Nicole schreibt...

Venice 2003

Admittedly I had never been very interested in Venice as it seemed to me the cliche to end all tourist cliches. But when I visited my Italian friend Paola in Torino a few years ago, she insisted that I had to see Venice and booked us a train ride and overnight stay in a cheap catholic convent (with rather strict curfew hours!) in Mestre. And once I got there, the singular atmosphere and decaying splendor of the once great Republic of Venice was impossible to resist. I fell utterly and completely in love. Unfortunately I was also a very poor student at the time, so I could only marvel at the shops from outside and lived on cheap takeaway pizza and sandwiches. I had always dreamed of returning to Venice some day and now, that the new bargain airlines had opened the skies of Europe at reasonable prices, I could finally make this dream come true, dragging my mother along. I had again decided on a hotel in Mestre, the modern town on the mainland just across the laguna from Venice proper. It's only 20mins by bus and hotel rates are much more reasonable (but then of course, they're just normal hotels and not a Venetian palazzo). I found Venice little changed with the crowded main "tourist race track" connecting Piazzale Roma to Piazza San Marco via the Rialto Bridge lined with souvenir shops selling masks, glass ware and tons of useless kitsch and the wonderful little alleys in which you can lose yourself off the beaten tourist tracks in no time.

Getting around on a 72 hour ticket we took the vaporetti ships everywhere when we weren't strolling through the little streets or shopping our little hearts out. Yes I admit I did buy a carnival mask, complete with a Casanova tricorn hat (well, you never know when you may be invited to a masquerade!), a glass bowl and some other little things. I skipped going up the Campanile again, but went along to visit the Palazzo Ducale, the heart of the VenetianRepublic, which still smells of whispers and intrigues in its narrow hallways and secret passages.

During the first short trip Paola and I hadn't left the main island of Venice, so this time we took advantage of the 72h-trip to also visit the smaller islands of the laguna. Our first port of call was Murano, the largest of the islands and the traditional home of the glassblowers who had been kept away from the city so that they couldn't run off and reveal the secrets of Venetian glass-making. These days it's mostly a smaller version of the city with lower buildings and the same souvenir shops and bars.< I found Burano much more pleasant with an almost rural feel and not half as overrun by tourists. Burano has specialised on lace-making and since I was in moneyspending-mood anyway indulged in a Jane Austen-style white lace umbrella. Our last stop was the Lido, which was completely different from the rest again, feeling like a typical beach place with outdoor cafes and hotels. Although it was too cool to dive into the Adriatic Sea, it was nice to lay down in the sand for a while, enjoy the sun and get a break from the bustle of the city and the tourist hordes. We also strolled past the hotel De Bains where Thomas Mann was inspired to write his famous (and depressing) novella "Death in Venice" and had dinner in a nice outdoor place before returning to the city.