The Merchants of Venice and yes the Pigeons of course!

If you do just one thing before you die, visit Venice! I mean no exaggeration here, simple and straight, visit one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. Although the day didn't start quite as well after last night's mishap, the hostel porter turned out to be a "locks and keys enthusiast", and surprisingly could understand English, though he didn't speak it. Talk about the effects of Hollywood! So well he fixed the lock like a pro in less than an hour and off I was for my first scouting trip to Venezia. Notice the word first, because this wasn't a proper trip. The rest of the day was a complete contrast to my experiences so far in this country. I won't quite say it changed my views about Italy yet, but I have just started considering it as really how it was back in the days. Italy is still much more like a collection of nation states with their own peculiarities and ways just under a common rule. Same is the case with Venice. It is not a part of Italy, although it could never have been in any other country but Italy. It is without doubt one of the most amazing places I've ever been to.

Considering it was a budget trip, I just wanted to get acquainted with it before a detailed tour later. Getting down from the coolest ever double decker train, I stepped out of the Venezia Santa Lucia station to behold the most breathtaking scenes ever. Where the steps of the station end, the grand canal begins with the stops for "water buses". As Venice is a collection of islands in the lagoon, the grand canal and its dis-tributaries are like the blood vessels of the city, with water buses being the life blood. So I bought this 12 hour water bus ticket which is valid for unlimited journeys in that time. First stop obviously had to be the Piazza della San Marco (San Marco square). It is a fairly large piazza surrounded by the San Marco cathedral on one side, a bell tower on the other, a market arena one the third and the Canal Grande flowing on the fourth. After seeing around there for a while, I hopped back on to the water bus for my next destination which had to be Murano, the place where the world famous Murano glass factory is. I don't have much to say about it apart from that as sadly I fell asleep on the boat and missed the stop, but well whatever it was quite late by then anyway and this is a must see for my next proper trip to Venice. On way back to Ferrovia, which is the water bus stop for the train station, I saw the wonderful Gardinia Biennale, which is a big garden on a central island where events like concerts and operas are organised. So this is what there is for now about the city and its sights, which I haven't really seen yet, apart from briefly sneaking into a big group of tourists as one of them and following their walking tour guide! Saved me €20 so can't complain.

However, as you may have noticed, the title of this post is mainly dedicated to two of the most if not THE ONLY important residents of this city. The merchants and the pigeons. Both share a similar trait, they appear when they are least wanted and move around as if they are either blind or feel the rest of us are ghosts which they can pass through. Perhaps they know that no matter how much people hate them, nobody can do anything about it. The point is, there are just too many souvenir selling merchants there and an equally annoying number of pigeons. At one point I was tempted to think that there may be more pigeons than all the drops of water in the Grand Canal! While on the boat I was taking solace in musing about ways in which all the pigeons could be collected together and sunk in the Grand Canal! They are the most useless and annoying creatures ever to have come about on this planet! Why didn't they just go extinct with the dinosaurs! Anyhow, moving on from the pigeons, we shall talk of the "merchants". If you are wondering why I am repeating the word merchants over and over again, it is obviously the reference to Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice'; those of you who have read it, will know the reason. So these sellers are literally littered around. I counted nearly all the souvenir sellers in San Marco square, there were about 26 just in the square, only to realise on way back to the water bus stop, that many more were just returning from lunch and opening their stalls. The worst part is, they all sell the same damned souvenirs! Venetian masks made in China!! How ridiculous! The authentic masks can be purchased in some of the shops and a few of the stalls and they really are nice. They are made from papier máche and I couldn't resist the temptation to buy a few, though this was supposed to be a budget trip.

N.B.: Pictures from today will follow in the next post by tomorrow.