Venezia—
Improbable, beautiful
Propped up on the water.
I had expected Venice to be a city criss-crossed with canals, a European version of Suzhou. But no, it is a city built on a lagoon.
Imagine a city where there is not a single car, motorbike, motorscooter—not even a bicycle! The canals are narrow and a wake could cause serious damage, so all the boats, even those with motors, move at a stately pace. Once goods are off-loaded they are carted by handtruck through the paved streets. The effect is remarkable. Everyone, everyone is more relaxed.We are more human without cars. People's faces are more open. In Rome if you sit on an outdoor terrace and happen to catch someone's eye, they will pull themselves inward, assume even more of a pose. In Venice, as we ate breakfast at a sideward cafe, I watched everyone pass. "Bon appetito!" called a smiling woman as she walked by.
In Florence and Rome the palaces were designed to assert power. In Venice the palaces and the city as a whole declare opulence, prosperity. In Florence the Palazzo Vecchio is stern and commanding. As we sat in the tower there, Ken told me the story of how the archbishop who plotted to kill Lorenzo the Magnificent was dragged to the tower with his accomplices and hanged over the plaza. The ducal palace in Venice also has intimidating prisons (that made me feel faint and nauseous), but in general the rooms are much larger, admit more light. Perhaps it is the influence of the neaby Byzantine culture; the palaces, the Basilica of San Marco--all feel like a fantasy.
Basilica di San Marco
Ken resting on platforms stacked in
San Marcos Plaza
On our first stroll through the city I pointed to all the platforms piled here and there. There must be a festival coming that they were planning outdoor stages, I suggested. Then we found out that the city floods so frequently that they keep the platforms handy so people only have to wade through inches instead of deeper water. Floods and fancies--Venice is a remarkable display of what humans can dream and do.