The history of The Republic of Venice is rich and the residents seem to have a special brand of national pride. In fact, many even speak, or at least understand, Venetian in addition to Italian. According to one bit of graffiti I saw under a bridge, "Veneto Is Not Italy." It sort of reminded me of living in The Republic of Texas. Viva la repubblica, y'all!
We stayed in a small mainland town called Quarto d'Altino, which was about 35 minutes from Venice by train. Our hotel was very old fashioned and the staff was ultra-helpful, each of them speaking several languages. Only a few thousand people live in Quarto d'Altino and it seems that much of the town is built around tourism to Venice. It is adorable, with little restaurants and cute homes. The vegetation seemed lush and tropical compared to Paris. We saw personal vineyards in backyards and the streets are lined with flowering trees, pines, gnarly vines, and even palms. This pretty little garden was right on the main drag.
Even though we wouldn't be seeing any cars once we got to Venice, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this cute little vintage Fiat in Quarto d'Altino. It's like an old school VW bug about the size of a Smart Car.
Our first adventure in Venice was a ride down the Grand Canal, the main transportation route that winds through the historic city. We had a three-day pass for the vaporetti, or water buses, and that was our mode of transportation, along with walking, in town. We saw famous mansions, hotels, and even casinos along the Grand Canal. We stayed on the vaporetto for about 45 minutes until we reached the hottest tourist destination in Venice: St. Mark's Basilica and Square. We got there early in the morning and beat the crowds. The church is stunning with its Byzantine influences, colorful marble, and medieval art. One of my favorite sights in the square was this clock tower. It's essentially the first digital clock in the world, as the numbers above the dial show the time, updated in five-minute increments. It also shows the movement of the sun, the zodiac, and the phases of the moon.
Later, we wandered around the narrow alleys and footbridges of the city, getting lost and then found again. We grabbed a sandwich for lunch, popped in a few more churches, and set sail for some of the neighboring islands. Those of you who read my earlier post, "The Unknown Soldier," will appreciate this next shot of the cemetery island. The green space and palm trees have quite a different effect than the concrete jungle of the Père Lachaise. Also, you might be able to tell from the pictures, but we had beautiful, warm, sunny weather for our trip.
We found our way back to the train station that evening, passing this absinthe shop on the way. My ghostly face above the blue bottle is not a hallucination!
The next day we arrived in Venice early because a strike shut down transportation in the region from 9am to 5pm. Fortunately, our flight wasn't until later in the evening, so we could spend that time on the islands. Having beaten most of the crowds that morning, we were able to look a little closer and the islands themselves. Venice experiences high waters, or acqua alta, during high tide and other more or less inconvenient times throughout the year. Homes and business on the ground floor show evidence of this phenomenon, as seen in the next photo. That's not grass in their front yard, it's moss growing on concrete. Venice may not be a viable city at some point in the future because of rising sea levels. To add salt to the wound, the ground is actually dropping at a rate of a few millimeters per year.
One of the more charming islands we saw later that afternoon was Burano, known for its decorative lace. The houses are very colorful making the whole island quite picturesque, so I'll leave you with this final picture. Arrivederci!
I loved all the mini cars when I was in Italy. Even the Semis are miniature.
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