We rested well overnight in Padova and were up and out early. No breakfast, we'll save that for a brunch in Venice. Yesss, that sounds nice.
We were told, with great sincerity by everyone, that Venice was an absolute driving and parking nightmare. That said, we didn't want to risk getting the car any closer to Venice than our hotel in Padova, so it stayed happily in the parking lot and we got on the bus for the ride to the railway station. Buses here are like buses there and all over the world, cheap and convenient mass transportation. And a great way to see 'the people'. But like the buses, the people here are like the people there, and all over the world. Just folks, getting to work, to shopping, to home, to go about their business. And Jan and I both noticed how much it is true that if we didn't know where we were, we certainly couldn't tell from looking at the under-forty set. Everywhere in Europe, the UK included, the style of dress is uniform, what they wear and how they wear it, the colors, the hair styles, everything except the language. That's comforting to us. We're strangers in strange lands, and we don't speak their language, but the look and feel of the places is not threatening here in Europe. And no matter what or where, we have never been unable to make ourselves undertood or to understand, English is that common here.
After getting off the bus, whose loop terminated at the train station in a HUGE array of bus stalls, we moved the thirty or so feet into the train terminal. Ten minutes later we were on a commuter train (they leave every 20 minutes) bound for Venice. I sat across from a plain clothes cop, who flashed his badge to the conductor in lieu of a train ticket. I studied him as covertly as I could, he was a very rough looking fellow and looked like he would enjoy biting the head off a criminal and having it for lunch. Really, he looked just like that. Then he went to sleep and snored the last half of the way into Venice. Nobody complained, and I didn't care as I had my ear speakers in and was enjoying my IPod music.
Then, Venice. Out we got, walked alongside the track and through the station. We stopped at the information wicket and were taken care of by a nice but very harrassed and frazzled attendant. Nonetheless, she sold us the tickets we asked for and directed us to where we should go. But if Jan hadn't been her prepared self, that visit would have been a waste of time. I wonder what the people before us had asked her about, her patience was totally shot.
Exited the train station and got aboard a Vaporetto, a sort of water-born bus that makes its way through and around Venice and drops people off at the equivalent of bus-stops all around the islands of the city.
It is beyond the scope or purpose of these notes to describe Venice or its surroundings or its charms. The guidebooks and the many on-line articles do that much better than my words can. All I can say is that the streets of Venice really are the waterways as far as non-pedestrian travel is concerned. Within Venice, I saw neither scooter nor car, not even a delivery truck. That stuff is all done by boat. The land is all flat, no hills anywhere. From what it looks like it is a delta, formed by a river that dumped its silt into the Adriatic from the dawn of time. Not sure if that is true, and I haven't looked it up to find out, but that's what it looks like. Normally not a lot of tidal variation, but we saw evidence of what storm surges will do and the effect of spring and neap tides.
An interesting (to me, at least) sidebar to this story is what a gondolier told me about the tides. He said that the tidal effects are strongest when the moon is full, and weakest when the moon is new. Really? Oh yes, see, when the moon is full it pulls on the water and makes high tides. And when the moon is new it is only a sliver in the sky, and doesn't pull on the water hardly at all, so hardly any tide. Oh. Sure. Of course, I said. His was a much more charming tale than mine, in his delightful accent. Besides, he wasn't paid for his knowledge of physics but for his strength and ability with the oar, and his deep baritone voice, and his charming patter as we went through the canals. Yes, through the canals, I'll get to that in a minute.
We probably made about a dozen stops on the Vaporetto ride, and took about 30 minutes to do so what with the congestion at the stops as there are a number of these craft (Vaporetti? Vaporettos?) that ply their trade in these waters, and only one can be at the dock (bus stop) at a time. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to see the layout of Venice before we finally hit the dock at San Marco Square. There we wandered about, shopped, looked at pictures and talked to the artists, and had lunch.
