Venice!

the flooded square!

I arrived in Venice at 8:00 am at the Marco Polo Airport.  From there, we took a bus to a station where we then purchased a three day pass for water taxi tickets or also known as the  “vaporetto.”  I had no idea but I learned very quickly that Venice is made up of many different islands.  The only way to get from one Island to the next is by a water taxi.  The water taxi system acted like a bus system and had about 8 different lines crossing the river in all different directions.  So first thing first Carly, Marni, Tara and I learned just how to read the map and figure out the different routes of how to get to our hotel.  Our hotel was located on the island of Guidecca.  We found out that we had to take line “2” so we waited for the boat to come.  A couple minutes later we hoped on and as soon as we were leaving we realized that the line “2” goes in two different directions and one direction was way quicker than the other.  We didn’t care though as we sat in the boat for about an hour and just took in Venice for all of its beauty.  As a general rule in Europe, I never imagine things to be as big as they actually are.  The town of Venice was huge!  The river was wider and skinner in some place and on the left and right it was covered with building, churches, restaurants, and hotels.  I could see many cruise ships in the distance shuttling people into downtown.  The sun was not out so it was cloudy and the town almost seemed spooky and magical.  We hoped off our boat when we got to our exist called Zitelle and dropped our stuff of and went on with our day. 

At this point it was still only 10:00 am.  We figured out how to get to the main island called San Marco.  When we arrived I felt like I was in Disneyland.  There were so many tourists, music playing, food vendors, and all of the building looked straight out of a scene from pirates of the Caribbean or Indiana Jones.  The buildings were definitely old.  The most shocking thing happened when we finally arrived in the main square.  Half of the square was underwater!  The only way to get around it was to walk on wooden planks.  A few people had rain boots and were able to slosh through the rain.  It seemed as if Venice was sinking.  Even the entrance to the basicalla which had beautiful marble was completely underwater.  We asked around and did a little research on why the city seemed to be underwater.  This is in fact a somewhat simplistic description of a complex problem. One part of the problem is that the city is not built on a solid foundation. Venice was originally a collection of muddy islands. In order to construct buildings, workers drove millions of pilings—thin, sharpened poles made of alder trees—through the mud and into the marginally more solid base of sand and clay beneath. Oak planks were placed on top of the pilings, and on top of the planks, several thick layers of marble (which is impermeable by water) formed the foundations of the buildings. From there on up, most of the construction was done in ordinary brick or wood. At the time the buildings were constructed, the marble was well above the high water line, so there was nothing to worry about. However, over the centuries, the weight of the buildings has driven the pilings deeper into the mushy seabed. In addition, at one time there were hundreds of wells in the city, removing water from deep aquifers. Unfortunately, these aquifers had acted as a sort of balloon of water propping up the city; when it was “deflated,” the city began to sink even faster.  The tide rises in the morning so in the morning most of the square is underwater and but the time the afternoon and night rolls around most of the after has been drained.  So in attempt to avoid the main crowd of people in the planks we decided to explore and find a round about way into the heart of Venice. 

We walked around the coast and eventually cut in.  We were all really hungry so we stopped at a pizza place.  I got a slice of cheese pizza.  We then walked around for about 3 hours just getting lost.  The buildings are so beautiful and the allies are tiny!  Everything is connected by little mini bridges and the river runs throughout the city.  Venice has around 150 canals connected by 409 bridges, and over 3000 alleyways on the 117 islands. Basically every time you see a bridge it is connecting two islands and the water acts as roads.  We decided to avoid the main San Marco square for now since it was so crowded.  We hoped on a water taxi and went to the island of Murano which is known for its manufacturing of glass.  All around Venice, many of the stores are filled with glass.  Everything  you could possibly think of from glass jewelry, to cups, to frames, and simply table décor.  I learned that what made Murano's manufacturing unique, was that they used pure silica extracted from local quartz pebbles. The majority of the population in Murano are glassmakers, and back in the day they were forbidden to leave the Republic in fear that they would open there their own business or sell to other manufacturers in Europe the secret of the manufacturing style.  Sand is a peculiar element to prepare a good glass product, and of course Venice has lots of high quality sand in its shores. Glass is the result of several mixed elements: the sand constitutes the main part of the glass. It contains also sodium, calcium carbonate, sodium nitrate and arsenic. Glassworkers in Murano were and still are very experienced in manufacturing glass, and for this reason glass production is a drawing sector of Venetian economy beyond its artistic importance.

The next island we visited was the island of Burano which is famous for lace.  After that we went back to our hostel and relaxed for a little bit and made dinner plans.  We found out that there was a Hard Rock Café so we immediately all decided to go to Hard Rock Café Venice.  Just being inside was a breath of fresh air.  Everyone spoke English and it was so great looking at the menu and seeing big salads and juicy burgers.  For dessert we even split a big brownie sundae.  We all left feeling completely satisfied.  After dinner we headed back and I quickly realized that Venice at night was by far the best.  Most of the crowds had died down in San Marco square had orchestras playing all around the out edge.  Looking out on the water everything was lit up and could see the reflections of the buildings in the water.  There were children playing in the middle of the square and splashing in the puddles while parents sat and drank their wine.  Everything was well lit and once again I felt like I was in Disneyland, the most magical place on earth. 

We woke up Sunday morning and headed straight to San Marco square to see the Basicalla and climb the big bell tower.  Once again the middle of the piazza was flooded but we were left with no choice.  First, we went up to the top of the bell tower where we were able to see incredible views.  I was amazed at how small all of the individual islands were.  From above you could really see that Venice is an aging city and almost depressing at the facts that many buildings are vacant.  Many of Venice’s grand buildings are vacant or run down – they are simply too expensive to maintain.  There are also strict laws as to what redecoration and restoration can be carried out to the buildings, especially those fronting the Grand Canal.  Also the population in Venice is declining rapidly due to how expensive it is to live in Venice, the tough transportation, and an inconvenient lifestyle.  After we climbed the bell tower we went to the basilica.  Originally a sign outside said that the church was closed to the public on Sundays.  This made absolute no sense to me!  With a little further research we found out that it was closed to visitors and that you were allowed to go in for mass.  So naturally we talked to the guard and said we were going to mass and entered the cathedral.  The church was the most beautiful and breath taking church I have ever seen in my life even more so than the Vatican.  Walking in everyone mouth’s just drops.  It is covered in gold ceramic mosaic art.  The roof or the top was covered in with bright mosaics containing gold, bronze, and the greatest variety of stones.  The floor was marble with pictures of apostles and animals. 

After the visit the basilica we went looking for a book store because it was rainy so we decided to find a cute café and rain.  On our way in the distance we saw crowds of people all standing in a line so we decided to see what all of the commotion was about.  It turns out that it was the morning of the Venice Marathon!  We were at the 25.5 mile mark and it was so fun seeing all of the runners and cheering them on.  Some families of the runners rented boats and followed them around the island.  At the finish line I could see runners run into the arms of loved ones and see the faces of runners completing one of the biggest accomplishments of their lives.  I was smiling just watching them.  We found a book store and I started to read the book Eat, Pray, Love and already I love it way more than the movie.  For dinner it s tough to admit but yes we did return to Hard Rock Café again.  It is one of out last chances for good American food before returning to the land of pasta and pizza and it was raining and we knew exactly where it was located.    Once again on out way back we walked through San Marco square and I had fun running after scaring all of the pigeons in the pouring rain.  I spent that night in Venice and caught a 11:00 am plane ride the next morning and was listening to my econ professor in class by 2:15!