Venice and Vienna

Our one and only real stop in Italy was to see the city of Venice, one of the largest tourist places in the world. We decided to camp in a place on the mainland and then take some transport into the city. We found a campsite right on the water and a short distance to Venice. One thing to note is that the mainland around Venice is covered with large industrial and shipping complexes and the area is absolutly disgusting. The campground was a small space of trees and grass among all the industrial land, but it served our purpose well enough. Our one complaint about the space is that there was a large tourist group of 20 something Americans at the campground and they were drinking and partying until early in the morning every night we were there. They were quite noisy and it made sleeping a bit difficult, but I guess not every campground can be a jem.

The city of Venice is an absolutely wonderful place to visit, and of all the cities that we have visited in Europe on this trip, it is our favourite. We even had a discussion whether Venice is the all-time stand out in Europe period, which is quite a feat considering we have both been to Europe a few times in the past and seen a lot of the major cities on the continent. But I digress. Venice is made up of 117 islands with hundreds of interlocking bridges and all the canals and waterways to make your way around. Often when visiting cities as famous as Venice, we have preconceived pictures in our mind built up by television and movies and the like. Venice falls into the category of a city that fulfills all the thoughts and images you have in your mind. (Left - the grand canal)

Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of Venice is that there are no cars or scooters or vehicles of any kind on the city streets. This means that everything is quiet and pleasant and you can wander and do the tourist walk all over the city (tourist walk: to twist and weave in whatever direction that catches ones fancy - an adult walk similar to that of a young child who goes wherever something interesting is, lacking any consistency or commonsense to ones path). The canals are all over the place, and apart from the bridges going over the canals, there is absolutley no hills, so walking for hours requires very little energy. The streets are filled with 4-5 different commercial shops and not much else: restaurants, glass stores, lace stores, mask stores and clothing stores. (Right - looking down one of the many smaller canals).

We spent three days in Venice and have marked it as a place that we would like to return to some day. Every morning we took a boat from the campsite over to the islands and spent most of the days wandering through the streets. We got lost a number of times, despite having 4 different maps of the city, but I dare anyone to try to spend a day walking through Venice and not get lost. We did visit Piazzo San Marco a number of times and learned one particular winding route from the square to our boat and back quite well. The church in Piazzo San Marco is precisely as you see it in all the movies, but alas, there was no spy running through the area, being chased by bad guys with the pigeons flying off in every direction, there were just the pigeons, oh yeah, and lots of tourists. The church in the square is beautiful and very different from most other European ones. It is very coloruful and the exterior is made entirely of marble. Inside, the roof is covered in what look like gold tiles with paintings all over it and the entire facade is magnificent. This is certainly a very oppulent resting place for the apostle Mark and is representative of the glory days when Venice was the trading capital to the East and one of the most powerful city states in the world. (Left - the Bascilica San Marco)

We spent half a day on the island of Murano, taking a vaporeto from the main islands. Murano is the small island where all the glass blowing of Venice is done. There are many many shops here, all selling only glass works. We talked to a person in one of the fanciest shops and he took us into the back so we could sit and watch glass blowing for as long as we liked. We watched the blowing for about an hour and a half, and it is fascinating. Though Christine and I have both seen it done in Victoria, it is an artform that is never tiring to watch. There were 3 men working on making fancy glass goblets, and all three were working in perfect unison. It took all three of them on average 35 minutes to make one goblet and they kept changing the type they were making (different styles and different colours). Each goblet would sell in the store for about $350 Canadian. The head artisan who did all the most complicated work was a chain smoker who never stopped. At one point he lit a cigarette on the glowing red glass that had just come out of the blast furnace, before he started blowing it into the glass stem. The team worked in precision clock-work and it was almost graceful to watch, but we don't know how they managed to deal with the heat, we were sweating and were at least 20 feet from the furnace and were just sitting on our butts, they were running around constantly. (Right - the men finishing the glass goblet).

Before we left Murano we contemplated buying some glass art as gifts, in particular I was looking for an art piece for my parents. However, not knowing what there new home in Victoria will look like and the colours they are going to use, it is difficult to guess. The matter is complicated by the fact that mom and dad are a bit specific when it comes to art and the only pieces that I knew they would love were thousands of dollars and just a wee bit out of our price range.

