Venice

We had thought Florence was bad for having an excess of tourists, but Venice took things to another level! Apparently there are more tourists than residents in peak season. Everywhere within 15 minutes walk of the main square is occupied by hordes of people, souvenir vendors and expensive “English menu” restaurants. We were able to do all the sightseeing we wanted near the centre in one afternoon, meaning we could spend the rest of our time in Venice in more peaceful areas of the city.

“Italy” as a country is a relatively recent invention – it has a much longer history as a number of (often competing) city-states. We visited the Doge’s Palace, from which Venice was ruled for over 400 years. The government system was complex, with a ton of different councils and positions (Major Council, Quarantia, Signoria, Council of Ten, etc). The pinnacle of this was the Chamber of the Great Council, one of the largest rooms in Europe of its time, where every Venetian noble gathered to take part in the Major Council. Portraits were painted around the edge of the room of all of the past Doge’s with the exception of one. A black cape represents one Doge who, after a failed coup, was condemned to death and damnatio memoriae, meaning symbolic erasure of his very existence and memory. Serious stuff! The palace fulfilled many functions including as the royal residence, government buildings, a prison, courts and the armoury for the kingdom.

Being the world’s only pedestrian city, Venice certainly had a unique feel. The Grand Canal seemed like the canal equivalent to a busy highway at times, with gondolas, water taxis, valparettos (water busses), private boats and barges all vying for space. The gondoliers were very skilled at getting through all of this unscathed! Speaking of gondolas, a cap on gondolier numbers in the city has pushed prices very high – around 80 euros. Gondoliers are all Venetian born and all male (with the exception of one woman who is not licenced for the public, but can provide rides for guests at her hotel).

Outside of the tourist centre, it was really fun exploring the tiny streets, canals and bridges. Venice is notorious for being hard to navigate. Often we would walk down a path that looked like a major thoroughfare, just to find it running straight into a canal! Many of the paths in Venice were beautiful and relaxing to stroll around (particularly with no Florencian drivers trying to run us down).

On our second day in Venice we took the valparetto (water bus) out to Burano, an island village 40 minutes from Venice which is famous for its brightly painted houses. The pace of life seemed slower here than on the main islands and it was a nice place to spend some time.

We also took the valparetto to Cimitero, the cemetery island of Venice. With its limited land and low elevation, Venice has had to do things a bit differently with its cemetery. Firstly, the graves are dug shallower than the traditional 6-foot depth, to avoid reaching the water table. Stranger still, “residents” get only a 12-year lease to their plot. After this, the family can either extend the lease or make other arrangements!

With our unlimited day-pass on the valparetto, we thought we’d enjoy a DIY canal cruise by taking the route through the centre of Venice. Wow. Undoubtedly our most crushed public transport ride to date! The poor woman docking the boat and operating the door had to push through to the other side of the boat every few stops.

We’re catching our first ever overnight train to get down to Rome. It was good value compared to catching an expensive high speed train and paying for a nights’ accommodation. We can’t wait to see Rome and fully expect to be overwhelmed by all the history there!

Comments from WordPress

• Alice 2012-09-24T14:36:32Z

  Enjoy Rome! Get a guidebook or a guide, because there is a lot of history and to be honest, as a major historical center, the tourism board is INCREDIBLY slack about having any information boards or telling you what you are actually looking at. Particularly in the Roman Forum. Ma, Roma e’ merivigliosa!

• Tam 2012-12-15T10:01:27Z

  So pretty!! I love all the bright colours :)

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson