Remembering Venice

Yesterday at this time I was on a little boat crossing the Venetian Lagoon, a massive smile on my face, taking in the last of the autumn sun while admiring the incredible surroundings. It was, unfortunately my return journey from one of the most amazing places I have ever been, to but still, even the departure made my heart go all weird. How can you not love this ???

All my life I wanted to go an see it, and most importantly, having lived in Italy for over 10 years I should be truly ashamed that I has taken me that long. Perhaps though, this waiting time has made me appreciate it even more, I don’t really know. I woke up on the plane direction Venice on Thursday morning after an awfully early start, an hour delay and a rude stewardess waking me to check if I had my seatbelt on…well, you know the drill with me and my journeys… They never really are as smooth as I would wish for them to be. Suddenly my sleepy eyes catch sight of the horizon and after a horribly gray London morning I suddenly have the sun in my face, far beyond me is the sea and….what’s that? A massive lagoon opens up in between the clouds and I see one of the most amazing sceneries….Venice in the sun, S. Marco and its Campanile, and lots of small islands surrounding it, ah..there is the Lido as well with its sandy beaches… I’m smiling. All is going to be good, I am already in love with what I have only seen from the sky.

There are a few ways to get into Venice, and I chose to grab the Alilaguna. It’s a small boat running between the airport and the main stops on the islands like Murano, S. Marco, Rialto etc. What a fantastic way to reach the city. Just make sure you have a lot of patience and endure the crowds while queuing for the ticket and get on it!!! The journey takes about one hour, with a few stops in between but once on the way you are already fully absorbed by a thousand impressions and everything else is forgotten.

I wish I could have taken more pictures on my entry into Venice, along its canals surrounded by colourful houses, but unfortunately I was too absorbed in my own admiration to think about it:) More of that will follow later though, do not be afraid. Rialto…what a scenery. Lots and lots of people, a most glorious looking bridge, the sun is shining and everyone seems to be truly enjoying themselves. The Gran Canal only has a few bridges connecting the sides, and this is one of them. I believe that the Rialto Bridge was the only one in place until the 19th century, so you can imagine how busy it must have always been around there. Our hotel was conveniently located right in between Rialto and S. Marco, how we ever managed to find it was certainly not due to my orientation skills. A brief pit-stop for check-in (nice 5th floor room with view on…scaffolding, oh never mind!!!) and off we were again…S. Marco in all it’s beauty.

This is the side view of the Basilica di San Marco, located right next to the Palazzo Ducale ( Doge’s Palace), the Campanile, Columns of S. Marco and S. Teodoro and is right in the middle of the biggest number of tourists one could possibly imagine. Ah well, how could I forget the pigeons? There are way too many of those feathered beasts….quite annoying as well, but somehow contributing to the magic of the place.

S. Marco is Venice’s main cathedral and has 5 massive domes, decorated on the inside with the most impressive gold mosaics. We only managed to get in yesterday morning, due to excessive long queues, but a short visit is definitely worth it, even the 2.50 Euros to see the Pala D’Oro – a most impressive golden altar piece with way too many jewels and pearls on it.

I guess I could loose myself in countless descriptions of all I have seen over the last 2 days, but I believe it is better to explore with your own eyes, so consider these a gently nudge and perhaps an inspiration. My descriptions would probably loose themselves and turn this into a terribly boring read as well. Anyways, I will continue to give a few facts and hints here and there, do not worry.

Palazzo Ducale

Originally planned and used as a fortress it went through various changes during it’s existence from 9th century onwards. The balcony you see in the middle was only added later to mirror the same existing one facing the Canale di San Marco. It has always been the seat of the government, perhaps also to reflect the importance of the Repubblica, and even if various fires and Napoleone’s pilfering have slightly changed a few things it still is an impressive gothic construction.

Things to see: Sala del Maggior Consiglio, Scala D’Oro, Prisons and Ponte dei Sospiri, Sala del Consilgio dei Dieci and State Appartments.

Below on the right is the Giant’s staircase, closed for the public, but well worth a brief visit. Every doge was crowned on the top landing. Not bad, hey?

Walking along the Riva degli Schiavoni on the left hand side of San Marco one encounters many little bridges like the Ponte dei Sospiri. This white marble bridge connects the Palazzo Ducale with the prison and is callled bridge of sights because of the prisoners crossing it on their way to the cells sighting. Looks very pretty from the outside though…and there were at least another 100 people that had the same idea as me: taking a picture of it. Oh well….

Here are a few more impressions of the Canale di San Marco at sunset and at daylight

On Friday morning we went to explore the Accademia , the largest collection of Venetian Art in existence. And what a sight it was… Byzantine, Renaissance, Baroque and even a large number of ceremonial paintings make this something not to miss out on. A little further down the canal is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, not to be missed if you like modern Art and I even found one of my favorite paintings exhibited there: Magritte – Empire of Light. Very exciting indeed. Here are a few more random impressions…

Other Places we went to see are the Gran Scuola di San Rocco with Tintoretto’s beautiful creations, Ponte Storto ( we happened there by accident actually), la Fenice, Campo di San Polo, Goldoni’s House, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari( with Canova’s impressive pyramide tomb), l ‘Arsenale, San Zanipolo e Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Oh, there is so much more I could add on to the list and even more that we did not have the time to see ( and our legs were quite rebelling as well). It doesn’t really matter…I have truly enjoyed myself, even if occasionally we would just take a simple walk through the little alleys while not really knowing where we were. From one moment to the next all tourists had disappeared and it gets really really peaceful. The sun is reflected in the canals, sometimes it smells a bit odd and rotten, but that probably just contributes to the overall experience. I think I had a very stupid and admiring grin stamped on my face…why would you want to hide happiness, right?

Enough of this, I think I am going to have another look at all the pictures I took and loose myself in good memories before being hit by a very busy Monday morning…can’t even think about it!

Venice, I’ll be back!

Tine