I recalled being awed by the jaw-dropping sight of Venice city when I watched the movie The Tourist, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. It was largely shot in Venice, and showcased many unforgettable scenes of the water city, like no other in the world. Travelling out of Austria, and leaving traces of our fading footprints still in Czech Republic and Germany, we finally hit Italy. And our first stop, was the much anticipated Venice city, or Venezia.
Having made our way to all our accommodations by foot so far, I told dearie that we would do the same in Venice, even though our accommodation wasn't that near to the train station. I didn't wanna waste time figuring out the transport system or overpaying for it. Our hotel, Hotel Colombina, is located in the city centre, near St. Mark's Square. Let's just say that was the silliest decision I made during our honeymoon. Never in my wildest imagination did I imagine Venice to be so tourist backpacking-unfriendly. I expected bridges... but the number of bridges I had to cross was overwhelmingly haunting... till this very day.
Carrying a "dua leng kong" blue deuter backpack which I bought prior to our trip, and dragging along a tank-like luggage, I exhausted like 150% of our strength, the other 50% generated by pure determination to reach the comforts of our hotel room. I lost count of the bridges I had to cross, and to make matters worst, Venice is a life-size maze.
The street names were challenging to spot (mainly at the ends of the whole stretch of buildings), some even worn off, and there were "written" street signs which offered misleading directions. We found ourselves constantly veering off track due to the limited routes (only via bridges) we were given to cross from one bank to another... and finding our way under the dim street lamps proved to be quite a feat. Luckily, we had a torch, but the torch only had a small area of shine.
Not sure if it was due to the bad first experience or that Venice just wasn't that pretty after all that I find Venice having less appeal than expected. On the other hand, the nearby islands, Murano and Burano proved to be much more a sight than Venice itself.
Murano is famous for its glass making, while Burano is famous for its brightly colored lined houses. Both were unique in their own way; Murano's glasses were really impressive, Burano's houses were picturesque in every angle possible. Both islands made great mental memories since Murano's glasses were extremely costly (you get for what you pay, there are cheaper ones but they look "pirated" - less clear glasses and the designs looked less intricate) and Burano's houses didn't allow "take-aways". We even saw the less popular 2nd leaning tower in Italy... the bell tower located at the Chiesa di San Martino (can't pinpoint the exact location but Burano's such a small island you won't have trouble finding it).
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| Glass-blowing demonstration by a "master" as what the locals call him |
St. Mark's Square was pretty grand, a wide open rectangular piazza surrounded by Museumy-type buildings and the outstanding St. Mark's Basilica. It was the 2nd largest piazza I saw, with Vatican city's St. Peter's Square toping the charts. Despite the many piazzas and structures we chanced upon while we "holland-ed" on our first night, nothing beats the 2nd night's experience... an hour-long Vivaldi concert at the Palazzo Delle Prigoni, a humble music house located near the Bridge of Sighs, both of which located near St. Mark's Square.
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| St. Mark's Square |
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| St. Mark's Campanile |
We were pleasantly surprised to see the inside of the "theatre" / "music house" being simply just a concert hall... with the capacity to hold no more than 100 seated audience. The seats were red cushion chairs, movable ones, not those fitted into the floor. And the floor was entirely levelled. With the musical instruments set up at the front, and audience expected to sit at the back, it was a close-up cosy experience that I would never forget.
Being the kiasu Singaporeans, we entered 20 mins earlier, and managed to grab the best seats in the house, the first row. The musicians who were about to play a starting piece from Mozart and who would be serenading us for the rest of the night was less than 5 metres away from us. The coziness of the "hall" made the concert exclusive, and the musicians weren't your average Joes busking along the streets of Italy, they were supposedly pros with many years of experience under their wings.
There was one particular musician (a maestro) who was drama-rama, and brought much theatrical excitement to the audience. 2 maestros lead the entire performance, one half dedicated to each. Each had their own flaire, the other maestro was more ... how should I say it, stable. Drama-rama maestro moved around fluidly with as if possessed by Vivaldi himself... however making what sounded like "pui chiu (missed the keys)" tune at times. As for nerdy, bespectacled, tall thin, Mr. "Shiwen (mild-mannered)" maestro, he didn't seem to make any mistakes, just that he too strategically placed himself under some silhouette that we hardly get to see his facial expressions.
It was surely, a night to remember. Romantic elegance bounced off the building walls and reasonated the interior with heartfelt beauty...
~the next morning~
The Rialto's bridge proved to be overrated with a bearded uncle's carved face seen on both sides of the arch right at the highest points of the bridge, with retail shops lining both sides of it. As for the view, though scenic, was nothing compared to Burano's bridge view.
