What happens when a single guy turns up in one of the most romantic places in the world, after a month long stint in one of the least romantic places in the world...
As the flight touched down at the Marco Polo international airport and I was rudely awoken from my slumber at 4 am local time, something my Circadian Rhythm didn't seem to agree on, my face lit up. I was finally here, in a country which I wanted to visit
since I first saw Gladiator, the desire invigorating every time I saw movies such as Casino Royale, the Godfather or the Italian Job so much so that, I unhesitatingly selected it among all other possible European options. I was finally at Italy- Berlusconi's Trump Tower.
I couldn't manage to hold the smile for long as it generally is tough to do so at 4 am , but more so because of thinking about what was to come next. Immigration is not one of the most fun moments for brown guys anywhere in the world. I had a pretty rough experience the time I had gone to Amsterdam and so on this occasion, I had my script prepared by the time I reached the immigration officer. Surprisingly, he let me pass without a fuss and I headed out towards the exit, for spending an awesome couple of days at this Disneyland of the 1500s.
Moving About...
Getting to the city from the airport is pretty straightforward. You take a bus from right outside the airport to right outside the city. If you're planning to stay in Venice for a couple of days, take a long hard look at the tires of the bus after you descend. It will be the last time you'll be seeing wheels for a while. Venice may probably be the only city in the world where you don't get to see any Vehicles on the road.Yes, that includes non polluting one's such as Cycles and it's derivatives, or even just street polluting one's such as horse carts as well.
People also generally do not travel via boats within the city for short distances even though they technically can do so using the extremely famous (albeit overhyped) gondolas. This is partly because not every one's filthy rich to ride a Gondola every time they want to go buy vegetables ( a ride costs somewhere between 40-80 Euros) and also because traditionally, the Gondola has been a romantic vehicle and has been used by people wanting to experience Romance in it's most Cliche'd form, and not as a mode of transportation. But having said that, it isn't uncommon to find people owning boats in either Venice or it's sister islands.
However, to travel fairly long distances, there is a very well organized system of public ferries in the city, which operate a lot like the metro system of many cities.
Quick Tip- Since the least valuable ticket you can purchase is a 24 hour pass for 15 Euros, you better buy one the moment you land even if you're planning to stay for less than a day. You'll miss out on a lot of cool places if you don't.
After the concept of Venice had sunk in, mostly because of the fierce judgmental looks I got from some Venetians when I asked them if there's a Metro station close by ("What do you think wise ass, we're not the Japanese to be able to do that kind of shit") I decided to take to the road on foot. And boy, wasn't it worth it
People...
As with most European tourist places, the crowd is roughly a 50:50 mixture of tourists and locals. I was pleased to see some of the prettiest girls I'd seen in a while roaming about the streets with their boyfriends ( Okay the boyfriends part sucked). Surprisingly, the number of Indian's were very few... admittedly a phrase you don't get to hear often.
Most of the Venetians know English fine, apart from the fact that they elongate every word so much that you get a sense they're thinking way too much for conveying the simplest of messages with each word invariably ending with an 'uhh' or an 'ohh'. But the locals despite struggling with their elongated vowels, generally assist you whenever and wherever they can.
One way to identify a Venetian on the road is by noticing the ones who're walking at a very brisk pace. I mean it's understandable that they've probably seen the same frikkin road or bridge a thousand times where enthusiastic selfie takers spend minutes or hours,and so are relatively faster than the visitors. But they're also in general pretty fast for Humans, perhaps because of being brought up in a city without vehicles, they've become accustomed to a slightly faster natural walking speed. As a Venetian lady later told me, " We Venetians don't walk, we fly " ( I paraphrased to filter out the Ohhs and Uhhs).
Across the Ponte'...
They say one of the best things to do in Venice is getting lost in the streets and discovering something new. Though that is true to a fair amount since you will get lost there unless you have a really good map. The paths are confusing to tread along as the streets are narrow and there are far too many turns, with most of the turns leading you through narrow alleyways, across multitudes of bridges, through buildings, through churches and even restaurants. That being said, Venice is not short of amazing historic monuments or places where significant historic events took place.
The one place that'll show up in every list of "must see places in Venice" is the Piazza San Marco where you'll find amazing examples of Gothic Architecture with Ottoman and Byzantine Influences ( copied verbatim from Wikipedia), but seriously, it's pretty cool.
It's also a place where the intelligentsia from all over Europe used to assemble during the 16th-17th Century to discuss about art, philosophy and love ( I was beginning to get really annoyed of the word 'love' by this point). But yes, other geeky stuff also happened in the square. For instance, at the Doge's palace a man demonstrated for the first time a funny looking invention, to a visiting Austrian prince and spellbound audience members. The man was Galileo Galilei and the 'funny looking invention' was of course, the first telescope.
