Days 157 - 163: Italy's Venice, Florence & Rome - Venice, Italy
Venice, Italy
On the train again... The journey from Innsbruck (2 hours south of Salzburg, Austria) through the snowy Austrian alps on our way to Venice Italy was the most beautiful train journey yet. This part of the trip has snow covered mountains on every surface right up to the window of the train, including the tracks.
We were supposed to be staying in Innsbruck for the night but opted for staying three whole nights in Venice. Nearly at the end of our Europe train venture, we are both getting sick of the daily changing our bed, daily packing and unpacking and daily 4-6 hour train trips. It's taken its toll on Dave more so. He has been white, aching, continually tired and hot and cold for weeks. Very thankful to have hit jackpot with our accommodation in overpriced Venice. For $30 per night we are staying on the mainland in a little wooden cabin 20min bus ride from the island of Venice. If we were staying on the island itself there is no way we would be eating in a non touristic, totally authentic italian pizzeria where the locals eat everyday so cheaply. Three nights in a row we shared the biggest pizza I've ever seen, a free entree and .5l of chilled Italian red wine served from the tap (just like beer) for only $11. Really, really good Italian food.
We did venture out into Venice in the two days we were there. For us, we found Venice to be unique, interesting but a rather over rated place. It's full to the brim with tourists, 60,000 per day in fact. That's more than the population of Venice visiting in 1 day. There's only a few locals left living there because of the exorbitant property prices and the issue with it sinking. Many of the apartments are now unoccupied and those working in Venice live on the mainland. The Venetian canals are not clean as much of the household waste is flushed out into the canals and into the sea and carried away by the tides. The city does not have its own sewer system. At least the hotels are required to have septic tanks. We did a tour of the city where we saw large wooden tables just stacked up in the main square. When the city has a king tide they use the tables as a "catwalk" to walk around the flooded parts. Although tourists swim in flooded areas, locals disinfect the saturated grounds and tables at least twice after it floods. As they know what's in the water.
For the millions who visit each year, Venice has captured the impression of a magical floating city by setting wooden pilings on the 118 submerged islands. It is a city with no cars but only water taxis and gondolas as modes of transport. You wouldn't know it's on so many islands over a small space because you are continuously walking over the 400 foot bridges that cross the 170 boat canals which make the city easily accessible.
The structure of Venice was created out of necessity. The population had to escape a barbarian invasion. The city’s unique landscape made it harder for invaders to infiltrate, as Venice is made up of 118 islands. The city was not actually built on the islets. Instead, its structures are supported by a series of wooden platforms. These platforms are secured by additional structures placed in the sea. The islands themselves were not strong enough to support a regular building so there are millions of 'piles' underneath the Venetian lagoon. One church has over 1million 11ft pillars.
I read an interesting report on how they are stopping the sinking of Venice. The MOSE Project, worth $7 billion, will put gates across the three inlets connecting the Venice Lagoon to the Adriatic Sea and control the ebbs and flows of the tide. It will also improve coastal reinforcement, the raising of quaysides and paving, as well as improving the lagoon environment. Unfortunately there are many major flaws in this project and many say it's a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
There's a few 'must do's' while in Venice, including a romantic ride in a gondola. As they are $120 for 40minutes. A clever Italian has given those, like us, who just want to take a photo, the opportunity to ride directly across the canal for $3. Many of the tourists here are suit case tourists not backpacking travellers so most can afford this luxury therefore the gondola ride is in high demand. There are only 400 licensed Gondolas operating in Venice today with only 3 to 4 Gondolier licenses issued annually. To qualify, applicants must be able to finish extensive training and pass a rigorous exam. Singing must not be a requirement as I never heard any Gondoliers singing something beautiful in Italian, as shown in the movies.
The other 'must do' was to take the $40 return water bus-taxi-ferry over to the other island of Murino. All the shops in Venice sell the glass that's blown over in Murino cheaper than on the island itself. On the ferry over we met an Italian shoe designer whose shoes were upwards of $2,000, ever so slightly out of our price range. However worth the mention as she gave us her business card and offered her place to stay in - did she not see the hiking boots we were wearing?
The glass blowing itself was simply amazing. The first man heats up the glass until it's nice and floppy, then dips it into different colours while turning it. Once semi hardened he passes it to the man who blows the glass into different shapes. The blower then passes it to the third man who shapes and finishes it off. This skill, which is all done while a fag hangs out of their mouths, is passed down from generation to generation.
The blown glass wine glasses, light shades and jewellery are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. (And no, I didn't add to my already 150 wine glass collection). In Venice all the Murino glass products are sold next to the Chinese made stuff. As it looks similar, the only way you can be sure is to ask or see the $2-3 price difference. They must scam so many people who think they are buying authentic Murino glass, when it's in fact authentic Chinese.
