We arrived in Marghera, a suburb of Venice in the late afternoon. The sun was very hot, and the airconditing on the train had stopped working at the start of our journey so we were sweaty and tired.
Our hotel was a cozy inn close to the train station that was run by a Chinese-Italian family and was marketed specifically for Asian tour groups. It was an interesting blend of cultures, and from the start we enjoyed sitting in the lobby and watching the owner speak Italian with a Chinese accent.
Because Venice is very small, it is hard to find accomodation right on the island, and it is also very expensive. It was only a 10 minute train to get accross, so it made it worth it for us to stay where we did.
When we left the train and walked up to the Grand Canal we were both stunned. Venice in person is even more beautiful than we could have imagined. Some people notice a smell from the sometimes stagnant water of the canals, but we came at the right time of year when the water levels are still high and moving from the spring rains.
We spent hours just getting lost. We walked through tight back alleys and walkways that led to a dead ends at the water or an ancient brick walls. We watched flocks of Asian tourists take gondola rides through the canals with singing drivers and stopped every few blocks to taste something new. It was a great way to enjoy Venice.
Because one of the obvious tourist things to do is take a boat ride, we toyed with the idea of renting a water taxi to drive through the grand canal, but it was pricy. Instead, we decided on the public transport boats. These boats are set up similar to city public transit, and are relatively cheap compared to the huge inflated prices of other comercial or private boats. It seemed like a great way to see the sights at a low price... until we hopped on one. Once we got to the dock we were herded in like a bunch of cats and it was absolute chaos-- people stopping in the middle of the traffic flow to take pictures or pushing their way to the outside edges of the boat. Apparently everyone had the same idea. By the time we got moving, we were stuck in the middle of a hot and sweaty mob with a transit worker yelling at everyone constantly in order to keep the flow when we stopped at different stations. We couldn't see past everyone and so it was quite pointless, but worth the experience I guess!
One of the things I found most interesting about Venice was venetian culture. I didn't realize that masqurade balls and mardi gras were started here. It began as the carnival of Venice, where people would come wearing elaborite masks. It begins on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It was started as a victory celebration in 1162. People would dance in the square, and it became especially popular in the renaissance period. It was eventually outlawed for religious reasons by staunch catholic Austrian powers, and did not begin again until the 1970's when the Italian government sought to bring the festival and history back to Italians. There were hundreds of shops selling beautiful masks and figurines.
Our last day in Venice was spent killing time before we were to catch our train to Salzburg, Austria. The train was an overnight train and so we stored our bags and headed over to the island again to find some tasty snacks. Steve really wanted to eat a big merangue puff covered in chocolate, so we hunted one down while I tried some homemade gelato. Life was grand.
At nine we made our way back to the hotel to pick up the bags for our spur-of-the-moment trip to Austria.
Next stop:Salzburg!
No comments:
Post a Comment