Quick Tip: Do check out the view from the top of the Clocktower, the queue's much shorter than the adjacent Basilica's and the view from the top is wallpaper-esque.
(Scenes from atop the Clocktower)
The Sisters...
No visit of Venice is complete without a visit to any of it's sister islands, the Murano, the Burano, the
Torcello and the Lido island being the most popular ones for tourists.
So Murano's an island where the famous Murano Glass sculptures are made. There you can pay and get to see people make glass sculptures in factories which is pretty cool for someone who likes fire and sand and mettle and other guy stuff. It's fun to watch what looks like a lump of molten glass become a colorful sculpture within a matter of a few minutes with hits and cuts at the right points.
Burano on the other hand, is the feminine version of Murano and has colourful houses ( Almost right out of an artists sketch of the city) and is famous for it's wedding dresses made of white laces and umbrellas also made of white laces ( With absolutely no practical use whatsoever as admitted even by the people selling them ). But in general, Burano felt a lot more scenic and if you're travelling with your special someone, it'd be the place where you may want to have the 'newly-wed-enjoying-honeymoon' photo.
Overall, Venice felt just like how I had imagined it, a surrealistic place, with lot's of Canals and bridges, beautiful architecture ( did I mention it's Gothic Architecture with Ottoman and Byzantine Influences), amazing people and authentic Italian cuisines. Though it might get a bit intimidating for a single guy to see so many couples caressing each other all over the city and there might be times when you have to control the urge of capsizing a gondola as it sails past you with the gondolier playing serenading music the whole time.
As the day came to an end and the salty breeze from the canals picked up pace, I headed towards the bus waiting at the outskirts of the city for me to board. The day's events were already fading out as I could feel the excitement for the next city I was about to visit. That one city which has fought it's way to our hearts-Rome.
________________________________________________________________________________
*Read more on my voyages( was itching to use this word) at http://chocolatechips101.blogspot.com/ , after I write them that is.
For the ones who don't know me, I'm a consultant currently working from my clients location in Riyadh where I generally stay for the better part of the month. As my visa allows me to stay for a maximum of only 30 days in one trip, I take the opportunity to travel to whichever country I can get my hands on and whichever's the cheapest of course ( Jai Hind!). Hope to write more on interesting cities I visit. Thanks for reading this one for now. Ciao!
Check the next one here
As the flight touched down at the Marco Polo international airport and I was rudely awoken from my slumber at 4 am local time, something my Circadian Rhythm didn't seem to agree on, my face lit up. I was finally here, in a country which I wanted to visit
since I first saw Gladiator, the desire invigorating every time I saw movies such as Casino Royale, the Godfather or the Italian Job so much so that, I unhesitatingly selected it among all other possible European options. I was finally at Italy- Berlusconi's Trump Tower.
I couldn't manage to hold the smile for long as it generally is tough to do so at 4 am , but more so because of thinking about what was to come next. Immigration is not one of the most fun moments for brown guys anywhere in the world. I had a pretty rough experience the time I had gone to Amsterdam and so on this occasion, I had my script prepared by the time I reached the immigration officer. Surprisingly, he let me pass without a fuss and I headed out towards the exit, for spending an awesome couple of days at this Disneyland of the 1500s.
Moving About...
Getting to the city from the airport is pretty straightforward. You take a bus from right outside the airport to right outside the city. If you're planning to stay in Venice for a couple of days, take a long hard look at the tires of the bus after you descend. It will be the last time you'll be seeing wheels for a while. Venice may probably be the only city in the world where you don't get to see any Vehicles on the road.Yes, that includes non polluting one's such as Cycles and it's derivatives, or even just street polluting one's such as horse carts as well.
People also generally do not travel via boats within the city for short distances even though they technically can do so using the extremely famous (albeit overhyped) gondolas. This is partly because not every one's filthy rich to ride a Gondola every time they want to go buy vegetables ( a ride costs somewhere between 40-80 Euros) and also because traditionally, the Gondola has been a romantic vehicle and has been used by people wanting to experience Romance in it's most Cliche'd form, and not as a mode of transportation. But having said that, it isn't uncommon to find people owning boats in either Venice or it's sister islands.
However, to travel fairly long distances, there is a very well organized system of public ferries in the city, which operate a lot like the metro system of many cities.
