Our plane was cruising at 35,000 ft above the Celtic Sea south of the Irish coast as dawn broke over a thick layer of clouds that hid everything below. Soon we’d be over the Channel Islands and then the French coast, and none of it was visible. But within a few hours we’d cross the spectacular Alps and the blue lakes of Northern Italy in cloudless skies on our long glide path to La Serenissima, the serene city of Venice. We’ve been to Venice before by train and ship, and we now arrived on a Delta Boeing 767 into Marco Polo airport – a trifecta of sorts, I suppose.
It would be a very good beginning to another of our budget wanderings through a few of the highlights of Eastern Europe, and many of the less heavily-trod portions as well. After several days in Venice, our loose itinerary would take us onward by rail to the Slovenian coast and into Hungary. Then onto a river boat that would touch on Serbia and end in Bucharest, where we’ll explore more of Romania and then hit the railroads again to Bulgaria and the Balkans before crossing to Corfu and back to southern Italy by ferry. From there we’ll make our way to Rome where a transatlantic ship awaits our return to Florida. It has all the makings of a very interesting trip. And Venice is a fine place to begin.
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It’s a warm day in Venice when we catch a vaporetto, a water bus, from the airport to the Ospedale landing, And then we drag our bags through a warren of stone-paved alleyways, and hanging laundry, to our rented apartment. It’s easy to get wonderfully lost in the maze of narrow streets and alleys and bridges over narrow canals that make up Venice, when the GPS on our iPhones will be very helpful. And soon we’ll wander more of the city, after a short nap to recover from our overnight flight.
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Venice began in the 10th century BC, on a group of 118 small islands in the delta of the Po and Piave rivers, and now there are more than 400 bridges crossing the many canals between them. It remains a small community of about 55,000 people. Plus about 20 to 30 million tourists every summer.
The Republic of Venice was a major financial, artistic, and maritime power from 697 until 1797, and established numerous trading colonies along the Dalmatian coast to Greece, Crete, and Cyprus to protect their lucrative trading routes in spices, salt, wheat and other goods from piracy and other threats. After more than a millennium of independence the Republic was subjugated by Napoleon in 1797, and later incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. And today, thanks to the investment of wealth in palaces, churches, and public buildings, the city is often named one of the most beautiful in the world.
A charming Wikipedia description of the six sestieri, or sections of the city illustrates at least one of the charming aspects of this fascinating city:
Each sestiere has its own house numbering system. Each house has a unique number in the district, from one to several thousand, generally numbered from one corner of the area to another, but not usually in a readily understandable manner.
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And so we’ll revel in the entire confusion of streets and wandering alleys, the endless street art and everyday beauty, and many other Venetian pleasures for a few days as we find our way to the Biennale, the big bi-annual international art fair that’s been held here since 1895.
And here’s the link to the official Biennale site, if you can’t make it this year but want to sample what’s on display: https://www.labiennale.org/en
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It’s an interesting trudge to the Biennale which is held in the old Arsenale district, from which the mighty Venetian fleet used to set their sails for distant lands. But now the ancient sprawling buildings that used to house ship construction and repair facilities are filled with works of art by some of the world’s most talented artists, along with spaces sponsored by many different countries. We were lucky to be here once before the pandemic and we made it a point to return someday.
The old Arsenale is a massive complex with high ceilings, and so much of the art is huge. Each large room usually contains at least one monumental center piece, or maybe even several, to astound you when entering. Among them is the large, brightly painted, and very pregnant woman, Gwendolyn (1966-1990), by the radical artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002), who is currently being featured in a major retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, located in Del Mar. And of course there’s much more on display than we can show in this Dispatch, so please wander with us and enjoy the pictures:
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After a very long day of museum-walking it was time to retire to a welcoming local bistro for a cold Campari or Aperol with dinner, and thence to our quiet corner of the city for a good rest. One might be tempted to complain about the overabundance of bridges to climb on the long way back to our apartment – and risk being labeled a tiresome snot. Or even a member of the British royal family.
But Venice was built long before anyone on earth, with the maybe probable exception of Leonardo Da Vinci, had ever conceived of the addictive convenience of the automobile. And so today there are no cars in the narrow passages of Venice. And all the exercise seems to be good for us. Or at least that’s what we like to tell ourselves each night as we lay our tired bones to rest. But a round of cold drinks, a fine meal with red wine, and maybe a delicious gelato aid our progress back to the little apartment we rented for three nights in the modest Castello sestiere, not far from the busy and more-pricey areas of Canareggio and Dorsoduro.
And after a few days of Venetian life we must drag our bags to the Ospedale stop to catch a vaporetto to the Stazione Santa Lucia to catch a train to Trieste and onward to Piran in Slovenia for some restful time.
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But before leaving the famous ‘Queen of the Adriatic’ it’s good to recognize the important role that the working boats and draymen of the city play in keeping it all running. In this carless and truckless city, they’re the ones who deliver everything by working boat and handcart from fresh eggs to wine to the latest fashions – and then they haul away the garbage. There are also bright yellow Ambulanza boats if you have a health issue. And on any summer day the canals are as busy as they ever were when Canaletto painted them back in 1738.
Next stop: Piran, Slovenia. Please stay tuned and join us there.
— PRW & CJK
PS: Here’s a link to our previous visit to the 2013 Biennale, included in a Med cruise we managed to book: http://dispatches.wilkeskinsman.com/tierra_de_tortugas/2013/10/summer-2013-sojourn-cruising-the-med-part-2.html