Northern Italy: Day 4

And the summer vacations have started in Norway. Some people keep asking me “don’t you have vacations in India?”, and I keep telling them “Yes, we do, but only for kids in schools.” It is amazing to see that you have to take three weeks of vacation in July, it is a rule, and no one questions about it. Well, if I get paid 12 months’ salary for working only 11 months, of course, I won’t question about it. As people gear up for their summer travel, I realize I haven’t even finished my Easter trip. Yes, lot of changes are happening in my life, but I think I am becoming more lazy when it comes to writing blog (or even posting photos).

First look at Venice from water bus

Ok, this was the fourth day of our trip, I am not yet bored of Satish, so it is a good sign, though I did not like yesterday’s fight for Indian food, I can make better food at home. Today was a lazy start, though the breakfast was fantastic. There were some cream-filled small doughnuts (called bombolone) which were so yummy that I ate all six of them, leaving nothing for Satish, he had the usual croissants though. The weather was very bad today, and it started raining pretty heavily. That made our start a bit delayed, and in the meantime, Venkat came visiting us. It was nice when a friend comes visiting you in a guest house. Jokes apart, it was nice that he made that effort to find our guest house.

As soon as the sky cleared a little bit, we thanked Carla a lot and bade adieu to the wonderful hospitality. Not much planned for the day, hence, we started walking towards the Duomo. Little did we know what was in store for us. It was the Easter celebrations in full swing, there were a lot of people in the cathedral, inside and outside. We did not know exactly what was happening, but we saw the centre of the church barricaded and there were bands playing and a lot of people in middle-age costumes. It was a party like atmosphere. But then it started raining hard and everyone came running inside. After sometime, what I came to understand is that the Head of the Church came, and he lighted some bird-firework, which came flying from inside the church to outside and lighted up a firework installation just outside the gate. The next thing I know was we ran out of the church and there were lot of people outside, and the sky was cloudy and there was smoke everywhere. I could hear some fireworks, but due to the smoke (which could not go up due to the cloud), it was impossible to see anything. It was nice anyway, with people cheering and jeering.

Our Apartment on right

It was still raining, and our umbrellas were out. We did the usual walk to Palazzo Pitti and to Ponte Vechhio. When it rains, every place changes. Now the cobbles were reflecting everything and the colourful umbrellas made the place look nice. It was almost time for our train to Venice and we started walking towards the Santa Maria Novella station. Prasanna also reached the station in time with Venkat’s  luggage. We were divided on lunch, I preferred Italian lunch while Satish wanted burgers, so we walked in different directions. And this was the best lunch I had, from the restaurant attached with the station. It was full course, with pasta and half-chicken plus a choice of side dish, a bread and a drink. I took baked egg-plant, and it was really nice. Venkat took only pasta and was content. The food was nice and the place is recommended for everyone, just attached to the station hall. The person there even helped me with my tray, since I had luggage and it was a self-service restaurant.

San Giorgio at night

Our train to Venice started at 13:25. The train ride was nothing special (except for the part when we were entering Venice). The food caused me to sleep well, helped by the super-suspensions of the train. And yes, we were in Venice. The excitement was on its peak when we were crossing the long rail bridge from the mainland (Mestre) to the actual island of Venice. It was water and water everywhere, and it was not lake, it was sea. We got down at Saint Lucia at about 15:33, and was welcomed by the beautiful city on waters. Like Carla said, it is not a city, it is a painting. Words are few to describe such a beautiful sight. I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

The first thing to do was take a pass, we took a 48 hour pass which works on all water-buses or vaporetti as they call here. Our first stop was the apartment, which will be our home for the next two days. We took a water bus from Ferrovia (the bus stop near the station), to Giardini, where the Double Arch apartment is there. We will be staying in that apartment. The ride took about 40 minutes, and it was as exciting. I still could not believe I was in Venice. The water buses are mostly crowded due to lot of tourists and only one piece of baggage is allowed. Thanks to Ryanair we could anyway carry only one piece of luggage! And yes, you should validate your card at the machines before boarding the boat.

A taxi stop, water one

After getting down at Giardini and crossing a bridge, we reached our apartment, the location was awesome, just by the Grand Canal/ Sea, and St. Mark’s Square can be seen and is walk able. I called our host Pedro, who welcomed us into the apartment. The house looked old from outside, but inside it was a very modern apartment. Two bedrooms, hall and kitchen, and a separate study, with all facilities. Pedro even gave directions to the nearest shopping centre. Soon we freshened up and it was decided that we will go for shopping first. Hence, the first stop was Lido island, not for visiting, just for shopping, as due to Easter the shops on the main island were closed. Took the bus (means water bus), to Lido, which is just two stops from Giardini. Asked a few about the direction to Billa, the super store. We shopped a lot there, it was like crazy shopping. Actually coming from Norway, everything here seemed so cheap. We shopped for breakfast, chicken, wine, water, pasta, rice, breads, beer, what not. It was like groceries for 1 week. It was fun, as I remember I was running with a picture of eggs from some bread box, to ask the people about the eggs section. We were really excited, and hence forgot to check many things. When we realized our mistakes, it was too late. Firstly, the 8 litres of water was sparkling, secondly, the chicken pieces were weird and took a lot of time to clean, and the most important one, we did not have salt.

The painting I walked about

Anyway, the complete evening was spent in an effort to make dinner, and by the time it was done, everyone was tired, and no one wanted to go out as promised. So, I took to the streets alone, and I thank myself for doing that, since that was the time I found Venice the most beautiful. It was 23:00, almost no tourists on road, very few restaurants were open and most of them were closing. I walked towards St. Marks Square, and there were a few people there. Until that time I did not know about the flood warnings, I could actually see water coming out from underground and filling a few places of the square. Then I noticed a board with the warnings, it seems, every night, water floods into many places of the main island. Yes, everyone knows Venice is sinking, I think, you should also hurry to visit the most unique city in the World. I was walking past the gondolas and could see the Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore on the other side of the canal, and the feeling was totally different. I was standing before the painting I completed almost a year back, and now the painting is alive just before my eyes, the same horizon, those same blue-covered gondolas making the rocking sound as the waves hit them. Really, that was the most wonderful moment of my entire journey. And at this moment, what you do is always remember your most special one, and I was thankful to God that I had someone that special, and I made the call, though it was maybe very early morning in India, my call was answered, and I just said one sentence, and we all know what it was.

By the time, I was back, everyone was sleeping, and trying to make very less noise, I too went to sleep, humming the amazing song by Asha … “Do lovzo ki hain dil ki kahani …”  which was shot here in Venice and one of the most romantic songs for me. As the marine blue waters and the black gondolas and the bright coloured houses filled my dreams, I realized again how much lucky I was!

Cash Register

• Lunch at Florence station: 9 Euros
• Train from Florence to Venice: 19 Euros (we were lucky!)
• 48 hour pass in Venice: 28 Euros
• Apartment: 308 Euros for 2 days for 4 people (again lucky!)
• Billa shopping:  56 Euros