Suffering Has Infinite Tinges - Venice, Italy
This is a bit out of sequence, but I have to talk about Venice while the feelings are still here. I visited Milan, Florence, and Rome before Venice, but I’m in the process of writing about those right now - stay tuned.
Venice, Italy, was a beautiful tragedy.
Narrow alleys, wide canals, ornate structures, hundreds of seafaring vessels and not a set of wheels in sight - this town had a magical, old-world aura to it. Walking up and down the bridges and between the sardine-packed buildings was a fantastically picturesque sight. It makes sense why it’s one of the most famous cities in the world. I think I took more photos here in 24 hours than I did in any other city.
I also visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which housed contemporary art from many artists, including works by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Pablo Piccaso.
The art was quite intriguing, especially the man on the horse.
The scenes of Venice were simply stunning…
However…
By the time I was off the Venetian island to go back to my hostel, I was irate. Let me explain.
I think the lack of full-sized streets in favor of canals and bridges would be perfectly fine… if it weren’t for tourists. This city is absolutely swarming with visitors from far and wide. This causes a couple of issues.
As you most likely know, I am very tall. One way I use this gift to my advantage is by having a long stride, thus, I walk faster than the average person. A lot faster in many cases. Most of these cities - London, Paris, and Rome specifically - were great about letting people with a fast pace keep their stride. The lifts (escalators) coming out of a subway station are a great example. Those who are in no rush stand on the right side, while letting those in a hurry run up the let side of the lift.
Venice has this imbalanced equation:
Narrow Walkways
Too Many People
People Stopping In the Middle of the Street to Stare at the 10th Identical Obvious Tourist Trap Store
People Also Stopping in the Middle of a Busy Bridge to Take a Photo
Families With Small Children and Strollers
What does that equal? A congested, molasses-paced, fast-walker’s nightmare.
Another problem I encountered in this little town was in Piazza San Marco. This is a plaza with shops and restaurants along the outside, with some beautiful structures serving as a backdrop. There was even a live band playing at a famous 1800s café, where a single espresso shot cost €10 or something outrageous.
The coffee was not the issue here. I decided to check out Lido, a nearby island to Venice, so I could walk along the beach and ponder my life decisions. It rained quite a bit while I was there, so when I returned to Piazza San Marco, various sections of the plaza had large puddles of water, roughly 1-2 inches (2-5cm) deep. Alright sure, puddles after rain are inevitable. However, these puddles were not small, but several feet wide which made the already crowded plaza even more congested.
You can see in these photos that the puddles are centered around what I assume are the drainage points, which are not working properly. You can also see on the left side that the city has placed elevated platform walkways above the puddles so traffic can continue flowing.
By the time I got out of the plaza and onto the boat headed for the mainland, I was ready to up and leave Italy right away. But this story in Venice does not end poorly. Earlier in the day, a child in a passing boat was waving to people on the street as it passed. I waved back and smiled, naturally. So on my water bus ride to the return point, I started waving to everyone on fellow passing boats and on the streets. It was a good feeling to compel complete strangers to just smile and wave - it was like casting a magic spell of happiness.
Once I returned to my hostel, I met some wonderful people - Ian from Maine and Tinny, Daan, and another Daan from the Netherlands. We all ate some dinner, where I ate some cuttlefish ink pasta. It was just ok - but I would try it again with squid. We then went to an asian market, bought some huge bottles of Tsingtao, played some card games, and vibed with some live music in the hostel.
I can’t deny that Venice is beautiful, but its flaws unfortunately outweighed the charm. The highlight of this leg of the trip was not the canals and bridges, but the awesome people I spent time with. Proost to new friends, Cheers to Tinny, and Ciao to Italy. Next stop is Munich, Germany!
The song that inspired the title of this post is written by the live band from the Venice hostel! They’re called Alien Ducks From Outer Space, and they were super talented and very friendly!