Venice is a city like no other. For that reason we are glad we came to see it. We didn't fall in love with it whatsoever, but we appreciated it for its uniqueness. It's a FACT that hotel and dining prices are among the highest in Italy yet restaurant food and service quality are amongst the most disappointing in the country. The main reason is most diners are tourists and most of them will never return to Venice. Therefore, pleasing them is not a priority. I also get the same impression with the shop assistant's attitudes towards tourists. It's a very short sighted view for a city that's sinking. Que Sera Sera.
I'm admitting we did a Japanese Tourist trait today. We caught the train to the Leaning Town of Pisa, took 'that photo' and jumped straight back on the train for Florence. It's sad that so many people do that as the tower's surroundings, white marble buildings within the huge stone walls are more beautiful than the tower itself. This area, 'under the Tuscan sun', does in fact have the orange terracotta houses with rolling green hills and vineyards. The Tuscan capital of Italy, Florence, is in itself an artistic masterpiece. The town was once the home of Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machievelli, Galileo Galilei, Amerigo Vespucci, Donatello, Raffaele, Roberto Cavalli, and Guccio Gucci and of course Michelangelo and his naked David statue which is in a Florence museum. This city even has a 1km elevated enclosed passageway constructed in 1565 (448 years ago) running through the city's key buildings and across the river, connecting the Royal residence and the government palace. This was the Medici Prince’s Passage to protect the Medici family from the public who didn't much care for them. It's the only bridge (although it's an enclosed passage) in Florence not bombed in the war, because Hitler thought it to be too beautiful.
We ran into an American mother and son, Joy and Nicko on the Florence walking tour. W had met them previously on the Venice walking tour. They invited us to have dinner with them in the Michelangelo park overlooking the city. Wine and cheese was a perfect way to watch the the sun set over Italy's most beautiful city. I know we will be back here one day, in an orange Tuscan villa in the surrounding hills - it's been added to The List.
On to Rome we go. After a 5am start we arrived into Rome by 9, got locked out of our AirBnb accommodation until 12, waited 2hours in a queue before finally entering the Colosseum by 3 and followed that by a night walking tour of the city and got home to bed by 9. Shattered. Rome, a 3,000 year old city, has such a wealth of history and monuments to see. The Colosseum for example, was used as a stadium for gladiators /prisoners to fight animals such as tigers and hippos. The Pantheon has an open roof and is one of 400 churches in the city. Many of these have painted ceilings. One has ceiling art representing the 4 continents. It excludes Oceania because the likes of Australia and New Zealand weren't discovered in the 1700s. It's only when you see that, that you understand how new our country really is compared with Rome.
We've chosen two bad days to come to Rome. Yesterday we were affected by the national strikes and today violent riots which have forced a city lockdown and museum closures. Fortunately we saw the Colosseum, Trivi Fountain and the Spanish Steps yesterday as it's closed today. We headed to the Vatican for a guided tour of the world's smallest country. The country of Vatican mints its own euros, prints its own stamps, issues passports and license plates, operates media outlets and has its own flag and anthem. I'm glad we did a Vatican tour because we wouldn't have known when we were standing in the Sistine Chapel. All the buildings have beautiful painted ceilings. This one is popular, with queues hours long, because Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style and because that's where new popes are elected during papal conclave. When Michelangelo was 23 he was given a piece of marble by other sculptor and created the statue of David. At 33, he was forced to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. As he was a sculptor rather than a painter he didn't want to spend four years of his life with a crook neck painting. He did it standing up! He hated it so much he wrote a poem about it with the last line "I am not in the right place—I am not a painter". But when the pope asks you to do something, you just gotta do it. I actually enjoyed the visit to the Vatican and St Peters Basilica. Even for a non believer the paintings, sculptures and tapestries that have been collected by the popes through the centuries are an impressive collection. This country of only 0.44 sq km is made up of 800 residents who have day jobs like, the pope, priests, nuns, swiss guards in clown suits and high-ranking dignitaries.
At 4am tomorrow we begin the long, long journey by train and a 21hr ferry to Greece. It's worth every minute as at the otherside we will be greeted by the lovely Jenny and Uwe.
We have to end our week long stay in Italy as we have eaten far, far too much Italian pizza, pasta, gelato and Italian hot chocolate. The food is so good, it's my favourite thing about Italy. On our last meal we very nearly had microwave Italian pasta. I'm the queen of microwaves but we are in Italy for goodness sake. Even I know that's not acceptable. Without paying we left for a fantastic authentic Italian 'Roman' last meal. Home made pasta and deep fired mozzarella balls. Oh my goodness, what a tasty way to end the week!
Tips for Italian eating: Never chop spaghetti with a knife and never accept a Margarita pizza with any herb accept basil. This is because a true margarita is the same colour as the Italian flag. The white mozzarella cheese, the red tomato paste and the green basil. And now you know!