Ok I will try now to start the anamnesys process to recall
the memories and sensations experienced during these past 4 days...
Prelude
*******
Ok, for me there was also a prelude, and not a very happy one, I might add, because one day before leaving for Venice, realizing that I have some spare time on my hands, I decided to go for a basketball game in the Sportscentre. All was fun and nice up to the last minute of the game when after a "beautiful" jump I found myself landing on some other guys foot, which resulted in a twisted ankle for me... Anyway, only the fact that I was now gifted with a double-size ankle was not enough to make me give up my long-planned trip. So thursday evening I was leaving for Venice...
Il Viaggio (The Trip)
**********
From Lausanne I left together with Joanna, a polish girl
finishing her Ph.D. in EPFL which I met through a romanian girl studying
also in EPFL. Since we couldn't make reservations for a "couchette" place
we had to settle for sitting places. However, already from the beginning
we could notice small "surprises" in the sense that some people were desperately
looking for their cars and were receiving calm answers from the train personal
saying: "Oh, tonight we don't have the car 302. We had some problems with
the heating and we had to remove it from the train!". How thoughtful, I
was thinking, being happy at the same time that our places were where they
were supposed to. In the end, they seemed somehow organized since at some
other station they added a new car to replace the missing one and redirected
the people with proper reservations to the new one.
"Funnier" was that right after the italian border, in
Domodossola we were also told to move to another car, since ours was not
going to get heating anymore. "How thoughtful!" I said again to myself,
especially when, after we got down of the train we were asked to wait some
15 more minutes outside, because our car was not ready yet, and when we
finally got in was only to find ourselves in a fridge-car who needed one
our to get to a temperature allowing human habitat...
The good thing about the trip was that we were not robbed. From many sources, including the train personal we were told to lock the doors (as if we could!) and pay attention, because there may be some problems. So, apparently, (although I will not have any problems on the return trip either) night travelling by train through Italy might be as dangerous as that through Hungary. Btw, there was a really *weird looking* character who was strolling around the hallway looking carefully in each compartment studying the occupants and their luggage...
Finally, with less than an hour delay, we reached Venice's Santa Lucia station around 8.00
Intermezzo - Let's go...
************************
Before going on to the story of our first day I want to
make a comment on what has become for me synonym with "The Traveller's
Bible". I have discovered the guide series "Let's Go" through the volume
on Switzerland from which I have discovered more about Lausanne and budget
opportunities than from anywhere else. Then, I had a look on those dedicated
to France and Germany, being persuaded by the books friendly and useful
style.
So I'm talking about a "budget travel guides" collection
(it is not the only one around) which shows the american tourist (yes,
it is an american guide) what one can see or avoid (interesting sights
are recommended apart from those usually known to the tourists or recommended
by tourist offices), where one should sleep or eat, etc. throughout one's
journey through the world. What I really liked about this book is that
it shows the cheapest accommodation opportunities and food arrangements,
but also shows nice specific places to go, or stay if one has enough money
to afford it.
The local specific is always an issue they address. For
example there is no mention of the McDonalds restaurants in Venice, although
they are obviously the cheapest deal around. So, if one travels to Italy
and does not want to taste the local pasta, or pizza, or sea food specialties,
not even for the most affordable prices, then it is really a shame.
I hope the McD fans will not get me wrong, because I
also ate once there while in Venice, just because it's cheap and convenient,
but...
Prima Giornatta (The First Day)
*******************************
So we arrived well, but we had to pick up two more characters:
Joanna's sister who was coming directly from Poland, by a bus which was
supposed to arrive at 7.00 in Mestre (the other Venice station, on the
continent) and Arvid, a german guy, friend of Joanna who was supposed to
arrive around 8 from Munchen.
The first thing I did (following Let's Go (LG) advice)
was to buy a *real* map to help me wonder the streets of Venice, while
Joanna went to a hotel booking agency, situated right in the station, from
which she accepted the first available office for a double room (150.000
lire/night) with bath. I (and some americans we met in the train) told
her about cheaper opportunities, but she had a point in saying that it's
better to have a room to begin with (to leave your luggage at least) before
wandering (possibly without success) from one hotel to another.
Then, we went to Mestre to pick up Dagmara (Joanna's sister who arrived at 6.00) and we decided to look around in search for both cheaper rooms and... excitement up to 13.00 when a backup meeting was established with Arvid.
Me, I was quite lucky, since after going directly to the first "albergo" which LG recommended as the "best deal" in Venice, i managed to find a place for 30.000/night! For me, it was exactly what I was looking for: a bed in 5-bed room (where I immediately got acquainted to some guy from SanFrancisco who set up a meeting with a friend in Venice for that day, without knowing that it was Carnival time!) with shower on the hall, warm at night, very clean sheets (although I was obviously using the sleeping-bag).
