My blogs are difficult to publish, not because of slow ship's connection but because of impossible SHAW service in Canada...
Well, here goes, trying the whole thing in a different way
VENICE....
Venice, it has been praised so much in music and verse, it's beauty lauded by many, it's romantic landscape painted by artists throughout the centuries.
One quite willingly and happily loses oneself in the maze of narrow passages, hundreds of bridges, dead ends, canals and plazas, one more impressive and picturesque than the next..
Venice does not give up it's secrets quickly or easily, it takes leisure and patience to discover hidden court yards, small and large palaces which harbour untold treasures, forever new and forever romantic.
I let myself drift on the lesser visited side of Venice, which is the one south of the Grand Canal that bisects the city. On the north side are the famous Piazza de San Marco and the Doge Palace and probably eighty percent of the tourist hordes, as well as 80 percent of the tourist souvenir shops.
On the south are the Cathedral of Santa Maria della Salute, and a host of lesser known palaces, galleries and churches, equally noteworthy, historically and artistically significant but not on every body's 'must do' list. It also houses the fresh produce market near the Rialto Bridge, and there are hundreds of romantic back canals, narrow winding passages and small arched stone bridges connecting the many islands of Venice.
I discovered the convenience of the 'traghetto', which date back to1293 and are the oldest public ferry transport still in existence.
There are only four bridges across the Grand Canal in the present day, three of them relatively new. Only one, the Rialto Bridge, connected both ventricles of Venice until the 19th century. The Gondola type ferries, as opposed to the tourist 'tour' ferries do nothing but provide a quick and cheap connection between one side of the Grand Canal and its opposing side.
The tradition of ferrying people across the canal is said to date back to the 11 century. Back in the 14th century the service was 'regulated' 'establishing rules and identification for each ferry gondolier.During the time of the By the time of the 'Serenissima' those gondola ferry rules includes laws governing morality and public order such as prohibition against gambling and gondoliers bearing arms. 20 official ferry stations lined the canal, and fee was one coin of the day subject to bargaining. 1550 saw that standardised as well, and a standard price was set. Despite all those well intentioned regulations, ferry stops (such as railway stations today) were often scenes of crime.
On the San Toma ferry (one of the few I finally used today at a cost of 2 Euros a crossing) a girl was abducted in 1842. She was on her way to mass with her mother. Masked men took her away quickly, before the astonished eyes of the ferry men. A reward of 3000 lire brought the culprits to justice.
There are still seven places along the Grand Canal were residents and travellers alike can cross at strategic points. The gondoliers used to be called barcaiolo (remember Tales of Hoffman opera, and the 'Barcarole'?). Today two of them at bow and stern take between 6 and 12 people (and their dogs and groceries) across.
My crossings were not quite as seductive and romantic as a midnight tourist gondola ride through the eerie dark back canals of Venice, cheered on by singing gondoliers, however the service is hardly known by tourists, hence there is no line up and no pressure. Instead of cameras at the ready, locals use the speedy crossing (dodging the ever heavy boat traffic without the use of traffic lights) to make a quick cell phone call.
I was fortunate again, as temperatures were summery, skies an endless blue, and no 'alta aqua' (high water) covering all the squares and walkways alongside the many canals. A good time and place to sit back with a glass of the local vino and the accouterments which accompany same in most Italian Cafes or Ristorantes, and watch life happen in one of the most beautiful and lovable cities in the world.
Well, here goes, trying the whole thing in a different way
VENICE....
Venice, it has been praised so much in music and verse, it's beauty lauded by many, it's romantic landscape painted by artists throughout the centuries.
One quite willingly and happily loses oneself in the maze of narrow passages, hundreds of bridges, dead ends, canals and plazas, one more impressive and picturesque than the next..
Venice does not give up it's secrets quickly or easily, it takes leisure and patience to discover hidden court yards, small and large palaces which harbour untold treasures, forever new and forever romantic.
I let myself drift on the lesser visited side of Venice, which is the one south of the Grand Canal that bisects the city. On the north side are the famous Piazza de San Marco and the Doge Palace and probably eighty percent of the tourist hordes, as well as 80 percent of the tourist souvenir shops.
On the south are the Cathedral of Santa Maria della Salute, and a host of lesser known palaces, galleries and churches, equally noteworthy, historically and artistically significant but not on every body's 'must do' list. It also houses the fresh produce market near the Rialto Bridge, and there are hundreds of romantic back canals, narrow winding passages and small arched stone bridges connecting the many islands of Venice.
I discovered the convenience of the 'traghetto', which date back to1293 and are the oldest public ferry transport still in existence.
There are only four bridges across the Grand Canal in the present day, three of them relatively new. Only one, the Rialto Bridge, connected both ventricles of Venice until the 19th century. The Gondola type ferries, as opposed to the tourist 'tour' ferries do nothing but provide a quick and cheap connection between one side of the Grand Canal and its opposing side.
The tradition of ferrying people across the canal is said to date back to the 11 century. Back in the 14th century the service was 'regulated' 'establishing rules and identification for each ferry gondolier.During the time of the By the time of the 'Serenissima' those gondola ferry rules includes laws governing morality and public order such as prohibition against gambling and gondoliers bearing arms. 20 official ferry stations lined the canal, and fee was one coin of the day subject to bargaining. 1550 saw that standardised as well, and a standard price was set. Despite all those well intentioned regulations, ferry stops (such as railway stations today) were often scenes of crime.
On the San Toma ferry (one of the few I finally used today at a cost of 2 Euros a crossing) a girl was abducted in 1842. She was on her way to mass with her mother. Masked men took her away quickly, before the astonished eyes of the ferry men. A reward of 3000 lire brought the culprits to justice.
There are still seven places along the Grand Canal were residents and travellers alike can cross at strategic points. The gondoliers used to be called barcaiolo (remember Tales of Hoffman opera, and the 'Barcarole'?). Today two of them at bow and stern take between 6 and 12 people (and their dogs and groceries) across.
My crossings were not quite as seductive and romantic as a midnight tourist gondola ride through the eerie dark back canals of Venice, cheered on by singing gondoliers, however the service is hardly known by tourists, hence there is no line up and no pressure. Instead of cameras at the ready, locals use the speedy crossing (dodging the ever heavy boat traffic without the use of traffic lights) to make a quick cell phone call.
I was fortunate again, as temperatures were summery, skies an endless blue, and no 'alta aqua' (high water) covering all the squares and walkways alongside the many canals. A good time and place to sit back with a glass of the local vino and the accouterments which accompany same in most Italian Cafes or Ristorantes, and watch life happen in one of the most beautiful and lovable cities in the world.
 |
| The classic view across the Grand Canal from San Marco Square |
 |
| Gondola line up in the afternoon |
 |
| Rialto Bridge |
 |
| Gondolier |
 |
| Cappuccino Venetian style |
 |
| Plaza near Santa Maria della Salute |
 |
| Detail on an antique guitar |
 |
| Adornment on the bow of a gondola |
 |
| Note the flying witch on the back of a gondola seat |
 |
| Venetian parody on a painting of Leda and the Swan |
 |
| Murano glass |
 |
| Watching the gondola traffic go by on the Grand Canal |
 |
| A Traghetto ferrying people from one side of the Grand Canal to the other |
 |
| An example of the hundreds of Carnival Masks of Venice |
