Venezia: Gondola Ride in The Floating City

Ep.60
19^th-21^st September 2012. 

“How can I die without seeing every inch of this world?” – Leonardo Di Caprio

VNC – Venice, Italy.

blink on a sunny day

Italy is always a destination that’s gonna pamper our eyes and provide us a picturesque architectural view. Beautiful romantic place that keep our eyes busy. That day, Nadia and I were about to explore and experience the legendary floating city of Venezia. Whether you're a romantic at heart or not, Venice promises to take your breath away. It's a city best experienced with your eyes -- and your senses --wide open.

train station

There are many ways to get to Venice, but the main thing to remember is that once there: NO CARS ALLOWED. Remember, it was a flooded city that rumored to be sunk by 50 more years or so. So, I was blessed to be able to go there before it sunk. We started the day as planned. At 5.30 in the morning we were down at the lobby already, bought our bus ticket from the receptionist *without queue* and headed to Milano Centrale Station. It was one of the main train stations in Europe. Nadia and I bought our tickets on the Trenitalia ticketing machine. We bought the one-way tickets because we haven’t got any idea on what time would we like to come back to Milan. It cost us EUR 36 for one way each person. We still got few minutes until the departure time and we decided to buy something to munch on, remember! It was a 4 hours train ride.

pasta shopping

We boarded the train soon after. I bought myself, which happened to be the best chocolate doughnut that I have ever bought. How come Italia have so much to pamper me, visually and gastronomically? The first 30 minutes in the train, we were chat about this and that, and the view from the train became a vast green landscape, sea, and we were fell asleep. Approximately 30 minutes before we arrived in Venice, the view was still same. We munched on what we have bought before and soon enough the train slowed down and arrived at Venezia S. Lucia train station. As we disembarked from the train, we went out of the train station and welcomed by the sun and crowd of tourists and locals.

i'm arrived

The tourist information center was right there on the left hand side of the station and the gondola service lined up right across the station. We checked on the price for the gondola service. The one right in front of us cost EUR 80 per person, while the other gondola service made us to walk to Piazza San Marco and cost us EUR 48 per person. Well, we were women that were price conscious, we chose option two. We bought the gondola ticket for 2 pm and we plan on to explore the canals and the road to Piazza San Marco.

red glitter cat mask

We grabbed a map and we walked the pathways. Somehow, I found that what people said about this city being “City of Romance” is not a bluff at all. It is a romantic city and no wonder all the greatest piece of romance such as Romeo and Juliet was originated in Italy. Awed by the view of every single building along the street, we both hopped from one store to another to check out what were they selling. Murano Crystal shop, pasta shop, cake shop, souvenir shop, traditional Italian dress, and most of the stores were selling the famous Venetian masks. I got myself a Venetian mask on a good bargain (2 for EUR 5, one for me and one for Nadia), as well as some souvenir magnets for EUR 5 for 6! Nadia even bought some wall accessories to be hanged on her wall back at home. Happy shopping!

eat my heart out

Venice can be compared to a one big adventure. Once you are caught in the winding and seemingly endless streets and bridges of confusion, you would have no other choice but to keep on walking— which is actually a good thing! There’s no better way to explore Venice than getting lost and be surprised in what it has to offer at your every turn. We made a stop at a nice small restaurant for lunch on our way to Piazza San Marco considering we still got approximately two and a half hour to spare before our gondola ride. I treated my tummy a good deal of full 3-course meal for EUR 21. *Say welcome to another few pounds*. (Seriously, writing this blog was just like tracing back what I have been dumped into my mouth that made me so fat right now). Anyway, Venice captured the impression of a magical floating city by setting wood pilings on the 118 submerged islands in the Northern end of the Adriatic Sea. 400-foot bridges and 170 boat canals connect the city to make it easily accessible to the local populace.

masquerade party?