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| Bridge of Sighs |
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| Rialto Bridge |
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| Rialto Bridge |
We also took a gondola ride, the highly anticipated gondola ride that we got a great deal from... 30euros per pax, but had to share with another couple on board. The hotel helped facilitate this for us, and because it was shared, we paid much less for it than the supposed "market rate" (Rick Steve's guide book and internet research) of 80euros. However, I'm not sure if 80euros is for 2 pax, or 1... cos if it's the former, then come to think of it we didn't get that good a deal after all.
Why?
Becos.... IT WAS UTTERLY AND TOTALLY DISAPPOINTING! SUPER SUPER SUPER OVERRATED! Balls to those who recommends it as a "must-do" list in Venice. My advice, "MUST STAY AWAY!"
The gondola ride was over hyped and over publicized... in Singapore's context, it's actually like taking a Rickshaw or a Trishaw. I guess the main appeals for the Gondola ride was i) the rower would be wearing a white and blue striped t-shirt ii) they would sing while rowing iii) they would allow the passengers to try rowing.
We were exposed to none of this. Zilch. Since it was cold, we don't blame the rowers for wearing more layers (though we did see some rowers still the classic striped T-shirts) but no song? No try-out? We were told simply to sit more on one side of the Gondola (very squeezy... but I'm not complaining since it was quite cosy with my dear leaning on me) and all we got from the end of our deal was blocked views of the narrow canals, and crappy commentaries such as "on the right the building is 400 century", "on the left the building is 200 century" bla bla bla.
Quite frankly, the buildings all looked the same, rundown, and desserted. Paddling along the narrow canals on a "sampan" (yes, that's what we would call it in Asia) with cookie-cutter views of old desserted buildings was indeed a great experience... an experience of being ripped off in broad daylight. It was bad... real bad... I highly dissuade anyone curious enuff to pay for a gondola ride in Venice. You're sure to get a better kick throwing the notes into the waters below and watching them gradually sink into oblivion.
There was however, the vaporetta (water bus) stop of Salute, looked like a separate small island just across the grand canal which provided scenic views of Venice. It's where the Santa Maria della Salute stands. Before I forget, we each got ourselves a one-day vaporetta pass which costs us like 16 euros each, though expensive, it allowed us to have a piece of mind. However, we needed to validate the tickets everytime we boarded a vaporetta. As for taking the vaporetta itself, it's not too difficult to figure. Lines 1 and 2 are the common ones, with 1 being the slower ride, stopping at more stops, and 2, the express ride. There's also other lines running, which as long as you check out their routes before going on, will prove to be a time-saver. We realised that no one checks our tickets... I'm not trying to hint anything here, but board at your own risk.
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| Santa Maria della Salute (night) |
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| Santa Maria della Salute (day) |
That pretty much sums up Venice, and going onwards to Milan, there's... there's... almost nothing to do in Milan, other than shop. The 2 most notable attractions are the famous Duomo di Milano as well as the origin painting of Last Supper. However, we were told by the tourist information that the Brera art gallery where the Last Supper is housed needs 1/2 year of advanced booking to enter! Well, since we didn't get to see the Last Supper, the curious us decided to queue up to enter what looked like a museum, with the anticipation of some grand art works awaiting us. We finally entered the building (yup, just a random building I think, nothing too noteworthy) after more than an hour's wait... to find a single painting of Madonna awaiting us! Nope, not America's Madonna who sings "American Pie", Madonna is actually another name for Mother Mary in Europe.
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| Duomo di Milano (looks more majestic live) |
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| Galleria Vittorio Emanuel II (famous shopping gallery located near the Duomo) |
It's the origin painting of La Madonna di Foligno, by Raffaello and was brought over from the Vatican Museum to be put on display (temporarily) in Milan. Inside the building, we still had to wait even further because there's no such thing as "free-and-easy", they were all commentary-based guided groups which only allowed around 25 pax per group. It was... quite the waste of time. I appreciate art, yes I do, am no poser for that matter, but to wait 1.5hours to come up-close to a famous painting I have never heard of? I might even think twice about that for the Mona Lisa, what more a painting I have not heard of?
But Milan, as most of your peeps, and mine have already said to us, is a shopping paradise. No doubts about that. We spend an entire day just walking the shopping streets, getting ourselves a new cabin luggage and genuine leather bags. We did check out the "famous" branded shops, such as Prada, Louis Vuitton etc. But my dear finally set eyes on Burberry's. While it's not my intention to disclose what we bought, it wasn't the bags that my dear bought but who we saw at the Burberry shop which is definitely worth the time mentioning - BBBBBeeaattrriiiceee Chia!! Mark Richmond's wife!
It was such a delight meeting her and having to strike a conversation with her. Actually I asked if my dearie could take a photo together with her, and she opened up to talk to us about herself and why she was there in Milan etc. For privacy purposes, I shan't disclose anything that was exchanged, but all I can say is that she seemed genuinely nice and candid.
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