Venice, Italy


The Grand Canal in Venice


Venice (Venezia to the Italians), Italy is one of those places you really have to see to believe. The many canals and absence of streets that cars could fit on make it very unique. I found out on Thursday (Oct 19) that I didn't have to work over the weekend, I began looking into making a trip with Big Mike, and we found that the two-day advance airfare to Venice only cost about 60 bucks more than the three week advance fare, so the Venice trip became a reality! Our flight left early Saturday (Oct 21) morning, and we arrived in Marco Polo airport without any trouble. We actually managed to get cash from an ATM (boy it felt strange taking out half a million Lire: I felt rich!) and buy tickets for the boat that would take us to our hotel. We made our way out to the boat dock which became VERY crowded as the boat's arrival time approached.

While waiting, we overheard one woman say that even though they had tickets for the last boat, they didn't get on, which explains the mayhem that ensued when the boat did pull in. The dock was jammed with people waiting to board and the boat pulls in full of passengers, but there's just about no room for the disembarking passengers to get off the boat and through the crowd on the dock. The fun really started now as people pushed their way out and others took advantage of the gaps and pushed their way in. I don't understand how people live this way! In any event, we got on the boat without major incident (I didn't have to throw any punches, just a few shoulders here & there). The only pain inflicted was on our olfactory glands (man, some of those people stink!).

So we're on the boat and making our way toward Venice. The boat is cruising along and we're enjoying the fresh air through the open windows when suddenly the boat must have hit the wake of another boat or something because a huge splash rushes through the window and hits just about everybody onboard. Big Mike, being the tactful guy that he is screams "Jesus Christ" just as the water hits us. Now, to really understand the effect this could have, you need to realize that Italy is over 90% Catholic, and you just don't use their Lord's name in vain like that. I got a really good laugh out of it, and fortunately Lisa & I weren't struck by lightning, fists, or anything. By the way, everyone promptly closed their windows after that.

We finally arrived at the Hotel Cristallo. Unfortunately for us, we picked the weekend of the Venice Marathon for our trip, and there were absolutely no hotels available on the island of Venice, so we ended up staying here on the island of Lido, which is about a 10 minute boat ride away. The hotel was, well, kind of crappy especially since it cost upwards of $150 a night, but at least we found a place to stay under the circumstances. It had a bed (even if it was darn uncomfortable), a shower (even if it was tiny and Big Mike could barely fit into it), and came with breakfast (bad croissants, juice, and cereal), and I guess that's better than nothing.

After checking in, we caught the boat to Venice and got off right in the center of it all: the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's square). Besides the canals, the is the other most famous sight in Venice. The square is filled with tourist sights, cafes, souvenir carts, and worst of all, pigeons. Sure, there are pigeons everywhere, but I'm not talking your average flock of pigeons: they're everywhere! They will eat the seeds (of course the Venetians sell it to the idiotic tourists who would buy anything) right out of your hands. They'll land all over you if you so desire. One lady was actually sprinkling the seed throughout her hair so her husband could take a picture of those rats with wings all over her. I was kind of freaked out and tried kicking them every chance I got to keep them away from me.

Apart from the pigeons, this square is really awesome. Most impressive of all, the Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Church) spans one end of the square, and it was our first stop. The outside of this massive church was rather impressive, but it was nothing compared to the inside. Every wall is filled with beautiful pictures made from mosaic tiles. I can only imagine the years of work that went into it. This basilica has been called the most ornate church in Europe, and I would have to agree. In addition to the incredible wall art, there is also tons of booty from the city's once powerful history. There are artifacts from Alexandria, Syria, and even Constantinople. The coolest of these were the Triumphal Quadriga, four statues of horses looted from the Hippodrome in Constantinople in 1204.

The view of the square from the balconies of the church were also pretty neat, and from there the cafes within the square looked rather inviting, so we decided to grab a quick bite. We took a seat at one of the outdoor tables and ordered some sandwiches and a beer. Each cafe also had bands which would take turns playing adding to the charm of the square, and those eating at the cafes end up paying a music fee for it. We read that only the rich eat well in Venice, and from what we saw from our first meal, it must be true. I had a ham & cheese sandwich while Lisa & Big Mike partook of the Club sandwich. The eats were small and left us wanting: the beer, Peroni, pretty much sucked (bitter and bad aftertaste). This meal only set us back about 60 bucks (yes, the 'only' part was a joke: I do NOT recommend the fare here).

After relaxing a bit at the cafe (we paid for the music, we might as well enjoy it while resting a bit), we decided to check out the supposed best view of Venice from high atop the Campanile di San Marco, which is a bell tower which stands in the open corner of the square. Fortunately an elevator takes you quickly to the top (staircases in Europe can be awful tight and tough to climb) where you get a great overview of Venice. While it's definitely worth doing, there's not much else to say besides the fact that you can get some great pictures of the square and several churches from this vantage point. Here are some views from up there:

On the advice of several friends who've been to Venice, we next decided to try finding our way across the island. This sounds easy, but is actually quite a daunting task. The streets are really just sidewalks (sometimes big but often not) between buildings, which never travel in a straight line for more than 100 feet. The canals are beautiful, but throw yet another kink into the works as the alleys twist and turn toward the bridges that span them.

We managed to eventually find our way to the Grand Canal, which would be likened to main street on any city that actually has roads. This canal is the size of a small river in the States, and the boat traffic is immense. There are gondolas, water taxis, vaporettos (pretty much water buses, and they're the cheap way to get around in Venice), as well as private and commercial vessels. We stood on the bridge for more than a few minutes enjoying the chaotic bustle of the boats below (look closely and you'll see us on the bridge).

After continuing on the the other side of the island and wandering around just enjoying the architecture of this strange city, we decided to find our way back toward the other main bridge over the Grand Canal so we could return to the Piazza San Marco. I won't say we were utterly lost: We met several other Americans who were staring at their maps even more hopelessly than us, and as it turned out, they were much further from where they thought they were on the map than we were from where we thought we were. We got within sight of the other bridge several times, and after several streets (I use that term loosely) dead ended on us without warning, we found one of the vaporetto stops and since it was actually pretty late (and rather dark), we decided to head back to Lido to get dinner.

Not far from our hotel, we found several restaurants to choose from. One place advertised 100 pizzas on the menu, and you know from that it, had my vote, but the ninnies of the group (just because they were the majority doesn't mean they're not wrong) wanted something nicer, so we went to a classier looking place called The Roxy (quite Italian, right?). The food was rather good even if the waiter was older and pretty much a bumbling fool. Italian meals consist of several courses, and believe me, I left the restaurant stuffed. The spaghetti was good (not great, but good) as was the veal, but the star of this meal was the Tiramisu. Wow! It was by far the best Tiramisu I've ever had. Believe it or not, this meal actually only cost a few dollars more than our lunch at the cafe: quite a bargain by Venetian standards. It wasn't the great meal I expected, though, and after dinner we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday began with the crappy hotel breakfast followed by the vaporetto ride back into town. We again got off at the Piazza San Marco and walked around the square. Just off to the side of the main square and toward the Grand Canal is the Piazetta San Marco (St. Mark's little square). Standing here are two tall granite columns topped by statues: one of a winged lion representing St. Mark, the other of a St. Theodore (dethroned patron saint of the city) standing on top of a dragon he either slew or tamed (not sure which) . Straddling one side of this little square is the Palace of the Doges, which is a 15th century building which looks like a frosty birthday cake in pinkish red marble. This was our first destination of the day.

We spent several hours exploring the Palace of the Doges. There were lots of interesting rooms throughout the palace. My personal favorite was the map room. The walls of this room were covered with a map of the world, which dates back hundreds of years. North America is fairly accurate, but kind of shmushed in. As with most European palaces, the paintings, sculptures, & architecture were grand. There was one especially impressive aspect to this palace compared to the rest, though. Venice is famous for glass-blowing, and it's apparent why: On first glance, it looks as if there are real flowers in the chandeliers, but as it turns out, they're made of glass! Impressive! No pictures were allowed in these rooms, but Big Mike is a rebel!

The Armory was our next stop, which was on the floor above the residence. These rooms were filled with armor, swords, guns, and even a cannon or two. It wasn't that different than most of the other armories I've seen, but it's still cool. One rather disturbing article that was present was a chastity belt. However, it wasn't just your standard locked belt: no, this had a whole which was surrounded by jagged spikes over the areas (both front & rear) to be protected. These guys weren't kidding around!

