Italy 2023

#4, Venice – My Views and Overview

Being an early riser, I went out exploring on my own, hoping that I would not venture so far as to get lost in the spider web of alleyways. Venturing in the opposite direction than we normally went, I took the narrow alleyway to the Giglio vaporetto dock and watched gondoliers preparing their gondolas for the day. Early morning traffic on the Grand Canal was busy with larger boats carrying construction materials, restaurant supplies or other staples. The vaporettos came and went, passengers disembarking and boarding at the stop. 

Out on the Grand Canal I could hear singing and eventually I could see a group of gondolas floating toward me in the wide canal. It was not the gondolier singing but a man, standing, accompanied by a guitarist, singing “Volare”. Now how much more Italian could this scene be? Floating by on their way up the Grand Canal, the melody stuck in my head and made me smile as this was a moment to savor. 

Further exploring brought me back along other small alleyways deep in shadows between buildings. Meandering over many small bridges, looking up and down the canals from that standpoint, I saw laundry hung out to dry from balconies overlooking the canals, windows with open shutters and window boxes filled with colorful flowers and early morning gondoliers quietly gliding along in the canals with light and shadow reflecting in the water. 

Other mornings I would walk into more familiar territory where a large contingent of gondolas were assembled, taking on the early passengers. There at one of the bridges, I took photos and thoroughly enjoyed these early awakenings along the canals. Further wanderings took me down other alleyways, some dead-ending at a canal without bridges, but from where the gondolas, sometimes three or four abreast, navigated past each other. Most gondoliers wore the black and white stripped shirts and black pants, some with the gondolier hats, others without. At frequent places along canals there were stops where the gondoliers waited, enticing tourists to buy a fare on their boats.

At a distance, as I walked down one narrow alleyway, I could hear singing and following it, I came to one of the dead-ends where I heard a gondolier singing  “Quando, Quando, Quando”, amplified in the narrow channel bordered by tall buildings, his singing fading away as he continued down the canal. It was delightful and romantic for me and I can imagine more so for his passengers. 

Another morning had me walking along, coming into unexpected little plazas, some the courtyards for apartments overlooking them. Others were alive with vendors setting up their wares for the day, little flower stands, people strolling through. Frequently the little piazzas were outside churches and in the quieter areas of Venice, cozy and peaceful. 

On another morning, I followed the peal of church bells over canal bridges and down narrow alleyways the ringing magnified between the ancient buildings and canals. Coming upon a plaza, there stood a magnificent church, it’s bells calling out to parishioners. 

During the days, while Mark and I were out and about we explored in other areas of Venice, the alleyways always bustling with people. Restaurants along the way with outdoor dining had menus posted for possible patrons to peruse before deciding to, or not, dine at that establishment.

When we arrived in Venice Mark realized he had not packed his power cord to his Dell computer, which led us on a hunt to try to find one. Our first search, not far from our hotel proved fruitless as google maps led us up and down alleyways that had us going in circles. Eventually, after circling several times we did find the store, but it was closed. It was funny though, that about the next evening as we walked around, we came upon that same shop without looking for it.

Still on the hunt for the power cord, we did take a vaporetto to the San Polo area nearer to the Rialto Bridge in search of another possible shop. 

Finding the second shop, Mark was informed that his computer could only use one specific to that model. Later on during the trip, we did find another shop and the couple there did their best to find the right cord, but also agreed that the Dell computer used only it’s own version. 

We poked our heads into many shops all around Venice, at some buying a few things as souvenirs or gifts. Leather shops were everywhere, and after searching many, Mark found and bought just the right wallet that he wanted. 

Along and in the plazas and wider walkways, I noticed stacks of what appeared to be long banquet tables, but without longer legs. It dawned on me that I had seen something like this in photos. They are platforms that are laid down when the water overflows the canals. The wooden platforms, when spread out, allow people to walk over the flooded walkways. Thankfully we were spared that experience.

During our time in Venice, we both had lingering coughs, but mine was also causing a sore throat. On one evening walk we found a small grocery store where Mark was looking for a larger bottle of water. A shopper seeing I was looking at throat lozenges, recommended a brand which I  bought and another familiar brand in the US, Fisherman’s Friend. Both were helpful during the entire trip.

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