Steve had a boy-like, giddy fascination with boats. Most of his knowledge comes from historical novels. From these novels he has learned to speak like a ship's captain or pirate, but he doesn't know much more than that. When he sees a boat he usually just starts talking like a pirate, shouts "ahoy" at them or says "look! a boat!"
We weren't planning on coming to Venice because it's really touristy and there aren't any top-notch sights here. But we did. And the first thing Steve said when we arrived was "how could we have considered not coming? There are boats everywhere!" And there are. Venice is a bunch of islands in a marshy area connected by lots of landfill. There are canals running through the island, building entries and streets accessible only by water, and bridge crossings everywhere. Cars are not allowed in this relatively large city. Pedestrians can relax and not worry about stop lights or getting hit. You can watch the various vessels in the canals, including lots of gondolas but also boats for loading goods, i.e. a boat full of beer unloading beer crates at a Venetian bar. You can see people climbing into their houses out of boats, and specialized construction boats taking building materials and equipment to the houses under construction.
Venice has a magnificent church that reflects the city's historical prosperity. Every inch of the ceiling of the massive St. Mark's Basilica is covered in gold mosaic. The mosaics shine so brightly and look so rich. If you like gold, glittery stuff, it's the most magnificent church I've seen. Too bad the people who built the basilica used it for the private worship of the doges (dukes) of Venice. Venice was very wealthy due to it's prominence in sea trade and at one point had an empire with control of lands in greece and (we think?) asia minor.
The other major highlight of Venice for me was the cafes in Piazza San Marco that have big bands (usually some mix of a piano, violinst, clarinetist, flutist accordian, and bassist) playing romantic tunes. It's so nice to sit (or stand - sitting and eating at these cafes is just about the most overpriced thing you can do, i.e. $14 for a Jameson whiskey, plus a $6 cover charge) in the sun, listen to the excellent music and watch tourists from all over the world.
Venice is a nice place to spend a few days, and we thoroughly enjoyed it, but I have to warn anyone who is considering going that it is the most ludicrously expensive place I have ever been (except for the hotel in Tokyo where a single American pancake cost $10).
Venice sounds like a worthwhile stop. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteDianne