Venezia

Hello,
Well today was the last day of what was a fantastic camp. The traditional Italian fare awaited us one final time before everyone received an Italian farewell (lots of kisses). We set off about 10am with Dan, Alice and co in the direction of a city by the name of Venice. The trip was supposebly meant to take four hours and in that time we left the mountainous region of the Dolomites behind in exchange for a flat dry landscape. Around two hours into the trip and we'd made our way back to Verona, our place of arrival. Unfortunately i wouldn't get to see the home of Romeo and Juliet but i felt assured greater things were in store for me elsewhere. Eventually the road turned into a four lane highway and the signs for those traveling to Venice became more and more frequent. I didn't really know what to expect as far as how it would look entering the city. I think i may have even forgot that it was surrounded by a lagoon, how silly of me! I was therefore quite surprised to find how industrious the area was before getting on the long bridge that made its way to the bus/train depot. Dan and Al returned the van to the rental company while the rest of us waited on the side of the road with our luggage in the hot midday sun. A weird feeling came over me as i began to appreciate what a unique part of the world i was in. A couple of hundred meters down the Grand Canal (the main canal in Venice) lay the train station and accompanying tourist office. Along the way i spotted the entrance to my hostel, that was easy to find i thought to myself. I bid farewell to the guys and headed for the train station where i bought a map. The lady at the reception gave me another map and the pointed out the major sights, places to eat etc. My room had was quite spacious and contained four spacious beds and a shared bathroom. Opposite was a small room which had two of the oldest and dogiest computers ive ever seen/used. The reverse of the cliche 'no expense was spared' would be applicable in this instance. However i must admit i did brave the tedious slowness of the machines on a few occasions. First on the list was a visit to the local supermarket which was located back near the bus depot. I stocked up on some fruit, OJ and other assorted goods that i thought would make up a decent breakfast. After this i headed out towards the northern Cannaregio district which is the more quiet and peaceful area in Venice. It was really nice and peaceful walking through the streets and not seeing any tourists whatsoever! I got lost but i think if you come to Venice you'll soon discover its inevitable and just a part of the experience. One alleyway i came across had no less the three cats sleeping in the shade (see pic). i kept wandering in the same direction in an effort to get to the most northern part of the district. Children were playing in the streets, and having fun. Seeing the locals in their environment was a nice contrast to what i would encounter for the rest of my stay.

I had a look for somewhere nice and relatively cheap to eat but couldnt really find anything that appealed to me. There are heaps of budget and slightly run down restaurants to choose from, as well as the pizza by the slice offerings everywhere you looked but they didnt look very appealing. Every 50m or so in every direction you will find a Gelati stalls were you can buy the delicious ice cream the Italians are famous for! The choice of flavours is great and the price quite reasonable to at around 1.80 Euro for two scoops or 2.50 for three. Yellow signs are on the sides of buildings on all the major paths to help direct you to the major attractions, San Marco, Rialto and the Galleria. I thought i may as well check out the famous Rialto bridge as it was in the general vicinity. Once i had criss crossed my way over bridges and through the maze of streets i found a hive of activity on the bridge itself. It provided a nice view of the Grand canal where you could see the comings and goings of the numerous water taxi's and gondolas. I decided upon having an early night and make the most of Saturday evening to see what the Venice nightlife had to offer.

Saturday was where i packed in all the must see sights in Venice. To start things off i went inside one of the many Churches you can find in Venice. There is no shortage of them that's for sure, however i was recommended four in particular by the lady at the hostel. After this i walked towards the Accademia Galleria...'Accademy of Venice is one of the most prestigious of Italy, keeping paintings of Venetian school since the Middle Age to masters of the Renaissance with masterpieces by Bellini, Tiziano, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Veronese...' Inside there were 21 rooms, all of which had interesting pieces. Around two hours of art gazing was all i could muster before i had to get outside into the sun. It was a shortish walk from here over a bridge before the tourist masses started gathering in the rush towards the main square. There was an attractive tour guide leading a huge group of around 50 people so i followed along with them in the hope they were going where i thought they were. On eventual arrival at the square i was awestruck at the size and grandeur of its appearance. The rows of grey windows on the buildings on either side and the Basilica of San Marco at the far end made for an impressive sight. It suddenly occured to me why this is where all the tourists go! I had read somewhere in our hostel about there being no eating in the square but hadnt payed much attention to it for whatever reason. it was hence a surprise to me when i got told off for attempting to eat a sandwich on a step. I sat and watched as literally hundreds of pigeons swarmed as a one entity in all directions. People everywhere were either feeding, watching or posing for photo's with these scummy birds. I decided to eat my lunch down by the water's edge to avoid any trouble before going in the the Basilica. The wait in the line wasn't too bad maybe 10-15 minutes. There were signs displayed saying that you werent allowed to bring bags into the building and that they had to be taken to a baggage hold in a street nearby. I didn't feel like leaving the queue though so i watched as other got told to line backup before it was my turn to be inspected. My not so ingenious plan was to hold onto my backpack behind my back and avoid it being spotted. This managed to get me past the initial man but a few min later i was spotted so unfortunately had to deposit my bag like everyone else :) Once i found myself inside once more i got the appreciate the amazing work that had been put into the building. The entire inside ceiling was composed of tiny gold mosaics and the scale of it was quite unlike anything id ever seen. They had a small room off to the side which was the treasury. Upstairs there was a museum and the entrance to the balcony from where you could view the whole square. After i felt id had sufficient viewing time i kept wondering through the museum, there was more interesting examples of mosaics and how they are made as well as three very old, lifelike bronze horse statues.

Afterwards i made my way to Doge's Palace, a huge tall building with a magnificent view of the entire city. The elevator took about 20 people up to the top where everyone crowded round the various vantage points. I systematically made my way around, patiently waiting for a space to present itself. It gave a great aerial perspective of the city, islands and mainland. I felt compelled to stay as long as possible due to the rather hefty cost. That evening i got to experience the Venice nightlife. I found it was as busy during the day as it was at night, San Marco square all lit up was particualry nice. Making my way back i came across several African men selling fake bags on the side of the street. This is a common occurence in the city where youll find them selling bag's, sunglasses and the like. These guys started packing up their makeshift setup and running for their lives because of what i assume must have been the police having spotted them. I followed them along and got talking to one guy who i think was from Somalia. I tried to take a photo of them but i think he was afraid i show it to the authorities as he was quite against the idea :) Another interesting situation i stumbled across was where there was a cat perched up on the flower baclony of one of the buildings. A small crowd had gathered in front of the helpless kitty until out of nowhere a few guys hopped up and promptlz rescued the kitten. The next day i went to the last of the magnificent churches youll find in Venice, one of which was in the middle of a service(it was sunday)! I wish i had gone to one of the islands instead of lazing about in the sun eating icecream. Ah well. 3 hours early to the airport as well to cap it off! To cut a long story short i got home at 2.30am with work the next day :) Travelling is certainly not routine. Next post will be about my experiences in Germany, the motherland. Watch this space...