Queen of the Adriatic: Venice Italy

The next language I am going to conquer is Italian. Even if it means that I wait until I'm 70 years old and looking for something to do in my spare time. My trip to Venice this weekend was the best trip I have taken so far and I doubt any other place in Europe could compete. I would rank this second only to my mountain-climbing experience.

Unfortunately we got off to a rough start. 7 am at the train station, I couldn't retrieve my ticket because I brought the wrong credit card with me. In France you have to present the credit car you bought your ticket with in order for the station to print it out, or you may use a confirmation number. A few tears and bit of a hassle later, I ended up just buying another ticket (UGH expensive!) and getting to the train on time. From there we proceeded to take every kind of transportation to get to Venice. A bus took us to Valence from Grenoble to catch the TGV bullet train, which took us to Marseilles to hop on a plane that touched down in Munich and then got us into Italy where we snagged a boat to get into Venice itself. Twelve hours of traveling. Whew!

Left: Boarding pass from Munich to Venice
Middle: Window seat view
Right: Starbucks at the airport! Red cup love <3 

Katie was my travelling companion, and we met her friend from home, Ryan, at the bus-boat station. He had already spent a day in Venice and helped walk us to the apartment the three of us rented for the weekend. The dark, narrow, winding streets were amazing and we crossed canals every few turns. Venice is completely safe at night. The average age of residents on the islands is 50 years old so there isn't much of a night life, and very rarely do you need to be concerned about normal big-city problems. Although it was perfect for us (I would have been so scared otherwise because every single street is an alley and it's so easy to get lost), it's a bit sad for the city. Venice exists now only for tourism. Somewhere around 5,000 native residents leave the city each year because of the high living costs and inability to find work.

Left: First Gondola sighting!
Top Right: A too expensive, but pretty, outdoor cafe
Bottom Right: Neato graffiti.

The apartment was located right next to San Marco's square, absolutely gorgeous, comfortable, and affordable! Check out airbnb to find listings of apartments and single rooms for rent when you travel. It can be a lot cheaper than a hotel! Remember: hostels are still the most economical.

Top Left: Bedroom
Top Right: Living Room
Bottom Left: Kitchen
Bottom Right: Bathroom

It was late at that point and Venice shuts down pretty early, so we took a walk to go and find dinner, staring into the dark shops on the way. I feel like this city is absolutely magical. Any moment I expected to stumble through an alley way and end up at a Cirque du Soleil performance in the middle of the streets! Venice is known for it's Carnivale masks, and the glittering faces in the darkened windows added a certain romance to our night exploration. The restaurant we found was classic Italian, inexpensive, and pretty good. I chose Gnocci al ragu with red wine. Read: soft potato puffs in tomato sauce with meat. Mmmm. Ryan was kind enough to share a bite of his Tiramisu with me too.

Left: Gnocci
Right: Tiramisu

We spent the remainder of the night in the hotel reading guide books and planning our journey for the next day. I had no pre-conceived agenda of where I wanted to go, so it was really easy for me to to go along with anything and everything. The next morning I lounged about with my coffee reading the history sections of the guidebooks until Katie was ready to take off at about 10:30. Ryan opted to go visit two of Venice's famous islands: Murano and Burano. Murano was the birthplace of glass-blowing, and Burano is famous for lace-making. Although the idea sounded appealing, the ferry to the islands was a bit expensive and there were plenty of important sights on the mainland to get to first.

How to plan for an adventure.

We made it to San Marco's square to find that it had flooded! In high-tide season, the square floods nearly every morning. We didn't have rain boots so we had to navigate the crowded little boardwalks made for tourists. Not every boardwalk led to the same places though, so it felt a lot like a video game! Our first stop was the Correr Museum, but not before taking pictures of the flooded square and playing in the water.

A montage of the flooding. That's me in the top middle!

Also, my favorite clock in all the world can be found in this square. It tells the date, time, and the position of the stars! It is said that after the designers completed the clock, they were blinded so they couldn't make another one like it anywhere else in the world. I love the zodiac signs.

The Correr Museum is hosted in the Napoleonic Wing of the Grand Palace. When Italy fell under the rule of Napoleon, he declared this building the new palace for his representatives, rather than the existing Doge's Palace (we'll get to that in a bit). Now the museum exists not only to show off the gorgeous building, but also holding a massive collection of works of art and objects that represent the history of Venice. It was absolutely beautiful and the collections were fascinating! Libraries, armories, trinkets, paintings, and more were to be found at every corner. Pictures were illegal, but I snuck a few anyway. ;) Shhh.

Left: Palace Ballroom
Top Right: Tarot cards!
Bottom right: Leather globe

I chowed down on a caprese-style panini for lunch, and we made our way back through the flooded square to San Marco's Basilica. The history behind this is a little funny, actually. The Patron Saint of Italy was not originally Saint Mark, I believe it may have been Saint Theodore(?) don't quote me. However, two Merchants from Venice visiting Alexandria found the body of Saint Mark and wanted to "save" it from the "heathen" country. To do this, they stuffed it in a barrel of pork meat (considered unclean by Muslim people) and sailed back with it as a gift to the current Doge. The other version is that the Doge wanted to change the Patron Saint, and sent his merchants to steal the body. Regardless of how it passed, the Basilica now holds Saint Mark, and many other saint's, relics. The church is also decorated with goods from various conquests of the city in ancient times.

Outside pieces of the Basilica

Oh, did I mention it is stunning? All the artwork is mosaic and the church simply sparkles at every turn. Photography on the inside of the building was prohibited, but the entrance took my breath away. Still not prettier than the Basilica in Lyon, but absolutely breathtaking all the same. I didn't pay the extra money to see the treasury of Saint's relics, but you have the option if you so choose.

Basilica Mosaics

Saint Mark's lion is the official symbol of Venice, and can be found at the entrance to the Basilica as well as on the Venetian flag. It it said that when Saint Mark visited Venice, a winged lion came to him and said "May peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist. Here your body will rest." This is written in Latin on the book the lion is holding.

Onto the Doge's palace! Of course, I need to give a little background first. The Doge of Venice was the the chief magistrate and leader of the city. He was elected for a lifelong term by the city-state's aristocracy, and was often old and concerned primarily with preserving Venetian tradition. Although considered a leader, they really didn't do much more than the other officials. Often he would perform ceremonies such as weddings or funerals, but that's about it. Despite the fact, he got himself a really awesome palace! Each time a new Doge was elected they would build another wing onto the palace, until the money spent by the city on building so much caused an uproar and the city declared a huge fine would be charged for anyone who even thought about building onto it. However one Doge got a little sassy and just paid his fine so he could have his own wing. Not only was it the dwelling place for the Doge himself, but it was also used to carry out many political duties and meetings. So it was a city-hall and a palace rolled into one. Again, pictures were prohibited, but I did my best to sneak a few.

Directly connected to the Palace were the prisons. A criminal could be tried, convicted, and sent directly to the dungeons from the same central area and the Doge could watch all punishments carried out directly. The prisoners crossed a bridge before forever shut away in the dark, and it is now known as "The Bridge of Sighs". Romantics chose the name because it is said that prisoners would pause and heave one last sigh as they took a final look onto the beautiful city behind them.

Top: Prisons
Bottom: Taking a picture looking out from the Bridge of Sighs

It was then time to meet up with Ryan and do a little shopping! Because Venice exists now solely for tourism, the shops are fantastic. It is true that you will find many stands selling cheap knock-off merchandise, but the real treasures are to be found in the reputed shops of the city. Artisan crafts are a Venetian specialty and even if you don't want to buy anything, talking to shop keepers is a thrill in itself. Most people speak English and are more than happy to explain their craft and tradition to you. I absolutely loved a leather shop we found where the man specialized in leather book binding. GORGEOUS.

Left: window display
Top Right: Wizard of Oz binding
Bottom Right: Leather Tarot set

Of course, our favorite part of all: the masks. They served many purposes in the day: disguises for royals, ceremonial purposes, theater, and of course, Carnivale. Interestingly enough, Venetians were historically permitted to wear masks for St. Stephens Day, the start of Carnivale at midnight on Shrove Tuesday, Ascension, and from October 5th to Christmas. Meaning most of the year was spent in disguise. You can read up on the different types of masks and the characters they represented. Like many old theater traditions, Venetian festivals had "stock characters" that had a specific appearance (dictated by the mask) and personality that was known to all the people. Anyone wearing the disguise would be expected to portray the character's personality as well. There are also masks without any character archetype attached.

Credit to Google Image Search. We weren't allowed to take pictures of shop displays.

We found a shop with a very friendly woman who spoke to us in English and French too! I was so relieved to hear French spoken- even more than I was to hear English. Looks like I'm learning a little more than I thought. :) Ryan had wandered in because he found masks that had hands poised over the faces, a unique and modern design with a rather stunning result. As they were talking to her, I was drawn to a specific mask on a shelf towards the back. It was love at first sight. I hadn't seen any other masks with this specific head piece, and I adored the crown-effect. The shop keep explained to me that they saved the eye pieces from other masks and shaped them to create different projections from the original eye-piece. She and he co-workers hand crafted all the masks in the shop, and each one came with a silk tag certifying it's quality. I am now the proud owned of one gorgeous Carnivale mask.

My new dream is to go visit Venice for Carnivale. It is the most lively time of year for the city and I dream of seeing it in full-swing with music and festivities pouring out of the typically quiet streets. (Can you hear my wistful sighing?). Once we tired of shopping it was time to scout out dinner. Although the place we found didn't look as atmospherically pleasing as our first meal in Venice, the food was phenomenal. I could seriously rave to you for paragraphs about my meal. Flat pasta noodles topped with a tomato sauce and shrimp, it tasted like heaven. The sauce was smooth, seasoned, and buttery. The noodles perfectly cooked. I swear to you it was melt-in-your-mouth amazing. No food will ever taste as good to me as that pasta dish. I followed it up with a rhum-apple cake, and I wished I had just ordered some more  pasta.

We retired with the rest of the city, around 10:00. The next morning only allowed us an hour of shopping around, but Katie snagged herself a mask of the Plague doctor. This mask did not originate for festivities like the others, but with the arrival of the black Plague which struck Venice twice. Doctors filled the long noses with purifying herbs so that they could "safely" deal with patients, and also donned a full-body black cloak. The scary disguise was thought to chase away the bad spirits which brought illness to Venice. He is definitely one of the creepier designs, but he's also one of my favorites!

Another Google Image Search result for the Plague Doctor

Leaving Venice was heart-wrenching. I already can't wait to go back to this perfect city. France has earned itself some serious competition!

A couple more fun facts to wrap up the post:

• The official color of mourning in Venice is red, not black.

• Gondolas used to be painted bright colors, but over time they were subdued and made a uniform black.

• Venice is built on sandy islands and supported by large wooden stilts drilled into under water sediment. There are millions of these stilts that keep the city above the waterline, but as you see from my pictures of San Marco's, the city is still in danger of sinking.