A Venetian Interlude, Part 1

If ever a 13-hour train ride and five border checks were worth it, this trip to Venice was. We spent four days in the most beautiful city I’ve yet seen. Imagine, if you would, a city free from the noise and pollution of cars. Imagine a city full of friendly people, wonderful food, and an atmosphere of leisure and relaxation. Finally, imagine that this city was full of 17^th century palaces, warm Mediterranean breezes, and winding canals. Even this doesn’t do Venice justice; one must to go there to get a real sense of the city’s character. The pictures shown here cannot approach the real thing, but may with luck hint at what I am trying to convey.

Since I cannot possibly recount everything we did in four days (or even remember some of the nights…), only a few highlights will be presented here: our initial impressions after stepping out of the train, the Piazza San Marco, Campo Santa Margherita and its inhabitants, and the glass factories of Murano. We in fact also spent a good deal of time in museums, but to recount what works of art we saw would be a rather dry read indeed. Suffice to say that anyone in Venice should go the Galleria dell’Accademia, the Gugenheim Collection, and the Doge’s Palace.

Initial Impressions

After stepping off the train, we were immediately greeted with a breath of warm air tasting of salt and the sea. We grabbed a pastry and espresso from a buffet in the depot, and were stopped in our tracks by the view we received after passing out of the building. A paved square full of street-side shops separated us from the wide, blue-green Grand Canal. To our left the Scalzi Bridge (one of three primary bridges spanning the Canal) formed a stepped arch of white stone over the waters below. Despite the early hour a number of boats plied the canal, and hundreds of pedestrians wandered along its banks. We soon joined them, and after dropping off our luggage in the hostel set out on foot to find the famous Piazza San Marco. At this point I think we would have appreciated a change of clothes and a shower, but our rooms would not be available until later that afternoon. Wrinkled clothing and greasy hair are nothing to seasoned travelers, however. (Sadly this opinion was not shared by those in close proximity to us.)