Venice
Venezia
Locals
June 23, 2005
We got up early yesterday and caught a $.33 flight to Bergamo, Italy on a discount
airline. At the airport, I had a sandwich or panini on ciabatta bread with mozzarella,
tomatoes, and the famous Parma ham. The trip from here to Venice was long and the
arrival was odd.
We approached the city on a narrow strip of land that was obviously man made and
connected the main land to the city of Venice. I tried to see the city as we approached,
but to no avail, seeing as how it was in front of us and I had little idea of my
bearings. We got off the train, in what seemed to be an ordinary, but small train
station and as soon as we went through the doors, an entirely new world opened up
in front of us. Venice was more real than any picture... the city seemed to be alive.
We bought tickets for the “bus” and got on our boat headed for Santo Marco. This
route, which took us down the Canal Grande was incredible. It was so picturesque
and every building just ended in the water. The 15 minute trip went quickly, but
once we arrived, I saw a new Venice, one of tourists staring at architecture and
snapping pictures; a Venice I quickly grew tired of. Piazza Santo Marco is beautiful,
but attracts so many tourists it lacks culture or authenticity. We found our way
to our nearby hotel and checked in.
After walking around Piazza Santo Marco and grabbing a slice of pizza for 8 Euros,
I sought out a different Venice. My grandpa and I headed east until we ran out of
land. This was the real Venice: graffiti, homeless, factories, a museum, children
playing soccer in the street, and women just talking on a park bench. This was the
romantic Venice, the real Venice. This was the city, it was the locals' city.
I liked it much better than the Santo Marco region.
For dinner we ate at a local place, at which I had the meat ravioli, and tried some
of the lasagna. Mine was great, but the lasagna was fantastic.
Local life
Daily life
Today I headed to the tower on the Piazza to see the view from the tower with my
grandpa. It was incredible and well worth the entrance fee. This gave me a view
of Venice, every corner and it was beautiful. After this, we continued on our tourist
regime and went to Santo Marco church, which was different from most churches I’ve
been to.
We grabbed a slice of pizza at a local venue our cleaning guy told us about; very
similar to New York style pizza, which is my personal preference.
After much debate we did manage to go on a Gondola ride, for 80 Euros... hence the
debate. But it was worth the price for six people. It let us see the streets of
the city and the quiet alleyways of the locals. Our gondolier was quite interesting
and seemed to know everyone on every canal. At one point he stopped to answer his
cell phone and told us his name is Casanova, then laughed. He showed us Marco Polo’s
house and told us that a Gondola is the same price as a BMW. There are only two
master makers so there are only 2 to 4 gondolas made each year. Among the highlights
of this trip was Rialto… from the water, a beautiful region, which again was swarmed
by the tourist infestation.
After the gondola ride, my dad and I decided to be locals so grabbed a cappuccino,
which was hideously bad, but what did I expect when I don't drink coffee.
Brent and I then decided to find the library that was in Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade. It took us some time, but we eventually found it and Brent so elegantly
posed in front of it as Indy.
We then went to Frari Church and headed back to Santo Marco via the Rialto Bridge.
At this point, we raced over to the other side of Santo Marco in order to buy a
mask that Brent wanted, checked out the Bridge of Sighs, the Doge’s Palace, and
the Piazza to the hotel. During this time, Tyler was almost done and turns out very
dehydrated.
We made it back with time to spear so I grabbed the best food yet, a wrap with spicy
salami, tomatoes, lettuce, mozzarella, and a thin layer of a great tomato sauce.
I ate on the way over to another island to catch our boat to Piran.
View of Canal Grande from Santo Marco
Looking west from Santo Marco
Piazza Santo Marco
Canal
Canal
Canal Grande