Monday - Busy day in Venice

Monday afternoon – Venice

Hot, hot, hot (again).  It seems odd to me that it would be this hot in June.  I don’t know how much is caused by climate change and how much this is just the weather in Venice.  It is also humid so it stays warm in the evenings.  I am very glad that we have air-conditioning in our hotel.

We slept 12 hours last night!  Bill says that in his dream we were wandering around Venice but the center was built like a lazy susan or a turntable.  After entering, it would rotate so it was impossible to retrace your steps.  It’s a good analogy for Venice but luckily we haven’t gotten lost yet.

We had a very nice (if warm) day today.  We had a large breakfast in the hotel (after discovering that it is not included in the room rate (aargh, we will eat elsewhere tomorrow). Then we bought a 3-day pass to the waterbus and headed in to St Mark’s Square. 

We had, luckily, been informed that you can purchase a ticket for 1 euro that will let you bypass the long line to get into the cathedral so we did that before we left the hotel.  The line looked very long and it was mostly in the sun so we were very happy to have our little magic ticket.

The cathedral is as awesome as everyone says.  No expense has been spared for hundreds (possibly thousands ??) of years to ornament the space.  It was (relatively) cool, quiet and extremely impressive.

After leaving the cathedral, we had a good time wandering through the small side streets mostly window shopping and people watching.  We did see some shoe stores with very impressive (very impractical) shoes which I am sure were also very expensive.  But Bill said that we would have to upgrade our shoes twice before we could even enter those stores so we let the opportunity pass J

I did buy a really nice hat that helped to shade my eyes and neck.  I usually cannot find women’s hats that fit me so that was a pleasant surprise.  It is well made and attractive, too. 

We also found a very pretty embroidered lace runner that we purchased to go on the bookshelf that divides our ‘mudroom’ from the sun room.  I have been planning on having a different runner there for every season.  I have one that I like for the fall and this one can either be spring or summer.

We had a pleasant (but gastronomically uninteresting – canned mushrooms!) pizza

 for lunch .  But we it wasn’t very expensive (unusual for the location) and we had a nice table near the street so we could people watch.

Many tourists here, of course.  Many Americans.  But also a surprising number of Chinese.  Including some of the people who are working here (at least they are working in the shops and restaurants).  Who knew there was a connection between China and Venice ?

Our final activity today was going to another museum on St. Mark’s Square.  I cannot remember the name right now but they a special exhibit for Gustav Klimpt.  It was quite interesting and we also looked at some of the standing exhibits in the rest of the museum.

The thing that impressed me most was a sculpture of Icarus and his father. (I like sculpture a lot).  The father is older and very stern looking.  He is helping to strap wings onto his son who is only 12 or so.  It is very evocative of the story and, of course, of parenthood.  Giving your children wings and encouraging them to fly while also fearing for their safety.  Or perhaps the dangers of asking them to fulfill your dreams.  Or perhaps I am reading too much into the story J  One of the things I liked about the statue, ironically, was the feet.  The man’s feet looked utterly real – just made out of stone.  The toes were worn and misshapen just like a real person’s would be.  Many statues have perfectly formed feet.

All in all, my impression of Venice is somewhat mixed.  It is marvelously beautiful in a ‘Grand Dame’ way, of course.  Watching the buildings go by on the Grand Canal, you can totally imagine what it would be like to live in the past and go into these marvelous buildings for grand dinners or balls.  Every building is different. Ornamentation is elaborate and beautiful.  Every window is decorated with beautiful stone ornaments, wooden door and lace like metal work.  Bill noticed one where there were stone heads over the centers of the windows.  When the light caught them in a particular way, it looks like they were leaning forward over the canal and the wooden doors were their robes.  Pretty impressive design.

On the other hand, for a city that depends utterly on tourism, it is ironic how difficult they make it for tourists.  There are no street displays that show you where major attractions are.  We searched for a long time to find the museum because there were NO signs indicating where the entrance was.  We walked right near it several times and ended up searching for someone, anyone who looked like they were Italian to ask them where it was.

We also find the Italian sense of time amusing.  The most common unit of distance is ‘2 minutes walk’.  Everything in Venice is ‘2 minutes walk’ from everywhere else – according to the Venetians.   This is sometimes literally next door and sometimes a 20 minute walk away.  Of course, perhaps the turntable always delivers the Venetians to the right place at the right time.