Ahhh... Venice.

Last week Cynthia and i attended a "Bienvenuti" class session. Bienvenuti means "Welcome", and the three and a half day course is designed as an intro to Italian culture. I could only get out of work for a day and a half, but one of those days was the trip to Venice, so that's pretty good...

Vicenza is about 45 miles west of Venice, and it's very easy to get there even if your only car is still on the slow boat from Honolulu. We woke up at about 6:30 AM to have enough time to get ready and have a little continental breakfast before we began our long walk. The bus stop is right outside the main gate to the base, but that gate and our hotel are on completely opposite ends of the post. Our Italian instructor, Cristiana, told us to be at the bus stop at 8 and it was important to be prompt. All of the students were there by 8:05. Cristiana showed up at 8:25. Like I said the course is designed to teach you about Italian culture...

We caught the number 1 bus that runs into the heart of Vicenza city center (or "Il Centro"in Italian). The main concern on the bus ride was the dark blanket of clouds filling the sky. Apparently the redhead and I brought a little spot of bad weather with us from Minnesota. According to the locals getting thunderstorms this late into May is very unusual. However heavy rains had already ruined our day trip to Vicenza the previous Saturday. The rain is a lot different than the precipitation in Hawaii. Unlike the islands where the rain comes in alternating waves of heavy showers mixed with periods of sun, here in the Veneto region the rain clouds roll in over the flat farmland, and an endless mist of rain falls continuously for hours. This was the dismal prospect we faced as we got off the bus at the Vicenza train station and bought our tickets on the Eurostar train for Venice. However luck was on our side, and as we sat on the train next to businessmen on their way to offices, the cloud cover began to break up and fade. By the time we got off at the end of line at Santa Lucia train station the sky was a bright blue and the air was comfortably warm.

If you're planning to come and visit us here in Italy start your walking program now. Especially if you're going to Venice. The city is a complex web of cobblestone alleys, hidden piazzas, steep bridges, and crowded canals. The entire day I was sympathetic to tourists dragging their rolling luggage across the rocky, uneven streets and bridges. For my first visit to this jewel of the Adriatic, I was really excited to see the classic sights: the Rialto bridge, Saint Mark's square, the Grand Canal. Most of the buildings in Venice have a street sign identifying the adjacent street or piazza, as well as directional arrows pointing the way to more popular landmarks like the ones I wanted to see. But whenever we reached an intersection our tour guide invariably went in the wrong direction. That goes to show what I know, because Cristiana took us to some really out of the way but very interesting spots.

Get out a map and you'll see that the Grand Canal carves out an S-shape through the middle of the city. Rather than cutting directly across the canal making a bee line to the southeast corner where St Mark's square is, we took a leisurely northern route around the entire canal. We turned down a dark alley, and all of the students wondered if we were going to get jumped! But apparently that's par for the course in this cramped Italian city. After a few more turns we were completely disoriented and in the middle of Cannareggio. This community was established in 1600 and is recognized as the first "ghetto"; a section for the exclusive use and occupation of Jews. None of us knew the origin of the word. By law they were locked into this area every night, and the tight corridors leading to the bridges connecting this section to the rest of the city still bear the remnants of the gates that once barred their passage. In Shakespeare's play "Il Mercato di Venezia" (The Merchant of Venice), the title character, Shylock, was a jew living in this part of Venice. At one point we found ourselves in the main piazza of Cannaregio surrounded by dozens of schoolkids out on a field trip. Our tour guide took this opportunity to strike up a conversation with a local shop keeper while we browsed for souvenirs. Although our trinket shopping took only a few minutes, her conversation took much longer, and we stood around patiently waiting for her to finish so that we could continue with the tour. Like I said; Italian culture...

The next few stops were both churces or "chiesa". In medieval times rich families showed off their wealth by supporting a personal church. Aside from its religious importance, the church became a repository of the family's wealth and art as they tried to keep up with the Joneses. One of them was Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Saint Mary of the Miracles). Although we didn't go inside (they actually charge admission to enter the church!), the outside was completely covered in white Italian marble and many refer to it as a jewelbox. It really was a miracle. We continued our meandering path through Venice stopping for a light lunch at a little cafe. After lunch we stopped for a few photos on the Rialto bridge (finally), which was crowded with vendors and tourists. By this point in the day, the weather had turned almost uncomfortably warm and we were getting tired, but we still had a lot more to do and see before we caught our 3:15 train back to Vicenza.

We continued to wind our way thru the city until almost unexpectedly we emerged from an arch into the middle of San Marco piazza. Although the weather was beautiful on that day, for two days prior it had rained heavily, and Venice has a serious flooding problem. Right down the middle of the piazza was a large lake of ankle deep water. The large masses of people, crowded on a dry day, were extra cramped on the various "land bridges" that formed on the uneven cobblestone square. At this point we were trying to get in to see St. Mark's Basilica, and it was impossible to navigate to the front of the church without crossing at least one major body of water. My intrepid sidekick was the first to brave the mysteries of the deep and strode across the biggest puddle while still wearing her Nikes. I, a little more cautious, took off my shoes and socks before wading after her. On the other side of the lake we learned that the Basilica, out of consideration to its visitors, had moved the entrance from the flooded front of the Basilica, to the side steps which were elevated and therefore drier. We waded back across the body of water again... Inside, the basilica was tremendous, but they do not allow any photos or camcorders as one careless tourist found out when a security guard yelled at him. Yelled at him right there in the middle of the church. Between that and the throngs of tourists, it kind of detracted from the sanctity of the place.

Afterward we were all pretty exhausted, so we made our way to the nearest water taxi stop. The water taxis, called Vaporetto, act like the local bus system, ferrying passengers back and forth down the Grand Canal and beyond. By this point we were getting a little worried about missing our train, and the line at the Vaporetto ticket office was agonizingly slow. We had enough time to pool our money so that we had the exact amount of Euro to buy our tickets, but once we got to the booth, it still took a minute for her to take our cash and give us some tickets. The Vaporetto ride, on the other hand, was quite relaxing and a great way to enjoy the wonderful architecture on the buildings lining the canal. We made it back to Santa Lucia and caught our train to Vicenza. On the ride back we noticed that the wonderful weather that we had enjoyed in Venice was giving way to the dark clouds from the morning. By the time we got off the bus in front of the base, fat raindrops were rapidly filling the street with water. Cristiana our tour guide was luckily parked near the gate, so we piled into her car and she gave us a ride to our hotel so that we could avoid a long, wet walk.

What a great day. What a wonderful place...

Ciao!