Venezia - Part One - The bus ride!

And on we go to Venezia!!!  Perhaps I should apologize for the title - at no time was I ever on an actual bus - we DID however take a water bus throughout Venice.  I should warn you that Venice has been a bucket list kind of place for me for the past five years or so.  The romance, the beauty, the contradiction, all of it.  Finally, I got my chance, and talked my most wonderful personal tour guide, Zia Heatherina, into going with us for the day up to Venezia.  This is a big city - in expectation, and in reality.  Venice is so big, in fact, that I am going to break this down into three parts - the bus ride, walking and the gondola ride, and finally, Venice at night.  I have SO MANY amazing photographs, it is hard to choose the best of them, and so hard to post without going completely overboard.

Houses on the Grand Canal
(c) 2012 The Wandering Mama

We all grow up hearing how Venice is sinking - we grow up hearing that the water is dirty, and yet the romance of it all overcomes that.  The romance of Venice makes us willing to put up with insane crowds, and constant flooding.  We tolerate the pushy waiters, and the hustlers just to be a part of it all.  For that moment, we have made it, for that moment, we are in Venice.  We can travel back to the renaissance, and see the works of the masters.  We can visit the museos, and be stunned by works of art that previously we have only read about in school text books.  For that moment, we are a part of history, we are living not only our dreams, but the dreams of those who have always wanted to, but never will get to see it in person.

Santa Maria della Salute
(c) 2012 The Wandering Mama

We started our day out on the water bus - you can take it one way from the parking plaza out to San Marcos Square for 7 euro per person.  There are other ways out there - but this will take you down the Grand Canal, and stop about 20 times along the way.  As we travel around Italy, I always have my kindle with me - and on it, i have a few different tour books, so that surely wherever I am is covered by someone.  I have found that this is a great way to travel.  Second only to having a private tour guide.

The Ponte Rialto (Rialto Bridge)
(c) 2012 The Wandering Mama

One of the many stops along the water bus route, is the Rialto Market - the old fish market.  Adjacent to this market is the famous Ponte Rialto (Rialto Bridge).  This was one of the places I had always heard about, and really wanted to see.  Unfortunately, as our boat rounded the bend, we saw it.  Yes, we can imagine the glory it once had, but sadly today, as you can see, it is covered with Graffiti.  As our Gondolier later told us, though Graffiti is rampant, it is not a Venetian thing, and real venetians treat it not only as breaking the law, but as a crime against Venice herself.  So sad that such beauty and history is marred by a bunch of idiots with a spray can.

Piazza San Marco (W)
(c) 2012 The Wandering Mama

Piazza San Marco (E)
(c) 2012 The Wandering Mama

A few minutes later you arrive at San Marcos Square.  While there is a round trip tour you can take, it will cost you 28 euro per person, and really accomplishes the same thing as the one way ticket, for 1/2 the price, literally.  Yes, you do miss out on someone blethering in your ear all the time, for the most part about places you don't care about, or have never heard of, but you do get there.


The final sight you really see when you reach the second Piazza San Marco bus stop (and final stop for the one way ticket) are the Bridge of Sighs.  This was the bridge that the prisoners were brought over for their final views of their beloved Venezia, before being taken away to prison.  It's a tiny little bridge, high above the water, but so beautiful, and so strong with emotion.  I can't imagine what it must have felt like to see your city for one final time, knowing you would never see your loved ones, or your city again. . .

The Bridge of Sighs as Seen from the Water
(c) 2012 The Wandering Mama

Venice is a funny place.  At the time I was there, I was excited, I was expectant, I was thankful for the experience, I was sad at the state of things there, and I walked away thinking "Ok, cool, been there, done that, don't feel the need to go back" - but as I sit here writing about it, I find myself romanticizing it already, and scheming on how to go back.  I can't explain it - perhaps that is part of the dichotomy of Venice.  So beautiful, yet so ugly; so loved, yet so neglected, etc, etc, etc.

Stay tuned for the next part of our Venetian Adventure!

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