I think I need some rubber boots

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Venice, Italy

Well today was my first full day in Venice and I must say this is a really cool city. Much cooler than I thought. Other than the on again off again torrential rain fall, there is nothing you can really complain about here. Even getting lost is not an issue as I have not really been trying to get anywhere, there for I actually cannot be considered lost…right?

I bet he can give me directions.....of course I would have to get the boat to stop but that is a minor detail.

Anyway, my first stop today was at San Marco which if you can only see one thing in Venice, this is what you are suppose to see. On the way there I discovered that there may be another obstacle to my ability to navigate the city…..flooding.

I wanted to walk down this street but I couldn't, so I didn't. I went a different way. Once I saw this I understood why I saw so many people walking around wearing rubber boots.

It seems that streets are actually flooded in the morning…including most of Piazza San Marco. And when I say flooded I mean calf deep water. In front of San Marco there are actually raised sidewalks, with police directing foot traffic on them (they actually get quite mean when people don’t move fast enough).

A set of those raised sidewalks. Notice the tourist trying to negotiate the sidewalk with thier suitcases? Reason number 12 I am doing this trip with a back pack.

The foot traffic kind of forced me to make my first stop at the Campanile di San Marco….the bell tower. At one point this tower actually held the most dangerous criminals in the area but now it is just a really good place to get a city view. Once at the top it was extremely windy….so windy it actually almost knocks you over, but worth it. In 1902 the tower actually collapsed in on itself but was rebuilt on the same place, to look the same. At midnight the main bell still rings and apparently can be heard over the entire island. If I actually make it to midnight one of these nights I will let you know if this is true or not.

Me up in the tower.

Look a spiral staircase. You know I wanted to climb it.....but they wouldn't let me.

While at the tower I found myself an audio-tour for not just the tower and the basilica but for the entire city. I get to keep in until sometime tomorrow so I can actually learn a little bit about some of the areas I visited today and and will visit tomorrow. Of course this just adds to what you can learn from the locals but I actually think I trust the audio tour’s account of history more (I have already been told some very interesting stories....not sure what to believe).

I then headed into the Basilica of San Marco. I have to admit the outside actually looks much more interesting at night when it is all lit up, than during the day but the inside certainly did not disappoint. Lots of mosaics on the walls and ceilings and almost everything in gold. No fee to get into the church but there is a small fee to see certain parts of it. Also they say not to take pictures....although most people were. I still didn't.

San Marco. Yes you have seen it in movies.

Out front of San Marco. You can see the water starting dry up. It was gone by 1300 (1 pm).

I then headed across town to check out the Jewish ghetto. Only the hinges remain of the gate that use to control movement of people in and out of the area but it is still home to a large portion of Venice’s Jewish population. Of course in the past the Jewish population was forced to live in this area and not allowed to leave from dawn until sunset. This was easily enforced due to the fact that the ghetto is completely surrounded by canal and there were only 2 bridges accessing the area.

The Grand canal is the longest canal in the city and basically cuts Venice in half. There are only 3 bridges that cross the canal which they say makes things a little difficult. I find it is really helpful because it is helping me navigate. I am unable to cross the grand canal by mistake so use it as a land mark. As long of the grand canal is on the west side of me (yeah I know, how do I know which way is west? I know which roads run north-south so I am ok) I know how to get back to my hotel.

Some of the boats and the restaurants on the grand canal. I took this picture from the wrong side but I am made my way back to the right side safely.

After wandering around in the torrential rain, I decided I needed to change. My shoes were a little wet (and with the humidity probably still will be tomorrow) so I decided to change into shorts and flip-flops. I did of course get some funny looks but it actually did not cool down until after 1900 and although my legs got a little dirty, they dry a lot easier than my jeans do (which will also probably still be wet tomorrow).

After the quick hotel pit stop it was back out to wander the streets. I decided to hit up Rialto as there always seems to be signs directing tourists there and the audio tour lady pointed it out to me. Rialto is the commercial centre of the city and is home to the city’s largest fish and fruit market. All the top end stores (think your Gucci and Guess and Louis Vuitton and all the places I cannot afford to shop in back home so I certainly cannot shop at them here with the retarded exchange rate.) are all closer to San Marco. However there are lots of little shops aimed at the tourists and Murano glass stores are extremely abundant in the area….which makes sence since it comes from a neighbouring island.

Really I am just enjoying the city, taking random narrow streets and alley ways to see where they lead. The city is not that big so I cannot get too far off track….which is good. One more day of walking on water and then off to country number 4.

One of those random streets. It really did look as creepy as in this picture. I didn't walk down it. I went a different way.

Julie