If anyone tells you that Mussolini made the Italian trains run on time and therefore they still do, that person is a massive liar! Firstly because he didn't (he just took credit for it) and secondly (and more importantly) because they DON'T! Trip yesterday from Venice to Nice was almost a false start as the train from Venice to Milan was 40 minutes late arriving in Milan and I almost missed my connection (thankfully they waited for us)- the train took 20 minutes to get from the outskirts of Milan to the train station stopping and starting along the way. Well in the end I got to Nice and I guess that is what really matters.
Before I left Australia, I was told by my mother that if I didn't like Venice then I wasn't her daughter. Venice is her favourite city and having seen it in many a film and TV series (most recently in the less than good The Tourist which unfortunately stuck in my mind...come on Clare just remember the Doctor Who episode set there or the David Tennant version of Casanova) I was keen to see if it lived up to the hype. Arriving at San Lucia station at night, I missed looking out over the sea as I arrived but as you leave the station it hits you. The station faces the Grand Canal so the first bit of Venice you see is an iconic view of the canal and the boats. My hotel was less than 200 metres from the train station and for all its cheapness (less than $100 (Australian) a night) and its teeny roomness, my room was at the very back of the hotel and afforded a spectacular view of the Grand Canal. I can strongly recommend the Hotel Continental to anyone going to Venice...cheap, free wifi and breakfast (including truly awesome blood orange juice and good coffee (I finally found it!)), close to transport and views of the canal. Awww hotel living....for three nights, I had my own room and my own control of the TV remote.
A few things struck me instantly about Venice:
- It is amazing beautiful especially if you are like me and like a bit of crumbling facade and tiny street action.
- It is VERY tourist-y. At least a third of shops are souvenir shops pending "genuine Murano glass" (it isn't and you can tell by the price), Carnivale masks (even when Carnivale is months away) and other Venice themed goods. Good if you are like me and need gifts for hoards of relos but it feels a little fake
- It is potentially very expensive. The tourist shops were cheap (possibly because it's winter) but another chunk of the shops were designer clothing shops. Amazingly I don't think I saw a H&M (the cheap clothing option of choice for the rest of Europe and the UK) but I did see D&G, Burberry, Valentino and Gucci amongst others.
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| The shadow of San Marco Bell Tower over the basilica and the piazza |
After these initial observations, I did a lot of just wandering around and looking at houses and streets. I discovered that all the tourists (pretty much everyone in Venice) is constantly questing after the one thing. Is it coffee? Is it a rip-off of a gondola ride? No and No. It is Piazza San Marco. Piazza San Marco is the centre of tourist Venice but it is a bit of a ways from the station and many of the hotels...OK truth be told it is pretty much on the opposite side of the island. It was a good 30-40 minute walk from my hotel. There are signs on almost every street corner pointing people to Piazza San Marco and on some corners where there wasn't a sign, people have kindly graffitied "SM" and an arrow. Piazza San Marco is home to San Marco Basilica, the Doge's Palace, several museums and the San Marco Bell Tower. It is also ends at the sea and therefore it is take off point for gondolas up the Grand Canal (a rip off I hear, I didn't take one) and trips to the other islands that are technically part of Venice. On my first day, I visited San Marco Basilica (a very pretty church but they ring money off you at every opportunity- free to enter then 3 euro to see the Treasury, 2 to see the Altar, 3 for the crypts and 4.50 for the museum and balcony- that said it has the most awesome reliquary I've seen thus far in this trip- skulls!- still don't get it but kinda cool), San Marco Bell Tower (8 euros to go up but the view is worth it), the Doge's Palace (room of maps and globes for those interested- you know who you are) and the museums (at the bargain price of 12 euros, entry to the Doge's Palace and the museums are on the same ticket). That night and it was time for the "real" Italian food experience and I found it cheap. Just up from my hotel was a pizza and kebab place which was super cheap so I scored a slice of pizza (in the Italian sense so think over a quarter of an Australian pizza), a bottle of Coke Light and a two scoop gelato for 6.50 Euro. Bargain and the pizza turned out to be the tastiest of my entire trip to date (tomato, eggplant, goat cheese and spinach).
After a night of being able to watch BBC World News instead of Emmerdale, I was off wandering the Venetian streets when I overheard an American guy talking about visiting the fish markets and I thought hey that sounds interested so decided to do some American stalking. A silly move you may think but it paid off this once. I had to try and keep my distance from them so they didn't realiseVenetian streets when I overheard an American guy talking about visiting the fish markets and I thought hey that sounds interested so decided to do some American stalking. A silly move you may think but it paid off this once. I had to try and keep my distance from them so they didn't realise I was a-stalkin' them- easy in the tourist filled streets of Venice it turns out. The fresh food markets in Venice are definitely worth the visit especially if you have been further north in Europe and haven't seen anything in the way of fresh food in weeks. Pretty fruit and veg...smelly fish including live eels...and lots of meat and cheese. Market visit over and many photos later, and I was off to catch a boat to the other islands. I recommend that anyone in Venice takes a similar trip especially to Murano. You get to see some glass and some lace (on Burano) being made and it is all very pretty. I was boat trippin' in the afternoon so got to see sunset over the sea which was astoundingly beautiful.
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| Artichokes at the markets |
Final words from Venice...firstly while it is nice to be in city without cars, be wary of the dog poo. A blight on the streets of most European cities, it is amplified by the completely lack of grass in Venice. Secondly embrace the bar. Not in the sense of alcohol, in the sense of coffee. Coffee is good but if you sit at a table you will pay between 2.50 and 5.70 euro for it (the later at all of Piazza San Marco's cafés). If however you choose to stand at the bar to drink, it will cost between 80 cents and 1.50...bargain but you mustn't forget the rules and sit down.
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| Sunset over the sea |
!!!!!
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