The day started off with a stern warning from the tour leader to not mess with the tiny little string in the bathroom, which seems to invoke emergency help. The irony is that it’s so close to the shower that it can be triggered quite accidentally. The travel from Florence to Venice itself was something to remember. European drivers have a strict regulation on travel and rest times, and so we could only start by 8.45am due to the late night yesterday. We were on routine travel on the highway, and had a hot cappuccino along the way, ignorant that our first taste of winter travel awaited us. As it happened, one stretch of the road was snowed in, and there was a huge jam for a few miles. We had a long wait for about 2 hours, during which time some of us had the pleasure of relieving ourselves in the snow with a backdrop of the Alps. As the guide said its part of the experience! Lunch stop was a bit of a hassle as we did not know what vegetarian items are available. After a long fruitless scan of the menu, we decided to trust our eyes and spotted some pizzas. I realized by observation that the folks there do not understand English. My preparation of the European dictionary came in handy as I proudly blurted out “Avetti Piatti Vegetariano Pizza” (Do you have vegetarian food/ pizza?). Then it happened. The waiter talked for about half a minute in Italian at the end of which I had no idea what to say. With my wife threatening me not to make any fatal mistake, I did not know how to respond. Thankfully, the next guy in line helped with the translation. So, we settled down with a pizza margarita, which means tomatoes and cheese. It was very soft and creamy and by far the best pizza I have had in my life.
The Italian Alps offered very nice picturesque scenes, keeping the camera in constant action along the way. We finally reached Venice at around 3.30pm, along with a double decker train that pulled up into the railway station. Venice has captured the imagination of the world in more than one way over the years. It is supposed to be a very romantic place, and Shakespeare glorified it in his Merchant of Venice novel. Discovery channel has, in more than one occasion, classified this sinking city as a primary target of global warming. Venezia as the Italians call it is really a unique city, with its own culture and art. It is essentially some 116 islands interlinked through canals and numerous bridges. Mussolini’s smart-ass minister threw in a few industries to impress his general, thereby adding some carbon footprint to the otherwise green city. In fact, Venice is one of the eco-friendly cities of the world, with most of the travel through foot and gondolas.
We took a water taxi from the pier to St Marks square, from where we took in the breathtaking sights of the square and the cathedral. Venice’s cathedrals are classic, with different eras contributing different architectures to them. Surrounding St Marks, you can see gothic, neo-classical, renaissance and Roman Catholic architectures, each with its own distinctive features. It was drizzling when we reached it, so we had to use the umbrellas to get around. We were a bit lucky that it was low tide and so we boarded one of the gondolas to take a 45 min trip around the streets of Venice, pun intended.
The Venetians are quite laid back and know how to enjoy life. The gondolas are amazing things. Very narrow, very buoyant and very stylish just like the Italians themselves, they made sharp turns with the slightest twist of the one-sided paddle. Venetians are decreasing in number, with only about 60k people still left, which is quite obvious from the numerous dark alleys and ghost buildings. It’s such a shame to leave such a historic and unique city. However, life goes on with Christmas preparations in full swing, adding color to the vibrant city on water. Numerous tiny bridges connect buildings, making libraries and shops accessible by foot. A lot of houses and restaurants are just an inch above the high water mark, leaving me wondering the immense damage that is posed by rising water levels to this city.
We went to the original Murano glass factory, whose business is no less affected, with only two families still in this business. We had a short demonstration of glass blowing, which is a dying art in itself. The artist was fabulous and well known throughout the world. I had seen him on Discovery before, but to meet him in person and seeing his skills was exhilarating. We did get a couple of beautiful red and blue Murano glasses with our names engraved on it for posterity. Venetian red is unique, just like the city itself, so any article with that color is usually about 20% costlier than the other colors.
There was an hour to roam about after that, and we went helter skelter through the numerous zigzagging roads and bridges in search of a toilet. WC is the acronym for that, although I am yet to figure out what that stands for. After 15 mins of frantic searching through every corner with an arrow, we were about to give up and possibly burst out before we traced it. Euro 1.5 later, we were satisfied with our finished business and walked back through the alleys. Guys are generally good at directions while gals are pathetic, and Venice is a nice place to prove that theory correct!
We went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and stuffed ourselves with the best meal on the tour so far. No grilled eggplants and lots of Sichuan chilli that reminded me of my mother’s molaga podi (chilli powder)! It was a fantastic 9 course vegetarian meal, and I couldn’t have enough. I would have eaten all night long if the tour leader hadn’t dragged us into the bus to get to Hotel Antony before our rival group. The effort was worthwhile as we got the best room of the tour so far! I was so impressed by Venice that I started to write the day’s account when the computer battery died and my droopy eyes won over the excited heart. But I knew that the tour is just getting into the fabulous part of Austria and Switzerland where our experiences can only get better!
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The search has just begun !!!
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