Quick Tip- Since the least valuable ticket you can purchase is a 24 hour pass for 15 Euros, you better buy one the moment you land even if you're planning to stay for less than a day. You'll miss out on a lot of cool places if you don't.
 |
| The Ferry as seen from the Rialto Bridge |
After the concept of Venice had sunk in, mostly because of the fierce judgmental looks I got from some Venetians when I asked them if there's a Metro station close by ("What do you think wise ass, we're not the Japanese to be able to do that kind of shit") I decided to take to the road on foot. And boy, wasn't it worth it
People...
As with most European tourist places, the crowd is roughly a 50:50 mixture of tourists and locals. I was pleased to see some of the prettiest girls I'd seen in a while roaming about the streets with their boyfriends ( Okay the boyfriends part sucked). Surprisingly, the number of Indian's were very few... admittedly a phrase you don't get to hear often.
Most of the Venetians know English fine, apart from the fact that they elongate every word so much that you get a sense they're thinking way too much for conveying the simplest of messages with each word invariably ending with an 'uhh' or an 'ohh'. But the locals despite struggling with their elongated vowels, generally assist you whenever and wherever they can.
One way to identify a Venetian on the road is by noticing the ones who're walking at a very brisk pace. I mean it's understandable that they've probably seen the same frikkin road or bridge a thousand times where enthusiastic selfie takers spend minutes or hours,and so are relatively faster than the visitors. But they're also in general pretty fast for Humans, perhaps because of being brought up in a city without vehicles, they've become accustomed to a slightly faster natural walking speed. As a Venetian lady later told me, " We Venetians don't walk, we fly " ( I paraphrased to filter out the Ohhs and Uhhs).
Across the Ponte'...
They say one of the best things to do in Venice is getting lost in the streets and discovering something new. Though that is true to a fair amount since you will get lost there unless you have a really good map. The paths are confusing to tread along as the streets are narrow and there are far too many turns, with most of the turns leading you through narrow alleyways, across multitudes of bridges, through buildings, through churches and even restaurants. That being said, Venice is not short of amazing historic monuments or places where significant historic events took place.
The one place that'll show up in every list of "must see places in Venice" is the Piazza San Marco where you'll find amazing examples of Gothic Architecture with Ottoman and Byzantine Influences ( copied verbatim from Wikipedia), but seriously, it's pretty cool.
It's also a place where the intelligentsia from all over Europe used to assemble during the 16th-17th Century to discuss about art, philosophy and love ( I was beginning to get really annoyed of the word 'love' by this point). But yes, other geeky stuff also happened in the square. For instance, at the Doge's palace a man demonstrated for the first time a funny looking invention, to a visiting Austrian prince and spellbound audience members. The man was Galileo Galilei and the 'funny looking invention' was of course, the first telescope.
Quick Tip: Do check out the view from the top of the Clocktower, the queue's much shorter than the adjacent Basilica's and the view from the top is wallpaper-esque.
(Scenes from atop the Clocktower)
The Sisters...
No visit of Venice is complete without a visit to any of it's sister islands, the Murano, the Burano, the
 |
| Colorful Streets of Burano |
So Murano's an island where the famous Murano Glass sculptures are made. There you can pay and get to see people make glass sculptures in factories which is pretty cool for someone who likes fire and sand and mettle and other guy stuff. It's fun to watch what looks like a lump of molten glass become a colorful sculpture within a matter of a few minutes with hits and cuts at the right points.
Burano on the other hand, is the feminine version of Murano and has colourful houses ( Almost right out of an artists sketch of the city) and is famous for it's wedding dresses made of white laces and umbrellas also made of white laces ( With absolutely no practical use whatsoever as admitted even by the people selling them ). But in general, Burano felt a lot more scenic and if you're travelling with your special someone, it'd be the place where you may want to have the 'newly-wed-enjoying-honeymoon' photo.
Overall, Venice felt just like how I had imagined it, a surrealistic place, with lot's of Canals and bridges, beautiful architecture ( did I mention it's Gothic Architecture with Ottoman and Byzantine Influences), amazing people and authentic Italian cuisines. Though it might get a bit intimidating for a single guy to see so many couples caressing each other all over the city and there might be times when you have to control the urge of capsizing a gondola as it sails past you with the gondolier playing serenading music the whole time.
 |
| A bird looks to the horizon as Evening falls |
________________________________________________________________________________
*Read more on my voyages( was itching to use this word) at http://chocolatechips101.blogspot.com/ , after I write them that is.
For the ones who don't know me, I'm a consultant currently working from my clients location in Riyadh where I generally stay for the better part of the month. As my visa allows me to stay for a maximum of only 30 days in one trip, I take the opportunity to travel to whichever country I can get my hands on and whichever's the cheapest of course ( Jai Hind!). Hope to write more on interesting cities I visit. Thanks for reading this one for now. Ciao!
Check the next one here
