Invitation to Italy 1 of 7
Introduction
A trip to Italy will be unlike any other trip imaginable. A beautiful, confounding, exciting, educational experience that will be remembered for a lifetime. Italy is mountainous to the extreme, with hundreds, if not thousands of tiny villages clambering the mountainsides, some reached on narrow twisty roads, some so isolated we never found an access road, and hundreds more that were marvelous and delightful as we drove past. At times, ten or twenty hill-side, and hill-top villages could be seen from where we stood, admiring the landscape.
But more important, Italy is crowded with beautiful, friendly, congenial people who welcome us, confuse us, charm us, disturb us, enrapture us, discombobulate us, and ensure that we have a fascinating vacation. During our first several trips to Italy, after a few days we said we felt “Italicized.” That meant we were not only thrilled with what we saw and who we met, but were confused and frustrated with the unbelievable traffic, the stores closing for hours each day, and in general the free and easy life style of the Italian.
Many things seem disorganized. While building maintenance is almost unheard of and the weeds along the Autostrada (freeway) are often taller than the flowers, the Italians never forget to close the store and take the day off for a holiday. The Italians enjoy life, they “live and make do.” After a few days, funny as it may seem our frustration and their disorderliness seem to disappear, so perhaps we really become part-time Italians. Our feeling isn’t necessarily logical, it contains an element of magic, and our admiration for Italy and the Italians snowballs with every trip.
Italy is 760 miles in length, 100 to 150 miles in width, and has 5,310 (another reference says 4,632) miles of coastline. Several mountain peaks (the Alps) at Italy’s northwest border, including Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, and Monte Rosa, are from 14,000 to over 15,000 feet high. Ten of the Dolomites, including Marmolada on the northeast, are from 9,000 to 14,300 feet high. The Apennines mountains, “The backbone of Italy” extend almost the entire length of the country, starting from near Genoa, to the toe of Italy at Calabria. The Gran Sasso, east of Rome, at 9,560 is the high point in the Apennines. At the extreme southern end of Italy, in what can be called the ball of the foot, the Sila Massif is over 6,300 feet high.
From Cortina, the Dolomite mountains, and San Daniele in the northeast; Aosta and Susa in the northwest; to Cagliari, Sardinia; Palermo, Siracusa, and Taormina, Sicily; Lecce and Bari in the “heel” or the southeast; our memories include fascinating Rome; the huge Duomo (Cathedral), and the stately Galleria in Milan; hilltop fortress villages; Trulli houses at Alberobello, near Bari; the Lake District across northern Italy; the coastal town of Portofino, and the Cinque Terre; unique buildings in Bologna and Florence; ancient amphitheaters; and Venice, Venice, always Venice. There’s nothing new to say about Venice. Come to think of it, it would be a sad day indeed if there should be something new to say about this ancient jewel.
After extensive travel through many European countries, in addition to the ancient cities with thousand-year-old structures, we also remember modern cities with modern buildings. However, after 117 nights in 63 different places during eight trips to Italy, beautiful Italy, we don’t remember anything that wasn’t a few hundred, or even a couple of thousand years old. It’s hard to imagine so much splendor, so many paintings, sculptures, and works of art, the myriad of palaces and cathedrals, the multitudinous ruins of the ancient architectural art.
We write only about places we have actually visited, and the information presented is not time dependent. For example, Rome’s Colosseum was built between 69 and 80 AD; St. Mark’s Basilica was completed in 1073; da Vinci finished the “Last Supper” in 1497; Michelangelo’s Statue of David was commissioned in 1501, so what we found of interest during our first stop in Italy in 1970 had not changed in any significant way by the time of our eighth visit in 1995.
Just imagine walking the streets of Rome where Caesar walked; through Emperor Hadrian’s “Villa Adriana” at Tivoli; among the excavated ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD; in and around the Greek Temples at Paestum, and at Agrigento, Sicily; up and down the steep streets in Urbino, the birthplace of Raphaël, artist and architect of St. Peter’s Basilica; and to the edge of the huge quarries at Carrara, where the marble block Michelangelo used for his statue of David was found. It would take a lifetime to see even half what this marvelous land has to offer.
This story does not follow any of our trips chronologically. Instead, we have attempted to blend the several stories into one. While we have visited a couple of hundred villages, towns and cities, and have driven past hundreds more, there are thousands yet to be explored. We do not recommend that anyone travel where we traveled, or try to see just what we have seen; we give commentary, not itinerary. Do consider this book your “Invitation to all of Italy.”
Our experience, both in reading and in writing about ancient points of interest, is that there’s just not much in common between what was seen, and what was written. Pictures help, movies or video is better, but even multiple visits will not confirm all the engineering skill necessary to create these ancient works of beauty and artistry.
If this introduction gives the impression we are cheerleaders for travel in Italy, that is correct. Tour books, guide books, and tourist brochures present reams of facts and figures, but often in a dry and unenthusiastic manner. When we show video or slides from our trips, the picture, the voice, and body language all combine to tell the story — but how do we put that into words? Well, we’ve tried!
A point of interest about dates from history and other facts in this book: We have used a variety of reference books, including encyclopedias, tour books, history books, and a large selection of tourist brochures and maps. The problem is, they don’t always agree on a date, the dimensions of a Cathedral, and other points that really don’t matter very much for a book like this. We can’t imagine that a few years or meters one way or another will make much difference in someone’s travels.
As we discovered on our vacations in many European countries, there are town and city names spelled one way in English, and another way in the country itself. In Italy most names are easily understood. A few examples of the Italian vs. English spellings, Firenze = Florence, Genova = Genoa, Milano = Milan, Napoli = Naples, Padua = Padova, Roma = Rome, Torino = Turin, Venezia = Venice, but why does Livorno = Leghorn?
In northeast Italy, the region called Tyrol, or Tirol has passed back and forth between Austria and Italy several times, so town names are both Italian and German. Bolzano = Bozen, Merano = Meran, and Brunico = Bruneck. And in the northwest, the map shows Aosta/Aoste, take a choice. In this book, for any name that might be confusing, we will try to use the spelling found on an Italian road map. Names that look familiar with either spelling will be used interchangeably, whichever seems best at the time.
By the way, this book is best read with a map of Italy close at hand. The Italian Tourist Office, or a local bookstore, will gladly provide maps and brochures describing this beautiful country.
There are three fundamentals that must be followed while traveling in Italy:
Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!!
RULES FOR TRAVEL IN ITALY
To help understand the rules followed by the citizens of Italy, consider the following:
In GERMANY, everything is forbidden,
except what is permitted.
In the US, everything is permitted,
except what is forbidden.
In FRANCE, everything is permitted,
even what is forbidden.
In ITALY, everything is permitted,
nothing is forbidden.
Most countries have traffic
“Laws and Regulations.”
ITALY has traffic
“Hints and Suggestions.”