Our camera would surely screamed, if they could make any sound. I think we abused our cameras. Even Nadia said that the most pictures of her travels were when she was touring with me. There were almost 200 pictures of her on our Rome trip and this one would be competing neck to neck to the last record, according to her. When we arrived at Piazza San Marco, say hello to the beautiful architectural scenery. The Basilica of San Marco overlooks one of the most beautiful squares in the world, a real marble salon, the city center for centuries. Next to both the Basilica and the Doge's Palace, all the most important religious and civil ceremonies have always been held there and now the Piazza San Marco is considered the city's main symbol and tourist attraction.

one sunny day

This great square overlooking the water is a mixture of spaces, volumes and styles: the Procurator's residence, the bell tower, the Doge's Palace and the Sansoviniana Bookshop. Once again, we abused our cameras. Ha-ha! We searched the gondola pier that we have booked and it seems that 1 gondola could fit 6 passengers with 1 gondolier. We got excited as soon as we saw the gondolier, which is so hot in his striped tee shirt, as well as the gondola itself.

off we sail

Taking a trip to Venice and failing to ride a Gondola is like going to France and ignoring the Eiffel tower. These traditional and symbolic boats have been used as transport around the narrow Venetian waterways for more than 10 centuries. Evolving and perfected through time, Gondolas are designed to be easily operated by a highly-skilled oarsman known as a Gondolier. It was said that only 3 to 4 Gondolier licenses are issued annually. To qualify, applicants must be able to finish an extensive training after passing a rigorous exam. There are only 400 licensed Gondolas operating in Venice today. It might looked so cool on any pictures, but ride on a gondola means you got to deal with the stinks of the water, which I guess has been contaminated as there were much more business and establishment in Venice.

i'm the tallest

But it was truly once in a lifetime moment that you ride on a boat through the canals between towering walls and houses along side of the canals. At one of the turns of the canals, we happened to see a road full of branded stores. No doubt, in a split second, both Nadia and I looked each other and even though we didn’t utter a single word, it was like unspoken agreement that after this 45 minutes boat rides, we will definitely track down that alley! The greatest moment of this gondola ride was of course when we passed through the Grand Canal. We looked over the Rialto Bridge over our head and it was epic.

Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge is the most famous of the bridges that cross the Grand Canal (the other two are the Accademia Bridge and the Scalzi). It was originally made from two inclined ramps with a mobile section in the middle, in order to allow the passage of ships. The current Rialto Bridge, a stone arch, was constructed under the supervision of Antonio da Ponte. The construction was made difficult by the conditions of instability and by the height of the sea bottom. The structure, very similar in style to the previous wooden bridge, is formed by two inclined ramps, with shops on each side, covered by a portico. Long ago, big cargo ships coming from many other countries stopped here in order to unload and sell their merchandise wholesale. Today it is one of the most visited tourist attractions of the city.

over a bridge

As we had agreed on our unspoken agreement, as soon as we got off from the gondola, we headed to that street that is full with famous designers brand. We traced it back on the alley following the gondola canal path, and we found a little piece of heaven. It was like reciting the lyrics from “Labels or Love” – ‘Gucci, Fendi, Prada….’ Ha-ha! It was not that we would like to shop and splurge our money out, we were just out to check about the prices. I asked about a handbag that I’d love to buy, but they didn’t have it on stock.

deserted alley

As it is not perfect to visit Venice without a gondola ride, it was also wont complete without a gelato. We chose a gelato parlor randomly and satisfied our glutton for a sweet treat..or two may be? Ha-ha. Satisfied by our exploration of Venice, by the sunset, we were back to the train station already. We bought another one-way ticket at EUR 36 and boarded the train after a toilet visit. 

my kind of dress

Ah! To enter a toilet here we got to pay EUR 1. We searched for our seat on the train and we had a great long talk about our plan and everything about this and that. By the time we arrived back at Milano Centrale, it was dark already. By the time we arrived back to the hotel, we parted to our own room and I checked on the mirror that I got tanned! So tanned that I got some lines from my cloth. The bottom line of this trip is that swapped in to this flight and having Nadia as my travel partner might be a coincidence, but it was truly a blessing indeed. Venezia, you were so pretty, you treated my eyes well and of course my tummy as well!

“There was only a fine line between coincidence and fate.” –Me.