My Venetian Adventure

Sun 7 Feb 2010

Back in 1999, while in Austria, I decided to take the train down to Venice for the weekend. Surely it was not an opportunity to be missed as one had heard so much about Venice. The Titanic movie came to mind, as both had similarities – lots of water and a large sinking object. Of course, when I first watched the movie, I was not impervious to the charms of the hero in the movie.

It was only a short trip weekend trip, with the train arriving at the station in Venice about three in the afternoon and I had to catch the only daily train back at 12 noon the following day. How was the trip ? Well, I decided to enlighten my friends back in KL with this account of my Venetian adventure.

Venice, Venezia, Venedig

How shall I describe thee ?

Lots of water

Many boats

and lots of tourists

In case you are wondering, Venezia is the Italian word for Venice and Venedig is the Austrian word for it.

If you have a choice of either going to Vienna or Venice, I would say - go for Vienna. Well, Venice is different on account of it being surrounded by water and one can try the gondolas for a romantic moonlit ride, which I did not try. But I guess my first love (as in a European destination) will always be Vienna. Ahem... apart from Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Titanic. I have not forgotten him.

Must mention this - in Venice, one can only get around by walking or taking the public boats called vaporetta, if one does not own a boat. My first experience taking a ride with this vaporetta will remain memorable because...

Scene at the jetty near the St. Lucia Venedig train station:

Me, looking a bit lost even though the lady at the information counter told me to take vaporetta no. 82 and get off at the Rialto. Gets to jetty no. 82 and sees a boat approaching. As boat comes closer, I immediately notice a bronzed, blond hunk on board. Turns out he's the 'bus conductor' for the vaporetta. 

I thought "Wow ! So good-looking... if all Italians look like this, I will have trouble remembering what's-his-name from that sinking ship movie."

Boat stops, passengers got off. I am still not sure whether the boat is heading in the right direction. I had absolutely no choice but to speak to the hunk. 

Me: Excuse me, does this go to Rialto ?

Hunk: No, you must wait at the other stop over there (He points it out for me)

Me: Thank you

Fate had decided that I will not get to be on the same boat as him. Life is indeed cruel ! 

But it must go on, as I have only a short weekend to explore Venice. 

I didn't get to spend much time in Venice as I was only there for Saturday and Sunday, plus the train journey was 4 hours each way. But I did get to see some Venetian art masterpieces at Galerie Academia and Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). I can't understand why nudity is so popular among the olden day artists. It was either that or lots of religious portraits, notably of Mary and Jesus. 

I was most impressed with Piazza San Marco. It is the biggest piece of space that I have seen in Venice, and space is precious on this small island. I was not alone in contemplating the beauty of the place. For company, there were lots of pigeons, and tourists.

The island is not large, I am able to walk and explore it with the help of a map. The buildings are with water-marks and everywhere one looks there is water. There are no roads at all, just cobbled streets to walk on. 

All too soon it was time to board the train back to Austria, and this concludes the account of my brief Venetian adventure. As the Italians would say : Ciao !

p.s. Honestly, I can’t recall how the bronzed, blond hunk looks like now, after so many years have past by. However, he was good-looking. That I remember, even if I can’t rely on the rest of my failing memory. Lesson to be learnt from this – never leave home without your camera. There might be a specimen of interest that you would like to immortalized in a picture. One never knows.

Picture of St. Mark’s Square from http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/01/11/venice_wideweb__430x308.jpg