OUR TRAVEL PHILOSOPHY
WE ARE NOT CAMPERS,
WE TRAVEL IN A RECREATION VEHICLE BECAUSE —
Our clothes are on hangers.
There are goodies in the refrigerator.
We know who used the toilet last.
WE TRAVEL WITH THE IDEA THAT —
If we have no schedule, we aren’t late.
If we don’t care where we are, we aren’t lost.
If we have no itinerary we’re exactly where we ought to be.
If we can’t see IT this trip, we’ll see IT next time.
WHEN WE TRAVEL —
It’s amazing how many stupid, ignorant, inefficient people we meet when we are in a bad mood!
Chapter 1
Northeast Italy
NORTHEAST ITALY
The Northeast section of Italy is mountainous to the extreme. Heading south from Austria the Autostrada (toll road) is excellent as it passes through dozens of tunnels, each separated by a valley, with the tunnels getting shorter and the valleys getting wider as we continue south. The tunnels range from a quarter mile to two or three miles in length. We remember one tunnel a mile and a quarter long, and exactly straight and level. We could see a tiny light at the far end of the tunnel as we entered, and as we left, a tiny arch of light was still visible in the rear-view mirror. Never saw that before in a tunnel that long, but the Italians are our favorite road builders.
There are thousands of tunnels through the mountains in all parts of Italy, each with a sign that gives the tunnel name and its length in meters. At thousands of places the tunnels are connected by viaducts, again each with a name and a length in meters. In most countries, the US in particular, road construction consists mainly of “cut and fill,” and tunnels are bored through mountains only when there is little choice. In Italy they almost always tunnel rather than cut the mountain or hill. Sometimes there’s not enough dirt to cover the completed tunnel, and many times a farmer’s house and barn will sit high above a tunnel. Sometimes the tunnel is bored completely through a mountain far below an ancient town or village. Its thousand years of existence continues, completely undisturbed by modern transportation.
ITALIAN / AUSTRIAN BORDER CROSSING
We have crossed this border several times, at a variety of crossing points. One time we drove across the Grossglockner (mountain) in Austria, intending to cross a portion of Italy, then climb the Brenner Pass and return to Austria. As would be expected 15 to 20 years ago, the Austrians carefully inspected our passports, the vehicle registration and insurance papers. (These days, border crossings are much less officious, at most just a glance and a nod.)
After advancing just a few yards to the Italian border police, we were subjected to the most thorough inspection ever at an Italian border point. Not only were passports and vehicle papers inspected by the Italians, but since they had never seen a Dodge RV (Recreational Vehicle) before they even inspected under the hood. We got the impression they were trying to keep up with the Austrians, so we wouldn’t think they were less professional.
Near the border we passed through a small town where most of the houses were covered with slate siding. At one place the houses were built so close together they had to install a traffic light which allowed one lane of traffic at a time, to pass between the homes. While many of the buildings in this part of Italy were of similar design as those in nearby Austria, the lack of maintenance was immediately noticeable. Sometimes the lack of maintenance in Italy leaves much to be desired, most times it just looks “quaint.” On the other hand, many times the Austrians almost over-do maintenance in their country. Things are just too spic and span. We drove just a few miles in Italy, then re-crossed the border and drove over the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck.
%CORTINA D’ AMPEZZO
The Dolomite Mountains near the Austrian border in northeast Italy are majestic, very different from the Alps, but very beautiful. While the Alps are usually sharp and jagged, the Dolomites are more like huge rounded, almost smooth rocks, thousands of feet high.
The area is crowded with ski resorts (of which Cortina is the largest) and vacation hotels, and we were surprised to find multi-storied parking garages here in the mountains. The ski lifts and rope tows go high into the mountains, and at several places broad ski bridges over the highways permit skiers a much longer downhill ride. Many large high-rise apartment buildings are found on the mountainsides, but we expect they are used mainly during the winter.
One morning we stopped at what appeared to be a self-service laundry in Cortina. The lady insisted they would load the washer and dryer for us, and we were assured our clothes would be ready at 10:00 AM. Something just didn’t feel right, so after we drew a picture of a calendar, it was determined that the 10:00 AM in question would be several days from now. Good thing we asked.
East of Cortina the highway is extremely twisty and narrow as it crosses steep mountains. The road was crowded with far too many vehicles, and even more than elsewhere, some impatient drivers were proceeding in a most dangerous mode. At one place we were forced off the road and into a culvert, by an expensive sports car. The driver drove down the middle of the road, flashing his lights and blowing his horn, forcing vehicles off both sides of the road. The damage to our vehicle was less than the damage to our feelings for (some) Italian drivers.
Throughout Italy brass and copper products, both old and new abound. We like brass and copper pots and decorative items, and Italy has an unlimited supply. At one place near Cortina a huge store had brass and copper items overflowing onto part of the parking lot, about the most items of this type we have seen at any one place. This and a store in Todi, are the largest stores of this type we remember in Europe.
%BOLZANO / BOZEN
Lined with houses with oriel (bay) windows, built between the 1400s and 1600s, the picturesque Piazza delle Erbe (Square of the Herbs), is a colorful and lively market place. This portion of Italy has belonged to Austria at times in the past, and both the Italian and German language are in use. When Emmy visited the butcher shop and the bakery, there were loaves of bread and a variety of meat items identified in both languages.
Bolzano’s Cathedral, or Duomo, was built with pinkish stone, and is roofed with multicolored tiles. The interior is in the style of a German hall church, that is, the center nave and the two side aisles are of equal height.
The mountains in this area are more rusty looking and not as gray and white as near Cortina, but it was too hazy to see far in the distance. There are a lot of apple orchards, and we noticed irrigation equipment in use for the trees, and for corn and hay fields. Perhaps the high mountains to the west block some of the rain. We watched older Italian women in the fields with pitch forks and scythes. From what we saw, few farms had tractors and other mechanized equipment.
While we shopped in a grocery store a farmer drove some cows through the streets of Bolzano. After he left, the store owner, with a scowl on his face, a broom in one hand and a shovel in the other, went out and cleaned up the mess.
%UDINE
Udine was built in an area controlled by Attila the Hun in 452. As with so many places in this part of the world, it passed from the control of this government and that government, and finally became part of Italy in 1866. During WW I, Udine was the headquarters of the Italian army. Its arcaded central square is considered one of the loveliest in Italy, and the imposing 16th-century Venetian castle on ancient medieval ramparts, overlooks the city.
Several years ago, before ATM machines, the pretty lady in an Udine bank practically wore her finger to the bone, dialing and re-dialing, trying to get permission to give us money using our BankAmericard. She was determined, she was successful, and we were appreciative.
In a nearby store the skillful butcher was slicing prosciutto, the aged, dry-cured, spiced Italian ham. It's served very thin, and with speed and care the butcher caught the paper-thin, almost transparent slices of prosciutto in mid-air as they flew off the huge, razor-sharp, high-speed stainless-steel slicer blade. Slice after slice, with no misses, was carefully displayed in the meat counter.
%TRIESTE
The city occupying this spot was captured by the Romans in 177 BC. For the next couple of thousand years it was occupied or ruled by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Lombards, the bishops of Trieste, then Austria. It belonged to Italy from WW I until the Germans captured it in WW II, then it was lost to the Yugoslavs. Finally in 1954, the city and a small part of the nearby territory was returned to Italy. Is it any wonder some of these areas seem confused?
While Trieste is not crowded with archaeological remains and monuments of historical interest, it’s a city with an interesting heritage and fascination. There is the nearby “Grotto Gigante” a natural cavern 444 feet deep, a Teatro Romano, and a Roman Arch (33 BC), popularly known as Riccardo’s Arch. Of special interest, right in the heart of downtown a canal was constructed in 1750 to allow sailing vessels to dock and unload merchandise in the center of the city. These days the canal, which ends at the domed Church of S. Antonio Taumaturgo, is lined with a street market and parked cars galore. Row boats and small sail boats are docked between 5 or 6 story buildings.
One time when we arrived in Trieste, we needed to have a new fan belt installed. We stopped at the first large auto repair shop we saw, an Alfa Romeo dealer. They indicated they were much too busy to work on our vehicle, and we got the impression they were not interested in working on a Renault truck, on the slowest of days. We were grateful when a man standing nearby let us know that if we followed him, he would lead us to a large Renault dealer, in another part of town. Thank goodness the streets he chose were downhill, and we mean one-way downhill. Even an Army Jeep would have had a problem going up those streets. Trieste is very hilly, and at several places there are long tunnels for city streets.
A high wind often sweeps through this top pocket of the Adriatic, sometimes it is so gusty that ropes are strung along the streets of Trieste to help struggling pedestrians. Near some attractive Government buildings, there are beautiful flower gardens. As we drove near the coast, just south of the city, we saw special nets and traps that we were told are used to grow and harvest oysters and mussels.
Chapter 2
VENICE, BEAUTIFUL VENICE
%VENICE / VENEZIA
Try to imagine the buildings of Venice lining streets filled with automobiles. Try to imagine the boat-filled canals of Venice replacing the streets in any other city. It just doesn’t work, your imagination will sputter and misfire! Venice is a fascinating city of islands, bridges, and canals, with hundreds of ancient buildings, all assembled with the look of an artificial, tragicomic city.
The very existence of Venice is threatened by the nature of its geographic location, and the topography on which it was built. The islands are continuously but slowly sinking, while the surrounding water is constantly but slowly rising. Combined with the high tides that occur most years, flooding is an expected result. Air and water pollution continue to erode the facades of many ancient monuments, and water movement has already damaged the foundations of some buildings.
Look at a map of the area and notice that a line of narrow islands just east of the city, with only two or three openings, protect the Lagoon, the body of water surrounding the city of Venice. We had heard of plans to build “water-gates” between these islands, that could be closed when needed to slow the tidal water moving from the Adriatic. According to a TV program we saw a few years later, a gate was being put in place about the same time we were in Venice one year. It would have been very interesting to have seen that operation.
That year we visited Venice in early November and found the city prepared for the high tides and floods. We were not disappointed to find that this year the normally warm wind from the south had been replaced with an unusually strong, cold northerly wind, which kept the Adriatic Sea from rising high enough to flood this beautiful city. But unless the “water-gates” are successful, future floodwaters are inevitable.
It was interesting to see the flood preparations in and near St. Mark’s Square. Stacked high, at strategic places around the square and even inside St. Mark’s, were two-foot high frames, or stands, made of heavy pipe. Nearby were piles of wooden planks that were to be laid from stand to stand, forming a walkway above the expected foot or so of water.
The Tourist Office at the southeast corner of the Square, and other offices and stores in the area, were built two or three steps above ground level, out of reach of the flood waters. Several pairs of knee-boots were available for use by employees who may be required to run an errand during the couple of hours of the daily flood. It’s disappointing that we didn’t get more information while we were there. We were so interested in what we did see, and what we did find, it never occurred to us that maybe, just maybe someday we would write a book that could use such information.
When we studied the construction and the layout of many of the stores, some just to the left when facing St. Mark’s, we noticed there was no merchandise on the bottom shelf or two, at least for this time of year. Mops and pails were standing by, ready for cleanup work. Merchants we talked to were not concerned with the high water — they expected it and were prepared for it. The extra publicity and the inundation of tourists during the days of the flood, generated more business than was lost during the couple hours of the flood, a few days each year.
In most of the city we saw no pipe-stands, and no wooden planks. Since the flood didn’t happen while we were there, we didn’t discover if only a small part of the city floods, or if the rest of the city made no preparation, and let the flood take its course.
LAYOUT OF THE CITY
Whether arriving in Venice by car, bus, or train, the approach is through the industrial city of Mestre, then across the three-mile causeway, Venice's umbilical cord, that includes a four-lane highway and several railroad tracks. The smoke and pollution from the refineries and factories near Mestre are soon forgotten as the towers and the spectacularly unusual buildings of Venice come into view.
The causeway ends at Piazzale (Plaza) Roma, Venice’s vestibule, the threshold, the entrance hall, the only part of Venice where cars and buses are permitted. Whoops, permitted is not the correct word, that should say, “… the only part of Venice where cars and buses are possible.” The railway tracks on the causeway arrive at Stazione S. Lucia, on the other side of the Grand Canal, two bridges and a couple of “blocks” from Piazzale Roma.
At first glance on a map, Venice looks like a large island divided by a reverse-S shaped Grand Canal. Closer inspection shows that what looks like a large island, is really 117 (some references say 118) mostly tiny islands separated by 150 canals, and connected by 400 bridges. The dictionary describes a canal as an artificial waterway, but the best we can determine, both the Grand Canal and the smaller water ways were here before the city was built, and were not artificially created. The smaller canals, called “rii,” were most likely shaped, deepened, widened, and in many ways sculpted to fit the buildings that were built on their shores.
The Grand Canal, which connects Piazzale Roma with St. Mark’s Square, is crossed by only three bridges, but gondolas and vaporettos will ferry you across the canal at other places. The Scalzi Bridge is at the RR Station near the Piazzale Roma, the Accademia Bridge is west of St. Mark’s Square, the nearest bridge to the mouth of the Grand Canal. The Rialto Bridge, at about the middle of the Grand Canal, is a high-arch bridge, built high enough to permit an “… armed galley to pass under it.”
On the map, Venice looks like a large pork-chop shaped island, divided by the reverse S-shaped canal, with many smaller islands in the lagoons that surround Venice. Well, maybe we should say it's shaped like a prosciutto ham, but in either case, the bone is pointed towards the east.
But let’s try another description, much more difficult, but when compared with a map of Venice, this will make sense. First hold both hands, backs of the hands up, fingers slightly bent. Now interleave the hands, not quite touching, with fingers of the right hand on top. Make sure the left hand fingers are between right fingers and thumb, right thumb is between left fingers and thumb, and none of them touching the other.
If we have this configured just right, that reverse “S” space between the fingers and thumbs is the Grand Canal. Piazzale Roma is at the knuckles of the left hand. St. Mark’s is at the base of the right thumb, the Rialto Bridge is at the end of the fingers on the left hand. Scalzi Bridge is between the tip of the right fingers and the back of the left fingers, and Accademia Bridge goes from the tip of the right thumb across the Grand Canal to the left thumb. Now, remember how to do that!
One reason for the previous paragraphs is to help locate the beautiful church called Santa Maria della Salute (Our Lady of Health), one of the more beautiful of the 130 churches in Venice. Well, there it is, right at the tip of the left thumb. Cross the Accademia Bridge from the tip of the right thumb down to the knuckle of the left thumb, then turn left and walk to the end of the left thumb, to the end of the peninsula (Punte della Salute), just a little to the west, and across the Grand Canal from St. Mark’s Square. By the way, the Guggenheim Museum is located on the Grand Canal, at the top of the knuckle of the left thumb, between the Accademia Bridge and the church.
PARKING IN PIAZZALE ROMA
When we consider the chance for a nice parking place, we must remember — there are no parking spots right in Venice, even for the cars owned by all those thousands of residents. They must park in a public garage or parking lot, and walk or ride a boat to their home. Many thousands of parking spaces have been provided both for residents, and for tourists.
Where the causeway from Mestre arrives at Piazzale Roma, there are two parking garages that hold 4,000 cars, and a large area for hundreds of city buses each day, to load and unload their passengers. For the traveler who arrives by car, at certain times of the year his vacation may come to a complete halt, while waiting for a parking space to become available.
Interestingly, the price to park in one of the garages at Piazzale Roma varies by the size, or the value of the car. The “Tariffe Posteggio Autoveicoli,” or parking price list, shows dozens of models of cars from thirty-two manufacturers, separated into three categories. In 1997 the cost to park a smaller car, “Categoria 1,” such as an Austin-Mini, Ford Fiesta, or a Honda Civic for 24 hours is 30,000L (Lire). “Categoria 2,” a Toyota Corolla or a small BMW costs 40,000L. For the driver of a Mercedes, a Land Rover or a Jaguar, a “Categoria 3” vehicle, the cost would be 45,000L for twenty-four hours. These prices have gone up 10,000L to 15,000L since 1988, but the real cost to a US traveler depends on the exchange rate, the number of Italian Lire exchanged for each dollar. The exchange rate changes regularly and unpredictably, but usually it doesn’t change by much, and it changes slowly.
While the price paid varies by the price of the vehicle, the parking places didn’t have different dimensions. Management had obviously determined there was a different capacity in the wallets of the car owners. For those with access to the Internet, current parking prices, as well as information about hotels, etc., are available for the asking.
PARKING ON TRONCHETTO ISLAND
Turning right just before the large parking structures on Piazzale Roma, will direct the motorist towards an artificial island called Tronchetto. This is perhaps the world’s biggest parking lot with a huge, many-floor parking garage for 6,000 vehicles, and perhaps a square mile of ground level parking for several thousand automobiles and hundreds of tourist buses. Twenty-four hours of parking cost about 34,000L inside the garage, 32,000L outside.
In the early 1980s (in the space where the parking garage now stands) there was a campsite on Tronchetto (which we never used), that cost about $10 per night. Tronchetto is not too far out in the sticks, there are boat stops near the parking areas so the newly hatched pedestrian doesn’t have to walk back to Piazzale Roma. These days we make sure we entrench our RV in a mainland campsite and ride the bus to Piazzale Roma.
PARKING BEFORE ARRIVING IN VENICE
A detailed map is needed for this paragraph, but for one who plans ahead, there’s another parking plan that may be of help. If it’s the tourist season and the motorist is arriving from the south, parking at Fusina will cost 20,000L, and the famous vaporetto or water-bus, will take the family right to downtown Venice. Out of the tourist season, it’s a 20 minute bus ride to Piazzale Roma. If he arrives from the north or from the east, at Jesolo head south to Punta Sabbioni, park (24,000L), then ride the Vaporetto to St. Mark’s Square in Venice.
If the arrival in Mestre is from the west, or from anywhere else, there’s a parking terminal called S. Giuliano in Mestre, at the west end of the causeway to Venice. Again parking is less expensive, and the bus will rush directly to Piazzale Roma. But please, plan carefully, this requires much more information than we had the first time we visited Venice.
At all of these parking places, look for special tickets that may include entrance to museums, round trip or twenty-four hour boat tickets, etc.
Of course if the arrival is by public conveyance such as bus or train, parking will be of no interest, but there is still the problem of getting bodies and luggage to the hotel. Now the uniqueness and measured pace of the city can be savored. Unhurried by cars or bicycles, Venice has a rhythm unlike that of any other city. We’ve never stayed in a Venice hotel, but we’ve seen the motorboats, vaporettos, and even gondolas, filled with luggage laden tourists. After the waterborne conveyance gets as near the hotel as possible, the luggage may be transferred to a special wheeled cart for the final voyage, up and down over arched bridges, to the hotel.
THE GRAND CANAL
The main traffic artery in historic Venice is the two mile long Grand Canal, lined with about two hundred marble palaces of outstanding Gothic, Romanesque, and Byzantine architecture. Dozens of these old Venetian Palaces are moss covered, some are falling down, some have elaborate mosaic artwork, some appear vacant and in need of repair. There are stately old mansions, former palaces, cathedral-like churches, and a dozen first class hotels, many with canal-side restaurants.
The only modern building we remember is the Guggenheim Museum, located not too far from the Accademia Bridge. This building houses a collection gathered by Peggy Guggenheim, prior to her death in 1979.
GETTING AROUND THE CITY
Travel about the city is by motorboat, curved-prow gondola, vaporetto or water-bus, or on foot — and we prefer on foot. Of all the places we have visited, Venice is the best walking city of them all. But after walking for hours, we need a place to rest. When we get tired enough, we buy a 24 hour boat ticket, and just ride and ride everywhere it will take us, enjoying both the ride and the rest. The next morning we again ride and ride, then we resume walking until we are again worn down, worn out and in need of a rest.
WALKING
Throughout Venice there are signs pointing the way to the Rialto Bridge, to San Marco, to Piazzale Roma, and to the Accademia Bridge. Most tourists who have decided to walk, follow the signs from Piazzale Roma, as straight as possible across the Rialto Bridge and on to St. Mark’s (San Marco). On the second or third try we recommend a left or right turn as the tourist leaves Plaza Roma, so they see the Venice that is not crowded with tourists. Just for fun, ignore the signs and wander, wander, wander. There are no “wrong” turns, dead-ends are interesting, and we don’t remember any place in Venice that wasn’t worth the walk.