One afternoon we decided that we had to take a gondola ride, since that is the quintessential Venice experience. We had read and heard that they are incredibly expensive and that the drivers don't really negotiate. After asking around and finding out that the price was standard and none of the drivers were willing to budge, we had a bit of luck. There was a young man who was in his first year of gondoling and when we started to walk away he asked if we wanted a better price. I quoted 25% off, trying to get a discount but not to insult him either. He talked with a guy who seemed like his handler and they argued it out, eventually agreeing. The young man wanted the work and the older fellow didn't want to negotiate (probably worried that we would tell all our friends and then they would do likewise if they visited Venice - lucky for him that Christine and I can keep a secret ;) (Left - our gondola driver)

The gondola ride was absolutely lovely. The drivers are complete professionals about there craft, never running into anything, running up the walls with there feet to push off, singing to each other to check if they can turn the corner. The young man showed us a few important structures, such as the homes of Marco Polo and Cassanova, along with the very first building in Venice. Apparently the Venetians fled from the mainland to the islands to escape barbarian hordes attacking the crumbling Roman Empire and there they have remained. It was a graceful and romantic ride through the smaller canals where you can only go by boat. We also passed the only church, of 120 in Venice, to be built on the water. Tradition has it that brides are rowed up to it by gondola and then led inside to be married. One tip from us to you is to take the gondola ride in the evening around 6 or 7, while there is still good light out. In the morning and through the earlier part of the day there are a lot of boats picking up garbage, dropping off food, etc. Our driver told us that we chose a good time of day, because in the early evening there are almost no motor boats going around. It was a nice and quiet ride. (Right - Gondolas on the grand canal).

We spent the rest of our time wandering the streets, seeing the shops and enjoying the atmosphere of Venice. It was definitely a hard city to leave and one that we would suggest anyone to visit.

From Venice we made a straight shot north for Vienna, driving through Slovenia in the process. Slovenia looks very much like BC in the late summer, with lots of coniferous trees that look just a little dry. That is our minimal impression of the two hours spent driving through Slovenia, that and the fact that their highways are not pay tolls like everywhere else.

We arrived in Vienna late at night, and after using a horrible map, we found the hostel we were looking for in a surprisingly short amount of time. Unfortunately the one way and confusing streets made it impossible for us to get close, and when we tried to park in parkades they were all closed for the night. We finally found some street parking, only to arrive at the hostel to find it full. They recommended we go to a place 2 minutes away that keeps a listing of every hostel in town. After we got there, it turned out that every hostel was full in town, a spillover effect from Oktoberfest in nearby Munich. They didn't know of any camping, but suggested we head to an island on the Danube River and just pitch our tent (we would need to get out before anyone spotted us in the morning). We went back to the hostel to see if we could book ahead for the next two nights. The man took pity on us, called his boss and offered us one of 2 private rooms they had. The hostel is the most famous in Vienna and is the best and cleanest hostel we have ever been in. The room they gave us turned out to be an apartment with our own living room, kithcen and bathroom, all of it looks brand new (newly renovated). Truly we are blessed to go from having nothing to a wonderful place to stay.

Thursday we spent the day wandering through the streets of Vienna, saw the old Opera House and took a tour. We talked to some information folks and they recommended we go and see Mozart's opera the Magic Flute. The two men were incredibly snobby about the performances and performers. Apparently becaused we asked for their opinion they guessed we were either Canadian or Australian, since we are the only cultures that seem to ask what they think. They helped us pick out seats, and we worked out a pretty good deal. They recommended box seats (I know - crazy), but Christine really wanted to take in the music scene in Vienna, music being a passion of hers. Christine got a front row seat in a small box with 2 other women and I had this lounging chair behind them. Christine's seat was the most expensive expensive category in the theatre and mine the cheapest, so it averaged out to a very good price. Also, because I am tall I did not miss any of the performance and had all the leg room I wanted, it was a total win. (Left - The State Opera House).

The performance was incredible and the 2 aria's that the Queen of the Night performed were so high in pitch that it seemed impossible, but she did magnificent. The play was a lot of fun and Mozart did a great job, though we both agreed that he needed to use the timpani a bit more. It was a magical evening, and though I thought I would not wear a shirt and tie again until I returned to work, I ended up dressing up for the performance. What a magical night for us watching The Magic Flute. (Left - The singers in Mozarts "The Magic Flute")