few police cars noisily racing around Italy (noticeable because the siren sound is so annoying), we didn't see a single police boat in action.
We did see many gondola's though, making their way through the canals. Traditionally, the boats were the main form of transportation used in the city. Even today, they are handmade with eight different kinds of wood and are very expensive, so fathers tend to hand them down to their sons as a family business. Traditionally, it was a man's job, but recently a female managed to qualify as a gondolier.
Gondolas used to come in different colours that would reflect the status of the person that owned the boat. Nowadays, they are all in the royal colours of black and red. There are also plain public gondolas that are used by locals to cross the Grand Canal for about R24 each way. It's quite pricey for such a short journey, but otherwise you have to make your way all the way to only one of two bridges that cross the canal.
One such bridge is the Rialto Bridge, where there is a lot of souvenir shopping to be done. All the vendors there sell cheaper knock-offs of the three things that the island is famous for: glass (which is now made on Murano, a nearby island, since a fire destroyed the Venetian glassworks), lace (which is very intricately and finely stitched), and masks (which were used to hide the identity of those frequenting brothels back in the heyday of Venice).
Nicole and I were more interested in getting our hands on genuine Murano glass, however, so we headed off the beaten track and explored the confusing, narrow streets of Venice. On our way back towards St Mark's Square, where I'd seen someone selling gluewein, and Nicole had a craving for it, we stumbled across an open store with some pretty glass jewelry in the window.
There was a man in the back of the small shop sitting at a workbench and busy making jewelry as we came in, but he ignored us until we started trying rings on and I guess he worried we might steal something. There were some gorgeous rings and necklaces for sale, and we trusted the authenticity of the unfriendly man behind the workbench, so we picked out a set from his more affordable range, which he beautifully wrapped up for us like Christmas presents.
We stopped at a little sandwich shop for lunch in one of of the twisted alleyways. In the window we had seen what looked like pizza wraps. Nicole had one with a hotdog running through the middle of it. They were hot and yummy, and it gave us a chance to sit down and take a break. Many places in Italy will charge you to sit down, but we were allowed to do so for free here on condition that we purchase both. We lingered over it, enjoying the warmth of our food, and I took more painkillers for my throbbing head.
Back at St Mark's Square, just outside the church, it had begun raining. Luckily, I had an umbrella on me that I'd brought along from South Africa. I'd got it for free at a promotional event and it was quite flimsy, so even the slightest breeze threatened to turn it inside out. Nevertheless, we were grateful for the shelter it provided. Some of the Aussies had actually bought themselves umbrellas from some opportunistic salespeople.
We were all rather hoping that our planned gondola ride had been cancelled, since no one felt like sitting on a boat in the rain. The gondoliers offered us Torre, a sparkling wine that they enjoy in Venice, which we got to drink in little plastic cups on the boat. Climbing on and off, the boat seems incredibly unstable. The gondolier actually balances the boat with his body to prevent it from tipping. Apparently only one tourist ever fell into the water from a gondola "because he was full of vodka," but I felt as though I might be next!
Luckily, the rain quietened down as our boat wound through the narrow canals and under the quaint bridges, and we were able to enjoy our boat ride. The only problem was that the rain was running down the plastic cushion we were sitting on and pooling under my bum, making it very wet. Other than that, I enjoyed our wet boat ride a lot more than I expected to. Our gondolier whistled to us, which seemed very traditional until we caught him sending a text message from his phone, which was less traditional.
The boat tends to brush up quite closely to the barnacle covered walls, reminding me of the way that the bus seems to be narrowly missing other cars every time it turns a corner. The only time the boat hit the wall was right at the end where the front of the boat hit the wall as the gondolier was turning the boat around. I don't know if that was intentional or not, since the front of the boat is reinforced with metal, but I have to wonder what his father who'd given him the boat would've said about that! (I know my dad loves to comment on my driving).
The rain had finally ended by the time we carefully climbed off the wobbly boat. From there, we headed to St Mark's cathedral since it is one of the few things that you can do for free on the Island. It was very different to anything we had seen before, with a strong Eastern influence. Nothing in the church is painted. Rather, it is all mosaic, and has a real Turkish feel to it. The floors, roof, and any pictures are all mosaic with a lot of 24 carat gold about.
While entry to the church may be free, leaving the main hall in any direction costs money. You needed to pay to go up to the roof, the treasury, or close to any statue. We decided that we'd spent enough money visiting churches on our trip, so the only thing I paid for there was a postcard to add to my collection of unsent Italian postcards. The post offices have all been closed for the holidays since we have arrived in the country, so it looks like I will be posting the Italian ones in Germany at this rate.
Afterwards, Nicole and I decided to head back to the Realto Bridge to buy souvenirs for our friends. Susan, one of the Australians, tagged along with us. We headed back the way that we had come previously but very quickly got hopelessly lost in the maze of poorly signposted streets. Throughout the city, there are yellow signs pointing you towards the main attractions of the city, such at the square and main bridges (the other other one being the Academia Bridge).
After a while, though, even these signs had dried up and we really had no idea where to turn. We stopped the next person we saw in the hopes that he'd point us in the right direction. He did more than that, though, telling us to follow him. He walked at quite a brisk pace, common for Venetians, according to our guide, but kept looking back to make sure that we were still behind him. We followed him for quite a distance at that pace, showing you how far lost we really were.
He eventually pointed the bridge out to us then went on his hurried way. Nicole reckons that the couldn't in good conscience leave us as lost as we were without having to do a ton of Hail Mary's to make up for it, so it was probably quicker for him just to help us out. Nevertheless, it was very sweet of him to help us out like that.
We didn't really buy much at the bridge, especially since the jewelry was the main thing that I wanted. Nicole did pick up a pair of pretty broaches that look like Venetian masks, and Susan got an actual mask. Other than that, though, we mostly just browsed around.
Eventually, we made our way to a restaurant where Nicole and I ordered cappuccino decaffinato, while Susan had tea. They actually brought Susan a whole bowl of teabags to choose from. Our coffee was served with dainty little bruschetta pieces and sweet whipped cream. He very sweetly allowed us to use the bathroom and sit down long after our coffee was finished, even though we didn't order any food.
Afterwards, we slowly made our way back to St Mark's where the rest of our group was waiting to meet for our Venetian dinner. Jen asked us to wait outside of a small church, while she went to make sure the restaurant was ready for us. I poked my head into a small church, where a lady wagged her finger at me for taking a photo. What is up with these churches that don't let you take photos? Especially if you don't use flash. It reminds me of those tribes that think photographs steal a piece of your soul.
Dinner in Venice had its pros and cons. The food was very average and not really worth what we'd paid for it, so that was quite disappointing. We could've had a better meal if we'd hit the streets on our own and it would've cost less. The management wasn't even Italian! What I did enjoy about dinner, though was the free wifi (of course!) and the accordionist and guitarist who played Italian music for us while we dined. Dessert was lemon gelato, something Nicole hadn't tried yet, so that was great as well. She described it as the ice cream version of lemon meringue. I must say, I am in love with it too.
After one incredibly long, cold, but fun day in Venice (with my mood improving considerably after the gondola ride when my headache finally dissolved), we finally climbed back onto the boat and headed back to the hotel. The trip away from Venice felt so much longer than the trip there had. We headed straight to bed, even though I stayed up for as long as I could to make good use of the wifi I'd paid for.
Also, some of our tour group was making quite a bit of noise, so I really needed to wear myself out completely in order to sleep through it. Nicole had no problem sleeping through all that and my coughing fits. I'm not sure if she always sleeps so deeply of if she'd just thoroughly exhausted herself. I know that the latter sure is true for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment