VeNICE

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Nonchalantly Em and I jumped on a train headed to venice. "Lets check out Venice today." "Sure a casual day trip to Venice sounds nice!"- Both sentences are ones that we never thought we would utter I'm sure.

With that being said I would like to comment on what a sound investment our EURail passes have been. The ability to hop on any train at any time makes our already easy lives of jet setting even easier! Besides the ridiculous protective folding case they provide with the ticket that looks like a toddler's bank book (if you were a kid in the 90s you know what I'm talking about), the pass is the best. I highly recommend the Global Pass to any one interested in backpacking Europe. Free your route, free your mind!

But anyways, enough of what appears to be a word from our sponsors and back to the story. Em and I have always wanted to see Venice. It's streets made of water, tight alleyways and hidden courtyards have inspired much mystery to us. I have always pictured long cobbled corridors haunt with the silence of hush citizens and the absence of motor vehicles. Only echoes of the occasional dip of an oar, and the hollow cooing of nesting pigeons to be heard. Early morning fog that overflows form the canals to the streets masking the footsteps of passing souls. The air ripe with smells of fish and salty air meandering from open air markets; what we found was not far from my romantisized visions.

Anytime the decision is made to build upon 118 small islands in the Adriatic and connect them all by canals and foot bridges the result is going to be pretty spectacular. Seeing as how that has only happened once, Venice holds up to its reputation. A city whose architectural feats are nothing short of divine intervention.

Our train pulled into Stazione Ferroviaria San Lucia, a one-way in one-way out terminal, after a long stretch of track surrounded on both sides by the shallow fishing inlets of the Adriatic Sea. Seeing old men in their boats pulling in their nets full of bounty for the morning markets was a welcoming approach. That sight alone began to put my fantasies into reality. 

Having no knowledge of the labyrinth that is Venice, Em and I decided to buy a map. We like to have maps to use as a sort of orientation, however we rarley use them. We soon found out that it was more exciting to get lost in Venice then it was to try and decipher the map. After holding breif council with la mapa (the map) we made moves to cross Canal Grande. Main Street of Venice, if you will. It's the largest of the canals, the main vein lined with restaurants, shops, and docking posts for river boats and gondolas; quite a vision. The water had a murky green hue that, when hit by the sun, illuminates bringing life to the marbled bulidings that line its banks. 

We crossed one of the more prominant foot bridges, Ponte D. Scazizi, and began our "bush whack" into the belly of the beast. The vast walking streets of Canal Grande quickly turned into claustrophobic corridors. The path we were forging danced back and fourth over the smaller canals that slice through the city by means of the short and narrow bridges. Then we would jet off of the canal route only to meet back up with another. We continued this pattern for a while wanting to explore every nook and cranny we came across.

The city was waking up and it was humorous, in accourdence with envy, to see locals hopping into their small worn in boats, ready to take on the morning commute of navigating the waterways. It was time for a coffee for us, too. We came across a small cafe whose name has escaped us. It was tucked in rather tightly along a canal. We enjoyed our cappuccinos while watching picturesque Venetians walk past in no rush what so ever. After my cappuccino I ran upstairs to use the Toilette. As I stood there, doing my thing, I was severly intruiged by thoughts on how plumbing functioned in a city like this. Then I cringed a bit rewinding my thoughts to a Venice pre-plumbing. Something people don't tell you about Europe, or maybe they just don't notice, is that you will occasionally get a strong woft of urine or sewage. Public urination seems to be a rather popular back alley activity. We have seen people relive themselves more times then we would like. With those smells in my thoughts I can only imagine what it must have been like back in the day..

Venturing on, we payed a visit to the church across the way from the cafe; Santa Maria Gloriosa Del Frari. We were off of the beaten trail it seemed, so no tourist congestion to aggrivate us. After some good admiration of beauty we weaved our way through the maze passing many glass shops. There was one that caught our eye so we payed it a visit. An older Venetian gentleman was sitting behind his counter hand crafting glass figurines. His hands were worn from years at the craft, his spectacles hung at the end of his nose, he was focused, while at the same time creating effortlessly. I asked if I may take his picture and he happily complied. Glass is everywhere in Venice, especialy Murano Glass. It is very popular and beautiful.