MOTORBOAT
The motorboats are beautiful sleek vessels, and are a relatively expensive ride, but within the canals of the city there’s a very slow speed limit. The concern is that wave-motion from speeding boats will crumble building foundations.
One day we arrived at St. Mark’s and were stopped by a man who insisted the City of Venice hires motorboats to take tourists to the glass factories on the island of Murano, a few miles from St. Mark’s. We accepted his sales-pitch, then felt like royalty as we wended our way here and there through many small canals. When we got to open water, a little more speed was permitted.
We were taken directly to the door of a factory, making sure we did not get lost in a competitor’s store. We again explained we would like to look, but weren’t likely to buy. No problem, they gave us the tour where we watched the Murano glass blowers do an unbelievable job, then toured the showrooms. Since we had our own 24 hour boat ticket, we didn’t bother with the fancy boat ride back to town, as they said we could expect. We thanked them, spent more time on Murano, then went on our way.
GONDOLA
The gondolas are the most famous travel mode in Venice, and the most expensive. Yes, sometimes gondoliers do in fact sing as they row with a single oar, and sometimes several gondolas will crowd together and a professional singer will serenade the whole group. In 1970 we paid $7 for four people, in 1983 they charged $40 for two, and who knows what price could be negotiated by now.
While walking from here to there, sometimes the journey can be shortened by use of a gondola ferry, called “traghetto,” which cross the Grand Canal at strategic points. This is also a way to take a gondola ride for a very small sum of money. As we recount our vacation and brag about our gondola ride in Venice, we don’t have to dwell on the fact that we spent only a few minutes and very little money, for a short gondola junket across, rather than a longer excursion down the Grand Canal.
We find it interesting to study the actions and motions of the gondolier’s single oar. Please note the support (that looks very much like a man’s arm, complete with slightly bent elbow, and an open hand with thumb extended) that sticks up from the gondola, near the rear of the vessel. Depending on the movement desired, the gondolier will prop his long slender oar on the “hand” or the “elbow” of that support, and propel and maneuver his slender craft with consummate skill.
In 1970 our gondolier pointed to what he said was the home of Marco Polo, who lived in Venice 700 years ago. They know the tourist wants to hear such things, and we didn’t try to verify his statement. We have no idea if the Venetian gondolier presented an historical fact, or a tourist factoid. One year while we were inside what the sign said was the “Home of Marco Polo,” on the (former) Yugoslavian Island of Korcula across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, a lady from England was reading aloud from her guide book, “… … Marco Polo never lived in Korcula.” References disagree, but one insists Marco’s family lived in Korcula for centuries, and maybe his mother was visiting in Venice when he was born.
VAPORETTO OR WATER - BUS
A vaporetto, the city bus of Venice, is a boat with a few places to sit and many places to stand, some of those places are inside the sometimes sweltering cabin, many are outside on deck. All that pushing, all that shoving, people just jammed together. We had the feeling some of the passengers weren’t going anywhere, they just couldn’t resist the squeeze of the crowd.
One year as we neared the dock to catch a vaporetto, it started to rain. And boy did it rain! And boy did we run! All those Italians and tourists became very friendly, trying to crowd together inside the tiny cabin; just like being on a subway in rush hour. It rained so hard the boats didn’t move during the worst of the storm, and there was an inch or more of fresh rain water standing on top of the water in the canal; it couldn’t mix in as fast as it fell.
The vaporettos go to many nearby islands, and up and down the Grand Canal stopping at specially built floating “bus” stops, some on one side of the canal, and some on the other. Be aware, the boats do not stop at every station. Well, come to think of it, it really doesn’t matter on which side of the Canal the boat stops. Remember, this is Venice. There are no wrong turns, there are no unacceptable boat stops, anywhere we may find ourselves is just fine. In Venice, as in Paris (and very few other cities), a wrong turn can result in serendipity: “… the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”
It's to be expected that a first-time Venetian visitor will board a vaporetto at Piazzale Roma, and thrill to his first vision of this beautiful city as he proceeds the length of the Grand Canal, first passing under the Rialto Bridge, then the Accademia Bridge, finally to St. Mark’s. That’s understandable, but remember, the walk is irresistible, and most likely the route cannot be duplicated on subsequent strolls. The little stores Emmy wanted to visit, that were closed during one walk, were nowhere to be found the next time we were somewhere in the neighborhood.
RIALTO BRIDGE
Located about mid-way on the Grand Canal, on a direct line from Piazzale Roma to St. Mark’s, the Rialto Bridge is seen as we ride a vaporetto toward St. Mark’s, and is crossed by most tourists wending their way between Plaza Rome and St. Mark’s.
Two rows of stores and shops line the Rialto Bridge. The three walkways, one in the middle of the bridge between the stores, and one on each side of the bridge outside the stores, are actually steps up and down the steep arch. An item of trivial: The Ponte Vecchio that spans the Arno River in Florence, while level rather than an arched bridge, is lined with stores on both sides of the single walkway. And the store-lined, covered Pulteney Bridge spanning the River Avon in Bath, England, (said to be built in the Venetian style), is sometimes called “The Italian Bridge.”
For blocks in either direction from Rialto, there are stores selling all kinds of goods; luggage, jewelry, clothes, Venetian glass and beads. Canal-side cafes and in-door restaurants are everywhere. There is a large outdoor fruit and vegetable market on the Piazzale Roma side of the Rialto Bridge, and the main Post Office is located on the St. Mark’s side of the bridge, to our left as we cross Rialto, walking towards St. Mark’s.
PIAZZA SAN MARCO, ST. MARK’S SQUARE
Venice is dotted with many impressive squares that suddenly appear as we wander the narrow lanes and walkways. The largest of these is the Piazza San Marco, bordered on three sides by the Palazzo (Palace) dei Procuratori, (15th-16th century). The eastern end of the Piazza is capped by Saint Mark’s Basilica, built in the 1000s, rebuilt and renovated a variety of times since.
ST. MARK’S BASILICA
St. Mark’s Basilica is built (the present structure was begun in 1063 and consecrated about 30 years later) in the shape of a Greek Cross, 250 by 202 feet, with a bulbous dome in the center, flanked by four smaller domes. An unexpected item of trivia: Our photos and video confirm what we have read, that each of the five domes is a different size. The west side, facing the Square, has five doorways decorated with variegated marble and sculptures. Throughout the interior of the church varicolored marble and mosaics cover walls and floor. Some of the artwork on the floor is fenced off, protected from the shoes of the tourist trove.
