Its Sunday in Venice, all seems to be a little quiet….there are no markets, the bells are tolling for Mass and the tourists haven’t got out of bed yet. Rosie and The Operator too are on a leisurely Sunday clock, we wander around the island and marvel at the beauty, The Operator has put the map away and off we go.
Our walk takes us to the old main waterway in Venice, the Cannereigio, its off the tourist track and is nice and quiet, its one of the rare canals with a footpath on either side of the canal. Families are out walking their dogs, Venetians are coming back from church and stopping for a midday spritz in the sun canal side….if you cant beat em, join em.
Rosie and The Operator had a wonderful Sunday lunch beside the canal, far away from the maddening crowds. As boats powered past the tide was that high that the water lapped over the edge and pooled around our feet….no one else was bothered, its the norm.
ASIDE – High tide is midday today and is quite high…..
…….the lowest point on the island is outside St Marks Basilica, the busiest point on the whole island which is only 1 meter above sea level, wandering through the square they have put the boardwalks out in readiness of the water flooding up through the manholes as the tide rises, it took Rosie a moment to realise that the water is not flowing in from the lagoon it is coming up from under the square….because it is built on piles. See everyone standing on the raised platforms.
On our walks we noticed what looked like scaffold type platforms built on roof tops, these terraces were for the ladies of the house to take respite on during the heat of summer, back in the day. During summer the canals would stink….most Venetians left the city and went into the country for the cooling breezes, those that didn’t sat as far from the canal as they could in the cool breeze. The ladies wore hats with no tops on, just a wide brim to keep the sun off their faces so their skin would remain pale, their hair, they let flow from the top of the hat and exposed to the sun with lemon juice on it…to bleach it…the perfect looking Venetian lady of the 1500s was a plumpious lady with pale fair skin and blonde hair.
The chimneys too are an unusual fan shape at the top, the rooftops used to be thatch, to stop the city from catching fire the chimneys had these extensions built on the end of them so that sparks had time to dissipate and not catch the thatch on fire and destroy the city.
The Gondoliers are doing a roaring trade today, 80 euro will get you a 20 min swing around the canals. There is a gondolier station just below our apartment window, the 4 gondolas working out of there are taking a minimum of two customers every hour. There sure is some skill needed to manoeuvre these big boats. One couple below our window had the gondolier on for short changing them time wise….so, he cast out into the canal again did a 50 metre loop and came back again….think I would have just asked for 10 euro back. Some of the little canal lanes get so congested with gondolas it kind of takes the romance out of the ride. No Rosie and The Operator did not succumb to this tourist trap.
This evening we met Jennifer an Austalian who has been living in Venice for 30 years , she works for a tour company and is showing us and four others around the Grand Canal on a private water taxi. It is 6.15pm the light is perfect and Rosie still cant get over how beautiful the city is.
The grand canal is 3.8 km long and averages a depth of 4 meters, there are over 170 buildings lining it, most date from the 13 – 18th century and are built in a lacy Venetian looking Gothic style. Until 1854 the Rialto bridge was the only crossing across the Grand Canal, 3 other bridges now span the Canal which has an average width of 30 meters.
The bottom floors of the Palazzos are the water gates, used for entry, storage and set up to not damage anything should this basement area flood. Families lived in the upper stories with the canal views, the kitchen and household staff are on the top floors at the back of the house.
Tonight we had a meal at Poste Vecie, it claims to be the oldest restaurant in Venice and has been on this site since 1500, it says it was one of the first restaurants to start using the herbs and spices being bought in from the orient. The atmosphere was awesome, you crossed a wee canal bridge that led into their front door and into many rooms that had fresco lined walls and huge old fireplaces. It was awesome and the food spectacular.
Tomorrow we are off to the markets and getting a birds eye view of Venice from up the bell tower. Till then, night night.