Now, let's start talking about Venice:
Venice has some part on the continent (Mestre) which
I think is as normal as it gets, with blocks, cars, and so on, that's why
I think it's not even worth naming it Venice. The main city is actually
a collection of islands (some very close to each other) situated in a lagoon
of the Adriatic Sea, a lagoon with the entrance almost completely "covered"
by a long, thin island called Lido. This is an island completely apart
from the "kernel" of the city and... that's all I have to say about it
so far.
Venice is considered to be divided in some quartals (Cannaregio, Castello, San Marco, Dorsoduro, etc). The main idea is that you have a big channel: Il Canal Grande, which twists for a several times like a snake among the pieces of land, and which can be crossed by foot on three bridges: at the station, Rialto and Academia. Between these traffic centers lies an incredible maze of little streets and channels. You can very often find yourself at the end of a street which ends with some stairs leading... into the water! So you can but go back and try again.
My first contact with Venice's streets was when we had to find Joanna's hotel. I saw on a map (and we were also told) that we should take the second street to the left. We started and after a couple of minutes we realized we walked too far (the street should have been real close). We turned back and I had the first revelation: the "street" we were supposed to find would have been named in usual terms "back alley" or sthg like that. But, as I was to discover very soon, most of Venices streets do not exceed 1.30m in width, some being even narrower. Nevertheless on such a street one will find shops on both sides, one more appealing than the other!
However, in this intertwining labyrinth where indeed the best help is a good map (as I had!) you don't get lost very easily because almost everywhere you can see signs pointing to the main points of the city: Rialto, San Marco, Academia, the station (Ferrovia). Btw, in case you didn't realize in Venice there are NO CARS! I didn't see any bicycle either. (Venice can be reached by car through some big bridge, but the driving area ends near Piazzale Roma were parking places -although not sufficient as I heard- are available). The public transport is done with "vaporetto" (some small ship), the taxies are motorboats, and the gondolas are... as everybody must have already heard about.
Coming back to the orientation in the city, one would see huge crowds of people walking but, obviously, without a specific goal or destination! Maybe one would like to get to Rialto for instance, but as soon as one would lose the right turn, after two more crossings he would find another sign showing another possible way for the desired destination, of course not necessarily the quickest one. I think that if we were to be observed from above, we were behaving exactly like hamsters in a maze, with the difference that we would almost never return on our footsteps, because -as weird as it may sound- in Venice, no matter which street you take you are somehow on a good path to your destination! Some other thing I just remembered is that the signs tell you which way to go, but you actually have no idea as to how far you are from the target. That's why at some point, having no idea as to where i am exactly, but thinking of returning home (which was close to the station) I was happy, although somehow surprised, to find directly signs showing towards "Ferrovia"; I was on my first evening there and I new only one way from San Marco to the Station, that is crossing the Rialto (I was aware of the possibility to cross at academia, but that was obviously in other place from where I was). So I followed happily the sign, wandering how did I got so close to station without realizing it, the answer being that I was not close at all, but some 30min away, only that I was following another way (actually more direct) than the one I knew! Anyway what I am trying to say is, that when we were in some hurry to get to one place, and we didn't know exactly where we were, the simple presence of a sign showing the way was by no means an indication of how close we are.
Let me now come back to the narrative thread of my story saying that we started on foot towards San Marco, and that my orientation instinct worked almost flawless (although I did not follow all the time the guiding signs). Being friday, around 11 o'clock, the streets were not yet very crowded (actually I thought they were pretty crowded, but it wasn't until sunday that I were to realize the true meaning of the word "crowded"!!). We stopped at a coffee shop near Rialto to have a first taste of the italian specialty which was immediately to become a daily habit: hot chocolate. It is useless to say that it is amazingly tasteful and if you take it with cream is a real treat! It had also another great quality: Since we were in mid february, although we enjoyed some sunny days, it was rather cold on the streets of Venice. Probably this is normal due to the city structure so close to water, narrow shadowed streets and all. So the chocolate was a great way to warm up, especially in the morning. Others would argue that there are better ways to do this, but I would not figure myself drinking whisky or vodka on Venices streets, and the wine (which is indeed very good in Italy) does not have the same immediate effect. Ok, so the price for this first specialty may vary between 4000-5500 Liras or 7000 liras (with cream) in a rather normal local. At Florian's, the most famous coffee shop in Venice (situated right in San Marco place) the same thing would have costed 12.000 Liras, so I left this pleasure for some other time. (Actually Florian was also very crowded, being very difficult to find a free table!)
After this first chocolate we ran to San Marco,
because in the proximity there is the "Assesorato alla gioventu" where
you could get for 5000 Lira a "Rolling Venice" card which gave you discounts,
starting with transport on vaporetto and continuing with a list of restaurants
and shops.
Then we took the ship back to the station to meet with
Arvid.
I must now make a comment, saying that the guy is
the prototype of german precision and practicality in actions without unneeded
ornaments. He showed up with a backpack smaller and emptier than the one
I usually carry at school, and he said -upon seeing my rucksack, indeed
overloaded (my usual mistake)- that I must have in there enough for half
a year.
Anyway he turned out to be a nice guy also, and the four
of us had some really fun time (especially while having lunch)
*****
From now on I will not try to tell what I did sequentially
by days, because mainly it was the same thing: walking like crazy on the
streets from 8.30-9.00 till late in the evening (actually not later than
midnight). I will just try to say a few words about the main attractions.
And I will start with the most difficult to tell about...
Il Carnevale
************
Even before arrival I realized that visiting Venice during the Carnival would not allow me, practically to see the city. But although intellectually I was aware of that, I wasn't really imagining what Il Carnevale means.
Il Carnevale is a huge crowd of tourists,
so huge that, at certain moments the police would have to guide the pedestrian
traffic, declaring one way streets (for instance only *from* San MArco),
acting as traffic lights in small plazzas and crossings, or as delimiters
between the two lines of traffic forcing everybody to walk on the right
side;
But more than a mass of tourists there is a mass of happy
people! You cannot but "feed" yourself from the overwhelming joy and
happiness that is around you. You see serious people, professors maybe,
wearing the famous venice hats, or allowing the army of "face painters"
from San Marco square to adorn them with a "trucco" for only 10,000 Lire;
You can see old people rejoicing along with their children or husband/wife
while watching the everfalling confetti rain.
But, of course, Il Carnevale is mainly
about masks and costumes. In Venice, one can find hats and masks for sale
even in tobacco shops or newsstands. Even the banks have in their windows
several masks for display. And of course there are special shops which
leave you staring at the richness and variety of their offer.
But I was not impressed by the masks alone, in the first
moment. I was thinking: "Ok, you buy some mask, even a crazy one, you put
it on and? Does this mean you are costumed? What's the big deal you've
done?"
The answer is that indeed, buying a mask is not the key
to good costuming, but it is only the beginning. Because, together with
masks you can buy (or make by yourself, if you're good at it!) also costumes.
And the creativity of combining the two elements gives birth to what is
called during the carnival as "una mascchiera" (a mask) - that is a full
costume, with its own story to tell and which must be worn with dignity
and great acting.
What I meant by the last words, I will try to explain now, by answering the question: "Ok, you have your costume, now what?". Actually the difficult part just begins! Because you will be walking around the city, being every second the character you are representing, being always ready for the photographers, smiling, joking, being spontaneous... Believe me this is not an easy task!! I saw masks who maybe were tired after playing this game for a while, or they simply wanted to go to lunch, and were forced to act "rudely" towards cameramen who would stop them every two steps. The idea is that when you are tired, you have to retire and take off your costume for a while in order not to spoil the atmosphere.
There is also a sad thing I noticed in the world of masks: that is some masks, which were willing to participate, to joke, aso but in the madness of costumes around, theirs would pass as not so spectacular. I was a little bit saddened by the view of some masks walking through San Marco, waiting to be stopped by people and photographed, but being ignored because some better costume was around. Then I was happy again noticing that there are solutions even in this case, because what the costume cannot do by itself can be solutioned by a very good acting or by creating groups of 4-5 characters with (not necessarily) similar masks.
Examples of masks?
To ease down a little the enthusiast atmosphere of the story I will come to depicting more "worldly" things:
Food
*****
The food offer is extremely large both as variety of content
and places to eat are concerned. On each street in Venice you will find
a ristorante, a pizzeria or a trattoria and if I add to those the pastry
shops and the coffee shops (caffeteria) which usually offer some quick
snacks to go with your chocolate or coffee, it will be clear for everybody
that you have a vast choice. The only problem may be the price...
What did I eat? Well... of course: pizza! And for those
who know me it is obvious which sort of pizza (calzone). In the first evening,
after I got lost from the other 3, I went in one such pizzeria where I
was going to discover for the first time "il coperto". This is some kind
of fixed tax which you have to pay for each person and which can vary between
2,000 and 5,000 Lira (maybe even more, but I don't dare to think about
it). The thing was, that together with coperto my check was over 20,000
lira so I was entitled to a discount grace to the Rolling Venice card.
So I started a little argument with the waiter in a very italian way and
finally I paid only what I first figured I should! (He, he...)