We then crossed over the Bridge of Sighs and into the jail cells across the canals. The bridge got it's name since most of the prisoners who crossed it would sigh when doing so since they knew they were being led toward torture and eventual death. The cells were the cold, stone little rooms that you'd imagine. Now this is prison (not like the cushy joints we have today). We also got a good picture of a couple of people who broke the rules of the Palace by taking pictures. This completed our tour of the palace, so we decided to get some lunch.

After another hapless journey through the winding, crazy streets of Venice, we decided to stop at a little restaurant for some pizza & beers: finally I get to have pizza in Italy! I don't know the name of the beer we were served, but oh-my was it bad! I really had a hard time drinking it, as it tasted pretty foul going down. The aftertaste was even worse, though. We each ordered our own pizza, and they were decent. By the way, "spicy sausage" is NOT the same as pepperoni. These things made my eyes water (they were the best part)! The pizzas were the same thin crust that we get in Denmark, though, and not all that special. The Italians may have invented pizza, but it took America to perfect it!

Our next adventure involved doing what everyone must do in Venice: riding around the canals in a gondola. Our guide fit the part with the perfect attire for the job, but he didn't sing "O Sole Mio" even though we tried getting him to. The 40 minute ride was quite expensive ($75), but I'm glad we did it. Seeing Venice from the water is pretty darn cool, and I'd hate to say I'd been there and hadn't done it. It was fun and we got some good pictures. Oh, and by the way, a guy Big Mike's size getting into a little skinny boat is VERY tricky!

After the relaxing ride came another where-the-heck-are-we walk around town trying to find Arsenal, which is a military installation. We had seen the buildings on a post-card and it looked cool, so we headed for it. Venice wouldn't be nearly so confusing if streets didn't constantly dead-end without warning, especially after crossing a canal. Anyway, we eventually made it. After snapping a few pics we headed back toward Piazza San Marco and bought a few trinkets for ourselves.

In one of travel guides we had, there was a cafe listed as having the best pistachio ice cream in the world (Paolin). I'm no connoisseur, but I figured I had to give that a try. We actually found the place without getting lost and ordered our snack. I do have to say that it was damn good ice cream (even the Vanilla was excellent)! We sat in the courtyard relaxing for some time before heading across the Grand Canal again in order to get a look at Piazza San Marco from the other side. The view was excellent when we finally made it, but daylight was fleeting so we decided to head back to Lido to get some dinner.

We get on the boat heading back, and it's rather crowded. We got lucky and got seats. At the next stop, though, a woman came in clutching something wrapped in a blanket to her bosom. The water was choppy which made the boat bounce a lot. Big Mike being the nice guy that he is, offered his seat to the woman who could not hold on because she was carrying her child... or so he thought. As it turns out, she was holding a puppy: Big Mike had been duped! We all found it quite amusing, and the puppy was darn cute (it couldn't have been more than 3 weeks old). I just couldn't stop laughing at how he (and I, for that matter, but he got up) had been fooled.

Again Big Mike & Lisa weren't with me on the 100 pizzas place (how can you not want to eat at a place that has one HUNDRED different kinds of pizza?), so we went to another restaurant near the hotel. The food here was actually a little better than the night before even though the waiter was also somewhat dim-witted. Between the two main courses each, we got to try many dishes including the spaghetti, lasagna, fried calamari (squid), and scaloppini (veal). It was all scrumptious. They didn't have Tiramisu, though, so we tried some other deserts which were just ok (Lisa had the chocolate balls and I had some kind of crumb cake).

Dinner ended the evening since we had to be up at some god-awful hour (4 AM) in order to catch our boat to the airport and fly out in time to be at work at a respectable hour the following day. Nobody screamed a curse word on the boat ride, though, and we made it back to Copenhagen without incident, well except that we were still waiting in line at the ticket counter when our plane was boarding and we were some of the first people in line. They obviously held the plane as the majority of the passengers were behind us, and we managed to only be a little late, so it was no big deal.

Venice is a city that I think you've got to see if you have the chance. I don't think I'd ever go back, but I'm really glad we made it. The canals and sidewalk-width streets are just so different from anything else I've seen. It really is quite charming, and the trip was a lot of fun.

Here are the other pictures from our trip:


Piazza San Marco -- St. Mark's Square


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