Oh, and the Lido, and Chioggia. And Torcello.
We
wanted to go to Venice again. Paintings, history, decaying architecture,
etc. But we can't afford it anymore. So we went to the Lido.
You
may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here,
so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back
before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings
and can't let go.
30
May 2010, we've been down the Pendolino train under the Simplon
Pass to Milan and thence to Venice St Lucia station, thence by
vaporetto down the Grand Canal and out to the Lido, between the
Venice lagoon and the Adriatic Sea.
And
now we're searching out the Villa Ines at about happy hour.
The
Villa Ines,
a family-run renovation project, for us at this time of the year
is half the price of anything we could find in downtown Venice.
Villa
Ines gardens and very cute kids
Villa
Ines -- our corner room was not capacious, but it was fitted out
to a very high standard, WiFi, whirlpool bathtub, plasma TV (no time for that), excellent
breakfast in the room, and delightfully friendly hosts.
The
Adriatic side of the Lido -- Aschenbach territory. Charming!
Choose
your own umbrella. The Dirk Bogarde/Visconti 'Death in Venice' film
is harrowing -- filmed at the old Hôtel des Bains
just next door. (Mann's harrowing story is also set at the Hôtel des Bains.)
The
Lido has its own canals.
Back
to the Lido port the next day for some sightseeing downtown
Venice
just across the lagoon. St Elena's gardens at the near end are 10
minutes off from the Lido, St Mark's another 5 or 10 minutes onward.
Venice
Extravagant
yachts along the shoreline near the Arsenal
Kristin
down memory lane -- commemorating childhood visits to the Hotel
Gabrielli on the Riva degli Schiavoni
Venice
street scenes
Closer
to St Mark's and we're starting to run into the crowds
Venice
street scene, and another Leaning Tower
Vittorio
Emmanuele statues coming up, be warned.
Kristin
struck with monumental shock and awe. Ettore Ferrari cast these
awful things in 1885 in honor of Italy's first king, Vittorio Emmanuele.
Thanks for that.
The
Bridge of Sighs, built in 1602 to convey prisoners from the courts
in the Doge's Palace (left) to the prison on the far side of the
canal. The advertising hoardings are more recent. Supposedly it
was our old friend Byron who gave it its evocative name. The guy
who designed it had an uncle who made the Rialto bridge (conveniently
named Antonio da Ponte).
Perhaps,
if you need a new watch, this would be the place to come. I get
mine at the Interdiscount chain shops for 19 francs. This is the
Ponte della Paglia, or 'Bridge of Straw', which is briefly disconcerting
but derives from the ancient fodder market here.
Kristin
scoping out the Doge's Palace along the 'Molo' or long wharf. The huge babe with the sunglasses
on the far wall is recent.
San
Giorgio Maggiore from the gondola stop
Riva
degli Schiavoni (apparently refers to the Croatian Slav merchants
who once congregated here)
St
Mark's, the Piazzetta and, beyond the campanile, the Piazza itself, from the water's edge (these are the only piazze so-called in town; in Venice, the other piazze are called campi, or fields)
Hastening
to keep up with Kristin through the throngs of happy shoppers ('I ♥ NY [Venezia]')
-- Out
of our price range
The
Piazza San Marco and Miss Sixty. We're headed for the Museo Correr
(a first time for me).
Kristin
and the Museo Correr
-- Come
along, now. This will be fun.
Excellent
museum, the Correr, lots of nice things, and the Archaeological
Museum (the upper floors on the right) is connected, both price-wise
and through connecting doors. All extremely efficient.
The
Birdman of S. Marco
The
Basilica of St Mark's, and more hoardings. It's excellent, one of
the world's best Byzantine thingies, but the line is long and we've
been there and done that fairly often, so perhaps another day .
. . .
Meanwhile,
round the back, Kristin spies Tetrarchs.
And
here they are, the Tetrarchs. The Emperior Diocletian had the brilliant
idea of dividing the Roman Empire, for administrative purposes,
in half (in A.D. 293), with an Augustus and a deputy Caesar to rule
over each part of it. Good idea, lasted twenty years. This porphyry
statue from Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was ripped off by the
"Christian" Crusaders and brought here in 1204.
We're
inside the Doge's Palace now (on the same ticket as the Museo Correr,
is that cool?).
San
Giorgio from the Doge's Palace
Courtyard
of the Doge's Palace. Reminiscent of my old flat in Gimel, but we
didn't have all the arches.
The
view out the Bridge of Sighs on the way to the prisons (sigh!)
Unsubtle
staircase
His
Dogeness trod these steps every day in the performance of his doge
duties.
The
Bar Americano in St Mark's. (Harry's Bar is just down the way.)
Venice
street scene
Window-shopping.
There are many signposted routes between St Mark's and the Rialto
bridge, not all of them direct, but all of them leading past the
expensive shops.
Ready
for anything
Venice
street scene
A
kiosk. No newspapers, just gewgaws.
A
slender building. We're just wandering about, the best way to see
Venice if you've got a little time.
Venice
street scene. Somewhere in Venice there is a place called "Three
Bridges" where five bridges intersect. We report, you decide.
Monks frequently look for bargains on gothic metal music CDs. And manga.
We're
wandering through the Cannaregio district on the way to the Ferrovia,
to try to book our way out of here at the end of the week. Can't
be done, they tell us that the computers in Switzerland must be
down, come back later in the week. The computers in Switzerland
must be down!!!!
Venice
street scene
Kristin
on the hunt for churches, the weirder the better
Another
dead lady under glass. That's fairly weird.
"Smart
had one good idea and that idea was stupid." . . . Right you are.
Dwight Peck's personal website
Feedback
and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative, 
.
All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 25 May 2010,
revised 15 October 2013.