Since I mentioned it, I have to say my italian speaking abilities did not betray me and were actually very useful in certain situations. Anyway I enjoyed it because I really like italian. And to end this linguistic chapter I might add that although it is helpful to know at least some basic italian, I don't think is a problem for those who don't, because in Venice, which is such a touristic city, speaking in English, French or even German is not a very big problem.
To finish also this "food" chapter I have to say that I really enjoyed the meal we had in a place recommended by LG, although the rest of the group was not very happy about having to wait in the street for some 20min for a free table. Finally I think they enjoyed it too, because the local had some nice ambiance and was actually cheaper than others we've been to. The place was called "Bora Bora" and their motto was "Bora Bora dove si mangia il pizza e ci s'innamora" (Bora Bora where you eat pizza and you fall in love (with it))
Well, and if I didn't really fall in love with Bora Bora, it was still impossible not to fall in love with il gelato (the icecream). If Venice is not famous for pizza (probably that's a specialty from the south of Italy), it is definitely the leader in icecream. There is no point in waking your appetite (and mine also for that matter) by trying to explain how good it really is, because you really have to taste it to realize that. To sum it up, LG says: You can translate it by 'ice cream', but 'gelato' is in a league of its own.
Tourist Venice
**************
I started by mentioning that you cannot really *see* Venice during the Carnival. First of all there are queues and crowds everywhere which doesn't make visiting too pleasant. Then, if you heard of some special place, of some picturesque little street and want to get there, you will be surely swept away by the tourist wave to some other direction because you don't have, physically, the necessary place to stop and check the map.
Under these circumstances this is what I was able to do:
The church itself is very beautiful, but although entrance is for free, you realize that you have to pay for the access to the most interesting rooms: The Golden Altar piece, The Treasury Room aso. (3,000-4,000 Lira) I went up to the Galleria dei Cavalli which is a balcony with a great view upon the square You can watch all the action going on down there, or you can simply sit on some stone and warm up in the nice sun (which is actually a great thing to do in February, and otherwise a rather difficult thing to do since even on sunny days the narrow streets of the city, close to the water, are always in the shadow and rather cold. That is another reason why San Marco square is so popular i think, because you find yourself coming from a little tiny street in a huge sunnnnny square!)
I was almost forgetting the most famous element of the square: the pidgeons! Although this time they were outnumbered by the tourists (usually it is not the case since there are really a lot!), they were exactly as depicted in the postcards showing this square. They are not afraid even when you step 3 inches from them, and if you carry food with you... you become instantly a pidgeon holder! Of course I bought some food and I hope the pictures my friends took managed to capture the crazy atmosphere which was created. Actually I think I would have loved to feed them every day just for fun, but... there was not enough time.
The end
*******
The initial romanian version of this story took me 4 hours to write, and the english version (more complete in some details) I think even more. So I should stop right now...
Still what else could I say... Friday evening there
was the mask contest (I enjoyed most the 3rd place - a princess all dressed
in white, a very powerful appearance, which I liked better than the first
two places - which were awarded to 2 groups of costumes, one with some
mayan, inca inspiration the other just a colorful, although original set
of costumes).
Saturday it was the dancing night (there were also a
lot of private balls going on, but they were pretty expensive (500,000
Lira) and we didn't even know the exact places). There was a lot of dancing
in San Marco square and a lot of happy people (almost everybody with some
wine bottle in hand).
The "Gondolieri": proud looking men (usually also good looking) which you easily recognize by their special hats adorned with differently colored bands (maybe the sign of different guilds?)
Oh! And I almost forgot! The music...
Of course there were a lot of concerts going on in churches
and special places (Vivaldi, Albinoni but also Wagner, etc.) On the streets
all sorts of entertainers: guitar players, puppets playing the piano, every
possible kind of juggling, but from all these two other things captured
my attention:
Another funny thing was some latin group who created a
real dance ring in front of the station, and everybody could stop and enjoy
some samba or merengue rhythms. Actually I also did that after my friends
left sunday evening, and it was a lot of fun dancing for a while and having
fun with total strangers...
I cannot remember more for now...
I took a "couchette" for my return trip and this was
a wise choice since the train had 2 hours delay waiting for some other
train which was probably supposed to bring some more passengers...
I arrived in Lausanne around 8.30 AM and I was proudly
walking with one of the 3 hats I bought from Venice and wearing make-up
on my face to the amazement of the local people...
However I did not have the guts to go also to EPFL like
that... :-(
That's all folks,
For all interested I may come back with details upon
request.
A piu tardi,
Ciprian
PS
My attempts of writing some italian phrases were just
to recreate somehow the local ambiance. Some of them may be incorrect from
a writing point of view, but I never had to write in Italian before...
A good sound background for writing this letter was for
me Toto Cutugno's song: "Venezia" ("C'est Venise"). Who knows it may try
to use it also... :-)