1. travel22 October 2010 NEXT234NEXT.com
A parked gondola with a gondolierA parked gondola with a gondolier
Walking through Venice
V
enice is one of the most
important tourist
destinationsintheworld.
In 2006, it ranked as the 28th
most internationally visited city
in the world; and in 2007, it had
an average of 50,000 visitors a
day.Duetoitsbeautifullandscape
(or perhaps more accurately,
waterscape), uniqueness, and
richmusicalandartisticcultural
heritage,thisItaliancitybecame
amajorcentreforthegrandtour
inthe18thcentury.
It remained a fashionable
haunt for the rich and famous
throughout the 19th century
to the early 20th century. The
famous Carnival of Venice was
revived during the 1980s. Many
international conferences and
festivalsarenowheldinthecity.
Shoppingandfashion
The Rialto Bridge and the
PiazzaSanMarcohavethelargest
convergence of shops in Venice.
There is a line of shops on both
sidesofeverystreetintheseareas.
Although the narrow walkways
between buildings can make
walking tricky, especially in the
touristseason,thishardlydeters
thethrongthatplytheroutedaily.
For sale on both sides of the
Rialto Bridge are the famous
‘Venetian’ masks in different
designs,coloursandsizes.There
are also carvings of the gondola
with the beautifully painted
glasses from Murano, an island
in the Venetian Lagoon. The
Murano glass comes made in
differentshapesandsizesandalso
aspiecesofjewellery.
I discovered that shopping in
the busiest tourist areas is more
expensive than walking into the
neighbourhood shops to buy
some things - ‘Tourist Price’, it
is called. So, I would definitely
recommendgoingoffthebeaten
track sometimes, for the more
economically priced items. A
breathtaking view of the Grand
CanalawaitsyoufromtheRialto
Bridge.Wecouldnotresistgoing
down to sit in front of the water
andwatchVenetiansandtourists
walkingpast.
Gondolaride
Wewerereallylookingforward
toridingagondola,butonasking
the price, my friend Avie and I
screamed. It was a 100 euro for
a trip! That was the price of my
plane ticket to and from Venice.
We had to pass. We caught our
funbywatchingthegondolaglide
by; they have different colours,
eachwithuniqueinteriorfittings.
Somehadredvelvetdrapingwith
carvedwoodenlacquerseats.
The most interesting – and
romantic - gondola ride we saw
were a couple with a bottle of
champagne and flute glasses,
complete with a singer. The
guy dished it out in a full tenor
concerto voice. Everyone that
gatheredonthebridgegavehim
a round of applause when he
wasdone.Itwasreallybeautiful.
From this spot on the canal, we
also caught the wonderful sight
of a newly married couple still
dressed in their wedding outfits
taking a gondola ride. It looked
liketheweddingofdreams.
Artsandliterature
Venice was a major centre
of art during the Middle ages,
Renaissance, and Baroque,
and thus went ahead to develop
a unique style known as the
Venetian School. Canvasses
originated in Venice during
the early renaissance and they
weregenerallyrough,unlikethe
polishedpresentdayones.
Venicehaslongbeenasourceof
inspirationforpainters,authors,
poets, and playwrights. Two of
the city’s most famous writers
are Marco Polo in the Middle
ages,andGiacomoCasanova.Of
course, as any lover of literature
knows, Shakespeare set his
famousplays,‘Othello’and‘The
MerchantofVenice’inthiscity.
Therunningtap
This phenomenon is worth
mentioning because of its
peculiarity.Therearemanytaps
scatteredallaroundVenice.There
isatapalmostateverytwostreet
cornersandthestrikingthingwith
each,istheshape.Itdoesnothave
any device to turn it off. Shaped
liketheopenendofafaucet,itis
always running. The water that
gushes out from it is so cold, it
soothesyourthirstimmediately.
As a walking tourist, there is no
needtobuywater,justcarryyour
bottleandbeonthelookoutfora
Venetiantap.
Openairconcert
Afterspendingthepreviousday
walkingroundincircles,askingfor
directionstotheBasilica,wehad
resolved to make it the place to
spend the last few hours before
catching our flight out. Time
permitting, we hoped to visit a
museum or two. Unfortunately,
weneverfoundtheBasilica.
Instead, we saw one of the
breathtakingchurchesofVenice
and sat down on the stairs with
the other tourists watching the
flocks of pigeons coming and
going. We later found ourselves
inanoutdoormusicalconcertof
sorts,withaladyplayingthecello
accompaniedbyfourmenonthe
piano,guitar,anddrums.Itwasa
wonderful,coolevening.
Afterenjoyingthemusic,weset
offonourwaybacktothehostel.
Duetothemanydark alleyways
ofVenice,itisnotsafetowander
thestreetsinthedark.Everyoneis
backintheirhousesby8pm;and
thestreetsaresilent,exceptforthe
busytouristsareaswheremostof
thehotelsare.
SanMarcoSquare
The following morning, we
foundtheBasilicadiSanMarco
afteranotherroundofaskingfor
directions,andIhavetosayitwas
worththetrouble.
The pathway to the square is
betweenanarrayofshopsonthe
ground floor of the Procuratie
Nuove building. Bursting out
to the San Marco Square, it was
a wonderful sight to behold.
OppositeistheLaFeniceTheatre;
andalittlebitfurtherdowntothe
right is the Doge’s Palace, also
knownasPalazzoDucale.
Walking down towards the
Basilicaentranceontheleftisthe
ClockTower(Torredell’Orologio)
withtheviewoftheastronomical
clock in the front. Adjacent is
the Basilica di San Marco. The
entrance has the painting of the
ascensionofChristandthereare
differentpaintingstellingdifferent
storiesontheindividualarchess
of the building. Right in front of
the Basilica is the Bell Tower of
St. Mark’s (Campanile di San
Marco),atallbrownishbuilding
rightinthemiddleofthesquare.
On the opposite side of the
square is the Correr Museum.
It holds interesting collection
of globes, starting from the
16th century. It also has an
Archaeological Museum of
Roman Antiques and a picture
gallery in the building. Not far
fromtheBellToweristhecolumn
bearing a winged creature,
representing the Lion of Saint
Mark,facingtheopencanal.From
here,youhaveaviewofthecanal
initsopenmajesty.
Standing in front of the canal
and looking round the whole
square,itwaslovely,withhundreds
ofpigeonsmovingaroundthefeet
of the tourists. Funny enough,
these particular pigeons seem
very at home around people. I
haveknownbirdstoflyonhuman
approach, but the reverse is the
case with the pigeons of San
MarcoSquare.
Whatawonderfultrip.AsIgot
on my flight, I promised myself
to come back and spend a week,
goingroundtheIslands.
By FunMilAyO AjAlA
IRRESISTIBLE
Staying with the same
destination this week,
because when you’re
in Venice, you’ll just
not want to leave.
The Rialto Bridge PHOTOS By FunMilAyO AjAlA