The four bronze horses over the Basilica entrance were among the rich booty taken from Constantinople in 1204 by the Venetian-inspired Fourth Crusade. In the late 1700s these four horses were stolen by Napoleon, and were displayed on the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, next to the Louvre in Paris. They were returned to Venice in 1815.
As a point of interest, in Périgueux, France, St. Front Cathedral, built in the Byzantine style, was constructed in the 1100s with five domes like St. Mark’s, but without all the gold, tile, and artwork at Venice.
CAMPANILE
It’s worth the wait in line to ride the elevator to the top of the 325-foot-high Campanile, in front of St. Mark’s. It was built a thousand years ago, then collapsed in 1902. There’s a “photograph” of the tower in the process of falling, and there are an equal number of experts who said the photo is real, and that it's a fake. In 1912 the tower was rebuilt, and a photo in an old book we have, and photos we have taken recently, do not indicate a difference.
Some of our favorite photographs have been taken from the top of the Campanile with its exceptional views of the Venice roof tops, the nearby islands, St. Mark’s Square with columns and nearby buildings, and especially the view down onto the five-domed rooftop of St. Mark’s. Now just multiply those views by the varying shades of sunshine and rain, sunset with city lights taking effect, and night-time lighting. In the evening, Venice is a jewel glowing with the lights of the city and of the islands nearby, with boats crisscrossing the lagoon.
The renowned impressionist, Claude Monet, visited Venice in 1908 and painted 29 canvases of scenes such as the Grand Canal and the Ducale Palace. Monet was committed to recording transient effects of color, light and atmosphere, and often painted a single subject from various viewpoints, as the light altered from dawn to dusk. Just think of the “impression” that can be made with a camera that can record the transient effects of color, light and atmosphere from dawn to dark, from the Campanile at St. Mark’s in Venice.
One thing though, if we happen to be at the top of the tower when the large bells start to ring, we must hold on to our hat, our ears, and anything else that’s handy — the vibrations are awesome.
Future views of Venice are threatened by the potential problem of satellite dishes. In 1988 we saw maybe two in all of Italy, but just a few months later, in 1989, from the Campanile we counted four white satellite dishes among the beautiful red roof-tops of Venice. With the proliferation of satellite TV in Europe, we hope they have a plan to save the beautiful rooftop view of Venice and other Italian cities. Throughout Europe the tangle of TV antennas have encroached on the view for years, satellite dishes can be even worse. Just another example of a conflict between a good standard of living for the residents, and a good standard of gratification for the tourist.
CLOCK TOWER
While facing St. Mark’s, to the left is the Torre dell’Orologio e Procuratie, the clock tower built in the late 1400s. Two bronze statues of Mori (Moors) giants have been striking the hour with sledge hammers, for 500 years. The statues rotate and the hammers strike the huge bell. The dial bears the signs of the zodiac, and a clock tells the time using Roman numerals.
DOGE’S PALACE
Next door to St. Mark’s, the rooms in the Doge’s Palace are splendid, with delightfully painted and statued ceilings. Three-dimensional statues are molded into, and protrude from the ceiling. Paolo Veronese, a dominate Venetian painter, created a sensation with the brilliant color and impact of the ceiling panels he painted in the Palace in 1553. From the palace we crossed the famous 16th-century Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), the bridge that connects the palace to the state prison, the prison from which Casanova escaped in about 1755.
Outside once more we walked to the water’s edge, turned left, and just past the Doge’s Palace we saw the exterior of the Bridge of Sighs that spans the narrow canal on the east side of the Palace. The bridge owes its name to the wails and lamentations of prisoners who had their last look at the outside world as they proceeded from the court to their execution. The Bridge of Sighs, along with the Rialto Bridge, are the two most famous of Venice’s 400 bridges.
Just a comment about Giovanni Giacomo Casanova de Seingalt: In 1755 he was arrested in Venice for witchcraft, was imprisoned, then escaped. Later he traveled widely throughout Europe — loving, seducing, gambling, amassing and losing riches, being chased (but not chaste) and imprisoned, escaping, fighting duels, and making the acquaintance of many important personages. His twelve-volume autobiography (recently republished) contains exceedingly ripe and most likely untrue accounts of his sexual exploits. Believe it, most every wife or daughter will meet at least one Italian who will insist he is Casanova reincarnate.
SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE
The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio, is on the Isola (island) di S. Giorgio, across the Grand Canal from Piazza San Marco. In 1797, before Venice became part of Italy, Napoleon’s agents plundered the 22 by 32 foot Renaissance masterpiece, “The Marriage at Cana,” from this Abbey. It was moved to Paris, and in 1798 it was split in half and displayed in two pieces. Since the French feared Mussolini might want to reclaim the lost (stolen?) treasure (painted in 1563 by the Italian master Paolo Veronese, mentioned earlier), it was rolled up and hidden from the Italians during WW II.
Our video, taken at the Louvre in 1991, includes a view of parts of the painting, and much of the scaffolding that obscured the rest of it, while it was nearing the end of a three year restoration. A few months later during the re-hanging, the Louvre engineers miscalculated and the painting suffered a crash that sliced several one-meter long slashes in the canvas. The slashes were rather easily repaired, and the painting was to be on display in Paris in the early 1990s.
OUR FIRST VISIT TO VENICE
When we first arrived here in 1970 we drove our VW Van onto a ferryboat at the dock near Piazzale Roma, for the ride ($8 round-trip) to the campsite on Lido Island, just across the lagoon from St. Mark’s Square. From the ferry the beautifully unusual buildings of Venice, and of the islands along the way, were a sight to remember.
Later that evening, for our first ride on a vaporetto, we crossed and recrossed the Lagoon between Lido and St. Mark’s, spellbound by the boats, the unique “street” scenes, with the lights reflected in the Venetian waters. By hindsight, after seven trips with sixteen nights and twenty-some days in this glorious city, that is perhaps the sight we have remembered best.
The next morning, while Emmy and the girls rode a vaporetto from Lido Island to St. Mark’s square, Jim took the camper, by ferry, to a parking garage in Piazzale Roma, then rode the vaporetto down the Grand Canal to meet Emmy at St. Mark’s Square. What an entertaining trip.
We had only a few hours to become acquainted with this fascinating city. Our daughter Linda, and her friend Linda (conveniently known as Pupa) were with us that year, and we felt they would have been happy to have a couple of the Italian sailors they met in the Square, accompany them on the gondola ride. Emmy and Jim might have been just as happy not to have them along.
Then we rode the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma, retrieved our VW Van from the many-story parking garage, and went on our way after less than 24 hours. Now that is a shame, this city deserves far more then 20 hours of anyone’s vacation, but that’s all the time we had. Our schedule was very tight that year.
