But that happened today, and I have to tell you about yesterday's snooping before explaining my unusually stinky feet.
It involved a walk, of course, and the things found en route.
There are many reasons to love Italy. Chocolate meat is just one of them.
I decided to explore a bit on the other side of the Grand Canal. This waterway basically splits Venice lengthwise, and there are only 4 bridges that cross it. Getting to the other side can be an issue if you aren't near a bridge. I decided to take a shortcut common to the locals, called a Traghetto. It's essentially a stripped-down gondola that crosses the canal at several strategic points. Why pay 60 euros or more for a gondola ride when you can make use of one of these for 50 cents?
Awww.... isn't this sweet?
Most. Romantic. Bridge. Ever.
I made my way, by various tiny twisting lanes and bridges, to Piazza San Polo. Which is pretty barren and covered in large part by scaffolding and construction drapes. Much of the rest appears shuttered and abandoned. Still, there was a kiosk selling t-shirts, another selling post cards, and 2 small cafes. For $2.50 euro, I was allowed to sit with a bottle of water.
The postcard kiosks also sell an assortment of Venice calendars. I've had my eye on one (yes, Lynda, I have!) that features Gondoliers. They look a bit shifty. But it would be payback for a few Firemen calendars I've been taunted with over the years! (The firemen are more easily given to asbestos pants with suspenders and no shirts, but it's pretty hard for Gondoliers to peel off. Or look buff - sorry Lynda!)
So. Today. I ended up at San Marco, which was a surprise because I had no plans to go back.
It finally gave me a chance to snap a picture of the Bridge of Sighs. Another romantic legend shot down in flames. It isn't a place for lovers, it is a place for criminals! The bridge, linking the Doge's Palace with a prison, was the place where the convicted could look back for one last image of Venice before being locked up in squalor - and sigh. It's also covered in plastic sheeting and scaffolding. Can you see it? That bit of stone? Yep - that's it. Imagine the thrill of seeing that in person!
Here's where the feet get stinky.
See that really nice reflecting pond they built overnight in front of the Basillica?
Yeah... that's not so much a reflecting pond as it is a flood.
I got to San Marco by a kinda long route. Via Murano, the island of wretched glass.
It was the BEST TIME EVER !!!!
I'm a water baby from way back, and the possibility of a boat ride for me is comparable to the offer of a car ride to a dog.
The deal is, a 'free' water taxi takes you from your hotel to a glass factory on Murano. All you have to do is pay for your Vaporetto ride back. Some people bleat that the trip back isn't also free, but Shut Up!
This, baby, is a RIDE!!!!!
All teak and burled walnut and cedar and brass hardware and Italian driver Oh Baby!!!
There is a covered seating area for about 12 people mid-ship, and a small open section at the rear that can be covered by a sliding wood roof in the rain or spray. Two young Brit women huddled inside. I stood at the back with the wind blowing and spray flying, hair in my mouth, just riding the swells from passing boats and having the time of my life!
Then we landed. I had hardly finished my cigarette when I was dragged spluttering into the glass factory.
OK - this place was over the top. And - I shit you not - after my comment yesterday about Picasso's Inukshuk ... they had a whole room upstairs that was devoted to an homage to Picasso.
A. Whole. Room.
I couldn't take pictures of the most egregious stuff. But you get the idea.
Oh, I found out where they get the balloons to make the balloon animal sculptures.
At different times in history, philosophers have asked, just because Man can do something, should Man do it? Usually these deep questions relate to things like bombs or genetic engineering, but I think the first philosopher to ask that question was likely a tourist in Murano 800 years ago.
Just a theory.
So I escaped screaming from the showroom (with a lovely Christmas ornament for Tommy's mom... I feel soooo dirty) and took the long Vaporetto trip back to San Marco. It was a great ride.
I am pretty sure this is the island of Cimitero, where they have the cemetary for Venice.
So it makes all kinds of sense that this is the one place with a lot of trees. Because they can really appreciate them...
... and landed in San Marco to this.
Now, San Marco is usually packed. Wall to wall to wall. Try cramming all those people onto little raised walkways 3 feet wide and see how quickly movement can come to a complete halt. You can stand there forever or until you are pushed off or...
... take off your shoes and get on with it.
I chose Get On With It.
And have Stinky Feet.
You have to read the tour books pretty closely to find out that Venice floods about 1oo times per year, mostly in the winter. The locals all have Wellies and Get On With It. I noticed a few places yesterday where water was really close to doors of homes, most of which are at grade, and relized how hard it must be to live here full time.
(I know this is sideways but it's easier for you to tilt your computer than for me to edit this blog.)
Note the water being splashed up very close to the door as the boats pass by.
This kid was on his way to school,wearing Wellies, carrying shoes.
Sometimes you can find steps leading to boat docking points that are dry enough to sit at, but mostly they are close to the water and wet from the waves.
So I squelched my way back to the hotel.
This whole day wasn't planned - I was kinda Veniced Out. Anyway, I did need some down time, so after getting back, I took a book and decided to check out the terrace on roof off the 4th floor.
I'm glad I didn't miss this!
Just as I was thinking, yeah, it's nice, but you can't barbeque, someone across the canal lit one up! These little hidden terraces are wonderful!
So. I'm nearly outof Euros and will be in London this time tomorrow. Here's to a last afternoon in Italy.
Um...
Anyone have a corkscrew?
Thanks for coming along. Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment