Laura and I have been in Italy for exactly one month today, so we’re long overdue for an update. We have a legitimate excuse: we spent the last three weeks on the Maestrelli/Frazier “bullet train” of family tourism – one week with Laura’s parents, sister, and uncle in Tuscany; then a week on the Amalfi coast with my parents added to the mix; then a final week with just my parents in Sicily – and we were on the go pretty much non-stop. Our Moms did an incredible job planning our time together, and I swear my Mom would make an amazing tour guide… you would get your money’s worth of site-seeing, that’s for sure! :) Laura and I found ourselves quoting National Lampoon’s European Vacation more than once during those three weeks, with an Italian flare, of course: “Look kids! Pompei! The Duomo!”. We’ll have a lot more to share about our travels with our families in a future blog post (and they may chime in with a guest blog entry or two, hint hint).
But before our families arrived, we kicked off our time in Italy with four days in Venice, and even now after a month of seeing many other beautiful parts of this country, Venice still sticks in my mind as one of the most amazing, magical, romantical cities in the world. Maybe it’s because it was my first taste (literally and figuratively) of Italy, or maybe it was the near-perfect weather we had (no muggy, stinky canal days), or maybe it was the joy of being completely immersed in the rhythmic lilt of the Italian language for the first time. Whatever the reason (does there even have to be one?), Venezia was, for me, one of the highlights of our year of travel.
Venice was a treat for the senses, so I thought it might be fun to highlight my impressions of this unique city organized by how it looked, sounded, and tasted to this first-timer.
Visual
;)
One of the many canals of VeniceThe first thing that struck me about Venice was how visually stunning the city is. Where else can you see centuries-old homes built right on the water (sinking into it, in fact), complete with old, half-submerged doorways, boat docks, and stone steps that go directly into the canals? The classic Italian architectural style is one of my favorites, and we (ok, I) very nearly filled the 8GB card in our camera just taking pictures of buildings… and parts of buildings, i.e. archways, doors, windows, planter boxes, steps, tiled roofs, you name it. We really did try to spare you the pain of seeing ALL of them in our Venice – Part 1 and Venice – Part 2 photo albums, but the fact that there are two albums for just four days in Venice should give you some sense of how well we did on that front. Mea culpa!
The canals are, of course, what make Venice so unique, and we had a lot of fun taking the vaporetti (boat taxis) all over the place and watching how the logistical side of city life happens when there are no cars or trucks. Everything happens by boat – people make their way to and from work, mail is delivered, trash is collected, carabinieri (police) patrol the city, and locals run their errands (and dodge the tourists) – all on the water. It’s amazing to see it all work. Laura and I are both Pisces and love the water, so maybe it’s no wonder, but we thoroughly enjoyed living in a canal-based city for a few days.
And of course, the sun was out, which made everything look that much more brilliant. We’d had almost a full month of clouds and/or rain in England, Wales, and Scotland, so finally having some sun on our faces felt pretty darn good.
Aural
The other thing that struck me, or rather didn’t strike me, about Venice was how quiet it is. There are no cars, no trucks, no motorcycles, not even Vespas, all of which makes it a very nice, safe place to just wander and explore without the constant rumble of traffic noise. You still hear the boats (and there are many), and of course there’s construction and repairs happening all over the place, but on the whole Venice is one of the quietest cities I’ve ever experienced. Also, with Italians being so strongly Catholic, they have churches on just about every corner, and they seem to like to ring their church bells pretty much all the time, not just on the hour. It’s a glorious sound, though, and it’s nice to be able to hear the bells without the typical and constant hum of cars and trucks.
And then there’s the Italian language. I don’t know why (no Italian in my blood as far as I know), but I absolutely LOVE the sound of Italiano! I know I’m not alone in that opinion, but I so enjoyed finally being immersed in the language, hearing it spoken everywhere we went, and trying my best to figure out what the heck people were talking about. Before we left on our trip, my plan was to make a serious effort to learn some Italian using Rosetta Stone on our laptop and hopefully have some ability to speak the language (or at least ask where to find a bathroom) before we arrived. Well, that didn’t exactly happen (funny how busy we’ve been in the last eight months!), but I have enjoyed trying to learn a few key phrases anyway, and listening to Laura speak Italian with the locals has really lit a fire under my butt to take it more seriously. Maybe I’ll get to do more of the talking the next time we’re here.
;)
Live jazz in the intimate Venice Jazz ClubOur last aural pleasure was hearing a bit of live music in Venice. It had been a while since either of us had listened to some good live music, so we made that a priority while we were there. Our first concert was a small, somewhat edgy chamber orchestra called Interpreti Veneziani playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (appropriate given our location) and other chamber music by Geminiani and Pugnani. They were really good, and their all-pizzicato encore of a popular Bach piece was a huge hit. For our last night in Venice, we booked a table at the tiny Venice Jazz Club. The four-man combo of piano, guitar, upright bass, and drums was really tight, and they played two full sets of classic numbers by Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. The piano player, who was also the band leader, was particularly talented, but they all got their chance to shine. The drummer even started the second set playing vibes on a few pieces. The place was so small that we were right in front of him as he played; we’ve included a short video below so you can check it out. Some really great jazz!
Neural
Not only does Venice work your senses, it also works your brain! The tiny, twisty, mostly unmarked roads and walkways are a constant challenge, and we spent many hours wandering around, getting lost (sometimes on purpose), and finding our way home again. Laura took particular pleasure in our wanderings, and she tried to enforce a strict no-iPhone/GPS policy (which I mostly adhered to), but we did use the GPS to get ourselves un-lost once or twice. I also went for a long run in Venice without the aid of my iPhone or a map (or cash, which might have been a mistake). What an adventure! I managed to get back to our hotel without too many wrong turns, but it definitely tested my urban orienteering skills. Great fun, though.
The other aspect of Venice that strains the brain is how the hell they’ve managed to keep the city afloat for so long! The fact that the city was built so long ago is already a miracle of engineering, and they have some pretty big challenges ahead to keep the place from sinking further and further into the ocean. Between rising sea levels (thank you global warming… I mean, completely natural and unchangeable fluctuations in the earth’s atmospheric temperatures), settling sediment, and crumbling infrastructure, it will be a miracle if Venice is still standing 100 years from now. I sincerely hope it is, though.
Gustatory
;)
Fresh fruits and vegetables at the Rialto marketLast, but certainly not least, was the Italian food. Molto delizioso! Let’s face it: Italians know how to make good food (and wine), and most of all, they know how to appreciate the experience of eating and drinking. It’s no wonder that the slow food movement started here. We “did as the Romans do” (or in this case the Venetians) and hadcappucini and cornetti (croissants) for breakfast (no more full English breakfasts), we started our near-daily ritual of pizza consumption in Venice, and we ate gelato. Oh, did we eat gelato. I know it’s a silly Italian tourist cliché, but damn, the gelato is here good. Not unlike my Magnum ice cream obsession in New Zealand and Australia, I made it my personal quest to find the best gelateria in Venice, and I think I did, too. If you’re ever in Venice and looking for the best bacio or cioccolato gelato, definitely check out Gelateria Nico on the southern shore of the island. You’ll thank me!
La Dolce Vita
It’s almost unfair to the rest of Italy to have Venice be your first Italian experience. The place is, in many ways, like an amusement park, surreal and almost artificially beautiful, but the buildings, streets, canals, bridges, and people of Venice are indeed real. If you can stand the steady throng of tourists (or figure out how to avoid them), Venice is the ideal place to enjoy la dolce vita, and to perfect l’arte di non far niente, the art of doing nothing. I hope my first taste of Venice was just the first of many.