SUBSEQUENT VISITS
In other years we have camped (twice) in Fusina, south of Venice; at three or four different campsites in and near Mestre; and at two campsites on Punta Sabbioni, a peninsula a short vaporetto ride north of the city. During one night at the Fusina campsite, the RV seemed to move and bounce a little. We never were sure whether it was the strong wind and rain storm, or if it really was the huge Venetian mosquitoes.
Our campsite neighbors included people from Finland who were pleased to see pictures of our daughter-in-law, who was born in Loviisa, Finland. Others were Ross and Barbara, New Zealand Kiwi farmers, “friends” who had camped next to us for a few days in Florence the previous week. We exchanged eventide visits, with interesting conversations. Many times we felt like we were “lifelong” friends with people we met a second time, after meeting them for the first time, just “last week.”
One year the passengers on the bus from Fusina to Venice included several Filipino men, crew members of a ship docked nearby. A very short, very round young man was wearing a heavy shirt imprinted with the colors and name of the professional basketball team, “Los Angeles Lakers.” When Jim suggested he was too short to be a basketball player, his friend remarked, “He’s the basketball.”
There are several enormous campsites near Punta Sabbioni. The first one we stayed at had thousands of trees planted in rows, with campsites in the resulting squares. Along with spots for thousands of trailers and RVs, additional thousands of people were in tents, little huts that were for rent, and a motel. The campground included a Post Office, telephone office, ambulance, restaurants, an ice cream plant, and grocery stores. A complete city. This was the largest camp ground we have ever seen, but several others nearby provided living space for additional thousands of people. We wouldn’t be surprised if there are more spots for RVs, trailers, and tents within 15 miles of St. Mark’s Square, then there are hotel rooms.
One year we attended the street market, complete with “fleas,” held at Cavallino on the peninsula, between Punta Sabbioni and Jesolo. This market went on for a mile on both sides of the street and in the market square of the town. Italian street markets often consist of trucks set up as stores on wheels. The sides of these trucks are unfurled, and there are plenty of shelves on which to display their wares. Shoe stores, kitchenware and gadgets, dresses, toys, hardware, the meat market, cheese store, bakery, fruit and vegetable dealers, fishmongers, antiques and “fleas,” and on and on.
We see these marketplaces in many places in Europe, in a different town each day of the week. As soon as they leave, the area is swept clean, hosed down, and the market area returns to its other function — a parking lot, an outdoor cafe, or the town square. About the most interesting, both in operation and in location, was in the old town at Dubrovnik, (formerly) Yugoslavia. Instead of a parking lot, the result was two dozen tables with umbrellas for a couple of sidewalk restaurants, where the marketplace had been just a few minutes earlier.
Both of us think Venice is about the most special city in Europe, and Emmy has mentioned that sometime she would like to check into a hotel in the heart of the city. Of course when she considers the $150 to $200 for a nice hotel room, versus a $1 bus ride to the RV in a $15 or $20 campsite, she does reconsider.
A TRAIN RIDE, ALMOST
One year Linda and her friend Margit from Germany were with us, and planned to return to Germany by train from Venice. Jim parked the RV in a bus stop in Piazzale Roma, left Emmy as “hostage,” and helped the girls tote their luggage across two or three bridges to the train station. As he was trying to get them settled on the train, he heard the door slam, and felt the train move. Remembering Emmy sitting in a vehicle she didn’t drive, parked in a bus stop in Piazzale Roma, gave Jim all the impetus he needed to drop the bags, fumble with the unfamiliar door latch, jump to the “moving” platform, and run. That was close.
SHOPPING IN VENICE
Neither our budget nor our temperament permits a lot of shopping, but Venice is filled with treasures that can’t be ignored. Everyone knows the value of real estate depends on location, location, location — the same thing holds true for shopping in Venice. On more than one occasion we’ve found the price of tablecloths, Venetian glass, and Venetian beads depends on where we shop. Once Emmy found the exact same tablecloth for $75 at the Rialto Bridge, $130 in St. Mark’s Square, and $103 at a store in between. Another year we found the identical vase for 90,000L at St. Mark’s Square, 28,000L near Rialto Bridge, and 68,000L somewhere between.
One year Emmy was shopping for Venetian glass vases to give for her cousins’ double 49th wedding anniversary (two couples, same date), and on other years she was looking for necklaces and bracelets. On more than one year she bought six or eight necklaces, and several bracelets. She doesn’t have six or eight necks, wrists, etc., but she does have a lot of friends.
As in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Prague, and many other places, our favorite place to eat in Venice is the street-side “Cafeteria.” It’s easy to find. For example, one year we bought cherries at the fruit and vegetable market near the Rialto Bridge, washed them in a nearby fountain, and had a feast along with some French Fries, a Coke, with an ice cream cone for desert, as we continued to walk the beautiful “streets” of Venice.
While walking from piazza to piazza in Venice, on certain days there are street markets that sell fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, and bread of every size and shape. These markets are mostly outside the tourist areas, and will only be found while wandering from here to there. As best we remember, the fruit market near the Rialto Bridge is open almost every day.
PUBLIC RESTROOMS
Public restrooms are situated on the far side of St. Mark’s Square, from St. Mark’s Basilica. Emmy said there was no toilet tissue, the toilet didn’t flush, and there were no hand towels. But otherwise, it was worth the cost, or at least it was better than some alternatives. A good replacement is the fast-food restaurant near St. Mark’s. For about the same cost as using the public rest rooms, we bought an order of French-fries, and since we were now customers, we could use their restroom for free. And we got to eat the French-fries. Several years ago this was a Wendy’s, later it was a Burgy’s, and we have heard it is now a McDonald’s, Golden Arches just a couple of very short Venetian blocks to the left of St. Mark’s.
“CONVERSATIONS” WITH VENICIANS
One visit to Venice was on the day after the 1988 US Presidential election. Italian newspapers were filled with news of President-elect Bush. Page after page (first six pages in one paper) were completely filled with pictures and stories. (An Italian election is lucky to get a paragraph in a US newspaper.) With hand signals, newspaper pictures, a calendar, and just plain “willing” an understanding, Jim discussed the US election, and any number of other subjects, with an Italian gentleman he met. This is where the language problem is so frustrating.
Another time we had a very enjoyable conversation with an English-speaking storekeeper. He is a retired music professor and at one time had played with a symphony orchestra. His 700 square foot Venice home is located about 75 feet from his store, and he said it would cost maybe 500,000,000L, ($385,000). He was disappointed to find his original Lire-to-$ exchange rate was wrong, he had at first bragged his home was worth $3,850,000 in US money. He said that the outside may look as if it’s falling down, but on the inside it’s beautiful, and filled with expensive, elegant, antique furniture.
He pantomimed American tourists with the wife striding through Venice and her husband following, handing money to her on demand. And the Italian couple, with the woman in the lead, but the husband in back is saying, “… not so fast, don’t spend so much money!”
