The World At Large: Italy begins

My image of Venice, created from movies is one with permanent orange/red sky and that glow of a summer evening, women in beautiful floral dresses walking the canals, and gondola men wearing horizontal striped t-shirts that compliment their stiff straw hats with a ribbon tied around the brim….

My first experience of Venice however, was trudging through slush and snow that clearly did not belong on Venice’s cobbled streets, turning them into death traps, especially with a 17kg pack on your back. The boats around the canals were all filing up with snow and it was pelting into our faces as we made our way to our accommodation. Of course there are no cars in sight and buses are also impossible to fit in these tiny canals, so we knew the only way would be on foot weaving through tiny alleys (which, night time as it was, was never gonna happen for fear of getting very lost) or finding a way to move on the water (which we did in the end by ferry). The first morning we woke up however, it was like the snow hadn’t happened at all and the sun was shining, just for me to get my picture of Venice back into focus I think.

First of all, I will just dash all fantasies and confess that we did not ride a gondola, for a few reasons really. The first is that these men are a little freaky looking and their gondolas far too regal for plain old us, the second is that they asked for the equivalent of about $100 for just a 45 min ride and thirdly, it was so incredibly wonderful walking those tiny streets over the little canals with the tiny bridges, staring up at the houses that looked like they belonged only in movies because they were far too cute to be true... I am glad that we never had a particular place that we needed to find cause quite frankly it would have been mighty hard, nearing impossible. Instead we basically discarded the map and just wandered our days away. They have a fantastic sign system that allowed us to find our way back to the main square wherever we wandered so we weren’t concerned about getting lost. The fact that there are about a million tourist shops, mostly selling overly decorative but lovely masks, also made us realise that this town was almost like one big Disney land, who knows where the real inhabitants of Venice actually live (all 60,000 of them). The tourist is well catered for, plenty of overpriced food, gondola men at every footbridge (and there are A LOT of bridges in venice linking up the 150ish tiny islands that make up the city), the flashy designer stores that I swear do not get any more than 1 customer a day maximum, and hotels on every other corner. It is an incredibly amazing city though and definitely a highlight so far. Because it was our first hit in Italy, we did the pizza/pasta/gelato thing breakfast, lunch and tea so by the time we left we were getting a little over the carbs. Well, I was anyway!

On our last day in Venice we thought it had rained over night because the streets were very wet, then as we went we realized that there were huge puddles everywhere and water had seeped through the ground or something…. cause patches around the main square was now ankle deep in water! To enter the main basilica, which is a stunning piece of architecture as most churches in Europe are, or to enter the bell tower which you can go to the top of and get a fantastic view of the city (and I’m told Slovakia and Croatia on a clear day), people were walking on top of these tables which had now been constructed in a long line around the main entrances! I would hate to be here when it gets high enough to really absolutely need these everywhere! Gum boots would be in order I think, although that wouldn’t be too much of a big deal here because they are the height of fashion in Europe at the moment, even channel have their own designer wellies for around $250.

Moving on to Florence now. Jamie what did we do in Florence? Here is your opportunity to see your name in print!

“Saw David.”

Well actually we saw multiple David’s, one was the real one by Michelangelo and the others were fakes scattered around Florence. Jamie was particularly taken by the fine form of David, so much so he received a David puzzle and David playing cards for Christmas. Pictures really speak louder than words when it comes to this home of renaissance, so I will post a few here for your pleasure. The highlight (apart from David of course :P) was walking up to a lookout point over the bridge where you can see a view over Florence and hills surrounding. The marvelous bell tower and basilica stand out spectacularly. Such a beautiful place also in possession of some really good gelato!