Throughout
my childhood I somehow, unintentionally, created numerous connections to the
beautiful city of Venice. Before I was even born and no more than a dependent
bump in my mother’s stomach, Mum, Dad and my big sister Charlotte went on
holiday to Italy, and in St. Mark’s Square Mum had a pregnant moment and
ordered a large ice cream, an act I replicated when Laura and I found the
amazing square. When I was
finally born I happened to share the date of the
opening of that very same square, September 11th. As I grew up and
began to play violin, Vivaldi soon became my favourite composer who, as it
turns out, lived and wrote his music along those narrow streets and twisting
canals. So it is no surprise that when I finally had the chance to visit the
floating city with Laura last week, I had very high expectations, which were of
course exceeded.
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| One of my first views of Venice |
After
arriving late on a rather gloomy Tuesday with a suitcase in tow (which turned
out to be a real pain due to the fact that all Venetian bridges have stairs instead
of ramps!) Laura and I decided to wait for the next day and start our
exploration with fresh eyes.. and no suitcases! So after rising bright and
early on the Wednesday we headed off. Deciding to walk rather than pay of a
water bus (we are really rather poor travellers!) and after figuring out the
general direction of St. Mark’s Square we headed off hoping to get there for a
mid-morning gelato. Once an hour had passed with not so much a sign post to be
found we accepted that it would be far more likely to turn into a lunch-time
gelato. While having the promise of a gelato put on hold would usually dampen
my mood, in the streets of Venice it did not bother me in the least. Venice is
truly an incredibly unique city, with the narrow Italian style streets taken to
a whole new level of narrow. These are lined with numerous shops and stores
from branded clothes to old-fashioned dress and mask shops to small stores filled with sweets. Despite
wanting to reach the famous square, Laura and I couldn’t help but stop and
marvel at these small shops and all the treasures they held. We were equally
tempted by small side streets which often brought us to an abrupt halt in a
dead end created by one of the many canals!
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| One of many Venetian canals |
Now I am
sure it is common knowledge that Venice is a city made with canals rather than
streets, but seeing it in real life is truly incredible. The canals are the
veins of the city, connecting and delivering to the rest of the body. There are
goods-delivery boats, water buses, taxis and emergency boats, private boats and
beautifully shaped gondolas driven by equally beautiful, serenading men. I was
just starting to think that we would have to get a water taxi if we ever
actually wanted to find St. Mark’s Square when we finally spotted a sign, and
after another few bridges, turns and no more than 10 minutes we finally walked
out into the largest square in the Italy. I apologise for stating the obvious,
but it is truly huge, and filled with equally amazed and gawking tourists!
Lined with arched, white columns, all of which lead your eye straight to the
glorious Basilica di San Marco. At least I can imagine it is glorious if it
wasn’t covered in scaffolding! As much as I loved Venice, this was the one
disappointing moment. I had so been looking forward to seeing Basilica di San
Marco in all its beauty, but it would appear for that I will have to wait until
next time! After the first photos were taken, and wows expressed, our grumbling
stomachs led us to the gelateria were I proceeded to order by mixed berry and
nut flavours. After a must take snap to send home to my mother (and of course
to post on here) we took our first licks of the delicious Italian dessert.
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| Tower in St. Mark's Square |
Gelato in St. Mark's Square
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| St. Mark's Square |
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| St. Mark's Basilica |
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| St. Mark's Basilica |
Though it
was lunch time, the gelato had given Laura and me the perfect sugar boost to
get us along the Grand Canal to find a perfect picnic lunch spot. During this
twenty-or-so minute walk we marvelled at the beauty of the buildings and the
history encased in their walls, and passed numerous street stores filled with
ceramic Venetian masks, ‘ITALY!’ tourist t-shirts, hats and colourful scarfs. Looking over the water gave us an amazing view
of past and present living together in harmony, with views of impressive
futuristic looking super yachts alongside views of the ancient buildings that
lined both sides of the canal. It was with this view that we tucked into our
ciabatta buns filled with lettuce, prosciutto and cheese. Munching away in
silence I felt incredibly happy and twice as fortunate that I am able to travel
and experience such beauty and most of all that this time I was able to do it
with my best friend.
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| View over the Grand Canal |
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| Gondolas on the Grand Canal |
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