Venice

Venice - 15 Sept

A very early start today so that we could get to Venice before the crowds arrived.  We drove through some beautiful Austrian country, traveling through the Brenner Pass. There were lots of traditional Austrian settlements and castles set in the Black Forest and with Alps in the background.   The terrain changed considerably as we passed into the shared Austrian / Italian area.  There were more sheer, rocky cliffs, sparsely covered with bush. The highway was very busy with lots of trucks.  In the holidays there can be traffic jams back-up to 200k/ms.  Not today; everything was flowing well.

As we left the Austrian part of the dolomites the area became very rich in crops. This is a very strong area for horticulture including grapes, tomatoes, apples, pears, all sorts of fruit used for Italian liqueurs and a wide variety of vegetables.  The mountains are just about completely barren and very dark but make beautiful scenery against the clear blue sky.



We continued on towards Italy passing by the Verona and Milan areas.  Milan is well known in the fashion industry but is a very commercialised, industrial city so tourists seldom spend a lot of time visiting there.

We arrived in Venice and Simon had to get a day permit to allow us to go to St Mark's Square.  This was quickly done and we were soon on a ferry boat out to the Island.  There were so many boats of all shapes and sizes, including one of Bill Gates' private yachts which was there as the Academy Awards (or some awards), had just taken place the week before and all the celebrities had been staying there for the event. 'Lots of glitz and glam!'

 St Mark's Square is a very beautiful island with no vehicle access.  It's main feature is the St Mark's Cathedral, which is surrounded by buildings of the decorative, Baroque era and has numerous canals weaving between the old, still people living in stone buildings.  There is a lot of scum and filth in the canal areas, rooms often leading straight into the water.

                                  

We were taken on a guided tour of a glass blowing factory.  It was very hot and stuffy in the room and over commerialised. We then had time to explore St Marks Square before taking a gondola ride through the narrow canals hidden behind the square.  Six people were in each gondola and we ended up being an all Kiwi group - Chris and me, Dennis and Rosemary, Pete and Eunice.  The gondolas were made to last, anything up to 100 years.  They were painted black to remember the terrible plague and each one uniquely decorated. The gondola was controlled by a rather arrogant young Italian and took about half an hour.  The old, run down buildings are still lived in and washing was hanging over the sides of the brick walls. It was a fascinating ride, even though it was smelly and the guy at the end, who was helping me out, lost his grip and I slipped, which did lead on to major back problems for the rest of the trip!

Chris decided he would like to see inside St Marks Cathedral but as we had quite a lot of things which would need to be held in storage, I decided to wait outside and wander around the square.  I did explore a few of the back allies but as it was a bit of a maze I didn't want to get lost so watched some of the music concerts and walked along the water front before finally finding Chris.  He said the cathedral was amazing with beautiful stained glass and many unique features.

                              

Chris and I had time to share a bottle of wind and relax on the waterfront before going on a jet boat ride up the Grand Canal.

 

There are many very big, elaborate mansions with a huge variation of architecture and sculptures along the Grand Canal.  Some of the most luxurious hotels line the waters edge and wealth is everywhere.  We passed under the Rialto bridge and viewed the Marconi and Rialto Hotels before returning to the main land. 

 





 We checked into the Hotel Antony and had a typical Italian meal then finished the night off having drinks with our Wellington companions, who it turns out we have so much in common with, right back to Dannevirke days!