Continuing on streets, that turned into canals, that turned into plazas, then back into streets, we eventually found ourselves back at a section of Canal Grande. This is because the canal snakes its way through Venice dividing up its sections. One not so positive thing I will say about Venice is the overwhelming amount of tourists. All of the main squares and attractions are littered with people and groups of fanny-pack-toting nerds led by someone with a flag held high in the air. The shops that populate the main drags are pretty repetitive selling things no one needs- things I can't imagine people wanting. In my, and pretty much every Venetian's, opinion it takes away some of the charm. I know Em and I are walking around seeing the sights and learning history, but we try our hardest to adapt to the cultures that we visit and are not obnoxious with our presence. Thanks for letting me vent!

After meeting back up with Canal Grande we crossed the Ponte Di Rialto, a very cool bridge that is basically a mall but very pretty to look at; half was covered up due to construction and restoration, but, as our good friend Domingo stated (you will learn about him shortly), " *in his italian accent* its-a Venice! Always restoration here!"; ah so true, Domingo. We wandered around getting lost again until we emerged upon Piazza San Marco. If you know Venice you know this place. It's the iconic square in Venice where the Basilica San Marco, Torre Dell' Orologio, Procuratie Nuove and the Ala Napolenica all call home. We gazed at its wonder for a while but only until we couldn't bare the hordes of people any longer. We migrated to see the Ponte De Sospiri which is a very intricate gothic style bridge suspended in air wedged between the Ducal Palice and the old prison. Walking along the waters edge where the canals open up into a much bigger section of water we stayed on the look-out for a good print. We have been collecting prints to take home along the way and were inspired by Venice to buy on there.

This is where you meet Domingo! We found him selling his art work along the water after passing a few unimpressive copycat artists whose work all looked the same. Domingo had a friendly demeanor and some beautiful art. He was a school teacher and was very passionate about his art, describing his arsenal of paintings to us, not to sell us on any of them but rather taking pride in showing them off. We ended up chatting for a while about Venitian life and things we must seek out, he also gave us a bit of a geography lesson on the lay of the land. We purchased a beautiful little painting of the Marco Polo Canal and set off on our way satisfied with our purchase but hungry and ready to eat.

We found our way back to the Canal Grande for our one Venice restaurant mistake; (as Em stated in a previous post) we seem to make one in every place we visit due to ravishing hunger. We were to hungry and they took advantage of that. Our rule is that if someone is out front of the restaurant soliciting your patronage-- run, run quickly away. We did not take our own advice. A lady with, what look like a slight mustache, reeled us in then passed us off to an Indian guy who sat us uncomfortably close to another table (because the good tables were "reserved"). The location was actually pretty nice- right on the canal- but our waiter sucked and was rude; I did not enjoy his service what so ever. The food was just okay, nothing special. We were completely unsatisfied with our decision so, after paying the too-expensive bill, we set out to find a proper Venetian establishment far away from the tourist population.

Zig-zagging our way through the streets we finally found our happy place: Tratitoria Al Ponte Del Megio! It was perfectly located on the elbow of a canal with a perfect little bridge leading you right to the front door. It was quiet and not a selfie stick to be seen for miles. We camped out there for a while and enjoyed glass after glass of wine and a full grilled sea bass caught earlier that day. The scars of the first restaurant disappeared. We sat there until it was dark, fully in love with our surroundings and watched as the fleeting light flickered through the canals. Unfortunately we had to catch a train back home to Verona at some point. Em and I strolled our way through the dark using only our instincts to guide us back to the station. Once we got there we scurried to find a train to take us the way we needed to go. Feeling a bit special from all of the wine, good cheer, and food we hopped on the wrong train. Not drastically wrong, just wrong enough to be aggravating. Instead of being a 1 hour train ride, it turned into a 3 hour train ride. The train we caught stopped at every. single. station. between Venice and Verona. The attendant told us of our mistake, but it was too late- the damage had been done.

We finally made it home and reflected on our day and were nothing but pleased. It was a day full of adventure. Venice is amazing and absolutely worth it- just prepare yourself for a little bit of Disney.

Ciao!