He talked about the poor condition of the restrooms and other Venice tourist facilities, and said there are plenty of empty rooms in the buildings surrounding St. Mark’s. The Government should renovate some of the space so tourists have a place to rest their feet, and other things that might need rested. Both the tourists and the local citizens would appreciate nice facilities.
Another year we had a conversation with a tall, handsome, distinguished resident of Venice. He had retired from his job as a “hall Porter” in 4-star hotels in Venice, Rome and Munich. As he said, residents of Venice must do a lot of walking, but they also eat and drink a lot. After a party Venicians don’t worry about a ticket for drunk driving, but they may fall into a canal and quickly become sober. He said senior citizens in Venice are “three metal” people. Silver in the hair, gold in their teeth, and lead in their fanny.
The man at the tourist office said that while summer is a busy time of the year for Venice, Carnival time, which ends just before Easter, is by far the busiest. As many as 140,000 tourists per day visit already crowded Venice, and the residents don’t leave their homes unless necessary. One year the weather was so bad boats could not be used, so 40,000 people spent hours trying to get out of town by bus and train. They were jam packed in narrow streets trying to cross the Scalzi Bridge to catch a train at Stazione S. Lucia. There was little for them to eat, there were no sanitation facilities, and many people became sick. Trains were leaving Venice every few minutes, but it still was a potentially dangerous situation.
BUILDING RENOVATION
The law in Venice requires the outside of a building be left mainly “as is.” But we would like to see them restore the exterior of a few buildings to their original glory, rather than leave them as they have deteriorated. That’s not to say the magnificent old ruins are not exceptional in their own way. Would the Parthenon in Athens, the Castle in Heidelberg, the Coliseum in Rome, the city of Ephesus in Turkey, and Hadrian’s wall in England be more interesting if they were restored to their original beauty? Who knows, but why not set aside a portion of Venice to be renovated and returned to its original glory, then see how that compares to the way they do it now.
At the west end (across from the Basilica), on the north side of St. Mark’s Square, and through the arcade in that building, there is a gondola “parking lot.” Bordering the body of water is the Hotel Cavalletto. Pictures of that scene, taken from 1980 to the 1990s, show that the outside wall of the hotel had been renovated, and great spaces of missing stucco had been replaced. We don’t know where they draw the line between maintaining ancient charm, and making a hotel look substantial and inviting. But they made sure it doesn’t look “bright and shining” new. The hotel looks like it hasn’t been painted for many years. They are good at that.
More than once we have snuck into a construction site to see an almost completely new building being built within the ancient walls. One time while taking video of a construction project, the workmen dropped their tools, placed their arms on each other’s shoulders, and sang at the top of their voices. Now why didn’t we tape more of that performance?
At one place well east of St. Mark’s, we were surprised to see several buildings that had been recently re-stuccoed and painted to look like new buildings. But we saw that in only that one location. In that same part of the city there are canals with walkways on both sides, unlike the more usual Venetian canal that is seen only from a bridge.
It’s interesting to see the Venicians have the world’s greatest clothes pins. Laundry is hung everywhere, especially on lines and pulleys across the canals from building to building. A piece of clothing is pinned to the clothesline, the rope is pulled, another item is pinned, and on and on. The most amazing thing is, while we have seen hundreds of clothes lines in Venice filled with thousands of items of clothing, we have never seen even one piece that had fallen into a canal.
LIVING WITH BOATS IN VENICE
Because of their complete dependence on boats, islands, and water, between the main part of Venice and the Island of Murano, on S. Michele, there is Cimitero, Venice’s Cemetery island. We have seen more than one funeral procession on the canals of Venice, and just like any land-based funeral, the lavishness of the ceremony, and the extravagance of the procession, most likely reflect the net worth of the deceased.
Delivery to grocery stores, to hotels, restaurants, and tourist stores depends on boats of various sizes. Once the goods, or luggage, are on the walkways, there’s yet another obstacle for the delivery man. Most of the Venetian bridges are arched well above the level of the walkways, high above the water in the canals, so that boats of all kinds can pass beneath the bridge. The delivery man has a special cart with two main wheels, and with special smaller wheels at the far end of his long handle bars. He is able to lift up and push down on the handles, making use of the wheels to step up and down the several steps needed to get over the bridge.
Of course garbage must also be hauled by boats. Specially constructed bins are rolled next to a canal, a crane on the barge picks it up, it opens automatically and dumps the garbage into a specially constructed barge.
In addition to the fruit and vegetable markets in piazzas around the city, market boats deliver daily rations to homeowners along the canals. On more than one occasion we have watched a bucket or basket (complete with thousands of Lire) being lowered by rope from an upper-story apartment. Instructions and negotiations are shouted, the goods (and change) are loaded into the conveyance and pulled back upstairs.
Sometimes a basket, lowered from an upper-story window, is treated as a mail-box by the postman, but one time we watched a basket being lowered with no sign of anyone at street level. Imagine our surprise when a small dog got out of the basket, did his business, got back in the basket for the ride home, provided by his mistress.
Chapter 3
The Lake District
%VICENZA
A guidebook states that Vicenza, about forty miles west of Venice, “… has the air of Venice on land.” Well now, we wouldn’t quite go that far. But it’s a charming city that lies in a pretty setting at the foot of the Berici Mountains, with nearly one hundred palaces built by the rich men of the past. As we found in more and more Italian cities, autos are not permitted in most of the downtown area. Vicenza was the least crowded (with people and cars), of any Italian city we have seen, perhaps we were there on a day when most everyone overslept. Many of the pedestrians we did see were servicemen from the nearby U.S. Army base.
The city’s main street, Corso Palladio, was named for the Italian architect, Andrea Palladio, who built many of the buildings along this street, others in Venice and throughout this part of Italy. The Piazza dei Signori, and the 1500s Basilica Palladiana which occupies one whole side of the square, were special, but it appears the pride of Vicenza is Palladio's final project, the Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theater), which was opened to the public in 1583.
Built of wood and stucco, Teatro Olimpico is a small, roofed 3,000 seat Roman amphitheater facing a stage with superimposed niches, columns, arches and statues. The stage is designed so it appears to be a city piazza with adjoining streets going in several directions. The “streets” are constructed and painted in Trompe-l’œil, false relief, painted to fool the eye. As we looked down one 18 foot street (one of several), the floor (street) slopes up, the ceiling (sky) slopes down, and the sides (buildings) close in, so it feels as if we are looking several blocks down the street. This rich architectural treatment is achieved with flawless deceptive perspective. The auditorium has steep semi-circular wooden bleacher-type seats, and the ceiling above the audience, painted with a cloud scene 100 years ago, is in excellent condition.
As we were leaving the theater a little Italian gentleman with a large Canadian man in tow (a jewelry salesman from Toronto), said, “Come along and I will tell you about Vicenza’s Teatro Olimpico,” which he did, and it was fascinating. The semi-private guide was well worth his price.
After
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