so many places, so little time. if you've grown up in europe, then you'll have grown up with amazing travel opportunities, with most of the first world a mere stone's throw away. if you're us, then you have to balance a list of where you want to go with where it's not so expensive to go at any given time.
we've had many conversations with friends and colleagues soliciting recommendations. and time after time, the same city kept on popping up near the top of everyone's lists: venice. in hindsight, we realise that we've tended to travel in themes. our first two trips, paris and brussels, were linked by the fact that we traveled by eurostar to both cities. the second theme, then, would be cities built on or around canals, venice following in close succession to our time in amsterdam.
we flew into venice's marco polo airport. upon disembarking, we picked up our rolling venice cards at a kiosk in the arrivals hall. the rolling venice card is available to tourists under 29 and gives you discounts on transit passes and entry into some of the museums and other sights. we used it to get a 72-hour transit pass, which works for the land bus that took us from the airport to the lagoon itself as well as the vaporetto (water bus) system that allows you to get around venice.
venice has a lot of historical and cultural significance, but today, it's basically sustained by the tourism industry and the lagoon itself doesn't really offer much else. most of the industry, apart from some smaller glass-blowing artisans, has moved onto the mainland. despite that, it still is a remarkable city and the second you step off the bus and see the grand canal you get the sense that you're in a place like no other.
after quickly checking into our hotel, we set off on the vaporetto for the san marco area. the vaporetto took us at a leisurely pace down the grand canal itself, taking us past the rialto bridge, ca'rezzonico, the guggenheim collection and finally to san marco itself. we made our way to the piazza di san marco, the famed open square of venice. being late november, we were quite fortunate as there were fewer tourists around and it hadn't yet hit the height of winter, where the square itself sometimes gets partially flooded. the piazza is hemmed in on three sides by continuous buildings accented with columns and even has an astronomical clock.
at the far end of the piazza sits the basilica di san marco. we decided to wander inside for a look and were blown away by the craftsmanship involved. at a glance, the ceilings look painted, albeit a little glittery. upon closer inspection, however, you realise that that the expansive and elaborate murals are actually mosaics made up of tiny tiles gilt in gold and other colours.
we next turned to the adjacent building, the palazzo ducale which is the palace of the doge, the governor of venice. the palazzo contains a seemingly endless array of rooms and the tour path takes you through almost every single one of them. every room was elaborate, as you'd expect a palace to be, with massive, ornate doors and mouldings. highlights included the entrance hall with ancient maps drawn across the wall and two large globes (one of earth, the other of the stars), the meeting hall of the government, the armoury and the dungeons (not recommended for the claustrophobic).
from the palazzo, we basically wandered around the narrow walkways and passages of the san marco district, gradually making our way in the general direction of our hotel. we stopped for some espresso and hot cioccolato. we passed by the theatre and rows of shops, including many that sold elaborate masks. we came to realise that masks - the type that you'd wear to a masquerade ball - were something of a local specialty in venice. they ranged from generic, mass produced versions manufactured for tourists to high end masterpieces, breathtakingly beautiful and intricately crafted. of course, the price tag for the finer ones was also enough to take your breath away.
we stopped again for a little snack of an involtino, basically a rolled up slice of pizza flattened in a panini press. our particular one had artichokes and ham and we washed it down with a glass of prosecco, dry sparkling wine made in the veneto region and a typical afternoon drink for venetians.
the main throughfare took us parallel to the grand canal and we eventually reached the rialto bridge again. by this time, it was already quite dark and some shops were beginning to close for the night. we stopped at a local bar recommended by our guidebook and had a glass of vino bianco and some cichetti, bar snacks that are essentially the venetian version of tapas. at this bar, we were served some polpetti, deep-fried meatballs which were quite tasty. the vibe of the place was great and it was packed with locals catching up with each other. of course, that made it a little difficult to get served, although we finally managed with our broken italian.
we strolled a bit further down the strada nova. although it's probably cliche to some, just knowing you're strolling around venice makes it romantic. and you don't even have to go on a gondola ride to get caught up in the romance. every few blocks or so, you're taken over another tiny bridge and get to glance down a quiet side canal, the sound of the water gently lapping at the edges.
we finally decided to head back to the hotel and found a place to have dinner. although probably a bit of a tourist trap, we were too tired to care, and the daily menu did include some local specialties. we had a fisherman's risotto, spaghetti al nero di seppia - where the sauce is made from the black ink of squid/cuttlefish - and fegato alla veneziana (liver, venetian style). it wasn't the most spectacular meal we've had, but it did the job and allowed us to sample something out of the ordinary. we topped off our evening with a trip to the gelateria and headed back to the hotel to recharge our batteries for our second day in venice.
to be continued...
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