After lunch we looked for the Gondola driver that we liked the best (Jan picked him - oooh, I want that one) and we signed up for the deluxe ride with all the sights. He helped us onto the boat, only the two of us which was nice - the boats will hold up to six but it is early in the season so he agreed to take just the two of us. I think that he took a lot more time helping Jan than I, but that's Ok. We settled into the pair of seats facing forward, and Franco backed us out of the stall between the pylons and off we went toward the first canal. It turned out that our waterway was the one that passes beneath the famous 'bridge of sighs', so named because it connected the palace with the prison, and people going to prison did so by passing over that bridge. Throughout our ride, the sky was bright and the sun warm, and Franco kept up an intermitent chatter as interesting or historic sights and buildings would come into view. At each intersection of canals he would call out in his deep voice to warn others of his position and intention. Sort of like ships sounding their horns, only more ... romantic.
And here is some stuff that is not romantic at all, but interesting. Gondolas navigate the canals on the left side, with open water to their right. Kind of like the English drive, on the left. The single oar sticks out on the right, and there is no oar-lock but rather a post with twists and turns in it, and the Gondolier uses the oar in a variety of positions on this post to accomplish his propulsion and steering. Most of the time, going forward, it sits in a slot at the top and he pushes the handle part forward to its limit with the oar blade perpendicular to the water surface, then pulls the oar back with the blade parallel to the water surface, then repeats. When he pushes hard, the boat will move left as well as forward so from time to time the gondolier uses his foot to fend the boat off the buildings that border the canal. So its sort of like 'push push kick push push kick etc', but done in a totally charming and fluid way. Things get very interesting when gondolas pass each other, or when power boats go by, as that long oar mustn't get tangled up with other oars or with propellors. The gondoliers would (and probably do) make great drivers, as they have total concentration even though it seems effortless. And they chatter away to everyone, to us, other gondoliers, passersby on the bridges that cross the canals, power boat drivers, everyone. A lot of fun to watch and be part of.
About the boats, they are fascinating. Everyone knows what a gondola looks like, right? Like a 747, a distinctive shape. But up close, as it sits in the water, it is actually banana shaped, slightly but noticably bent on a fore to aft plane. It has a high prow, and a high stern like an old Viking ship, but it also lies in the water like something big just ran into the right side of it and bent the whole boat to the side like a banana lying in the water. And also, the raised prow doesn't stick straight up, it lies at an angle, and aways it bends to the starboard side. That's not just our boat, its all the boats, that's how they are built. But, when the gondolier gets on he stands at the back and on the port side, and pushes on the oar which sticks out on the starboard side. The effect of the design is that in operation the boat straightens right out and sails upright. Fascinating. But not romantic, I know. We have all heard the phrase 'He only has one oar in the water', referring to someone who is particularly inept and just goes around in circles. The poor gondolier only has one oar to play with, but gets the job done brilliantly, and I just wondered how he did that.
It was a wonderful ride, all we could have asked for, and well worth the king's ransom we paid for it. Afterward, Jan and I could evaluate the artist's work with a much better perspective, and we chose the gondola and canal picture that was the best memory of our ride. Jan posed with the artist, who hugged her a little tighter than I really thought was necessary (Italians!!!!) but that was all good. Jan loves the painting, it is a pretty one.
After, wandering and looking, eating Gelato and shopping (Jan bought postcards but declined everything else) and stopping at wine bars. Eventually we made the hike across the islands and the bridges over the canals until we made it to The Rialto Bridge which is justly famous, passing over the Grand Canal. Many pictures taken here, we crossed it and took pictures of the gondolas passing below as people had taken pictures of us. Finally made our way back to the train station, onto a train, onto a bus, and home to the hotel.
A spectacular day, everything that we could have hoped it would be. Happy and relaxed people who made us feel very welcome, we love Italy and the Italians.
Tomorrow an adventure into the unknown as we head for Slovenia, just east of Italy over top of the Adriatic, right next to Trieste but north of Croatia. We will meet some friends there, whom we met last year on the Tahitian Princess.
