Ciao, Italy. Part 1: Venice
One week before travel. All sites promise heavy rain.
Three days before the trip. Likewise.
Flight tomorrow. Without changes…
The trip to Italy was unplanned, the purchase of tickets was spontaneous, all this was difficult to fit into a busy work schedule. But in a couple of days, my heart began to ache in anticipation of a miracle, my legs did not stand still, my hands were in a hurry to pack their bags. Attempts to fall asleep on the eve of departure were almost unsuccessful, we got up at 3 am, took off almost without delay, 2.5 hours in the dark sky, on the edge of which the dawn was already trembling, and voila - Treviso airport welcomes us. Small, compact; half an hour after landing, we were already sitting on the bus on the way to Venice. We bought into the offer of one of the bus operators that their flight will take us to the city in 40 minutes instead of ATVO's 70, and the price is similar - 10 euros. Well, bullshit, bullshit, the same hour, but also had to ride the funicular to Piazzale Roma. Although this did not upset at all - additional impressions upon arrival.
Rome square. Strange feelings. Cars, buses, tourists, a sleepy foggy city. But the scent of wonder is already in the air. And so. It was worth taking a step through the first channel, it was worth seeing the water splashing against the old buildings, parked boats, shutters on the windows, benches that were about to open their doors. Tears welled up in my eyes. I can’t describe why, but from the first step I realized that this is MY city. There were many other beautiful European capitals, more pretentious, more refined, more pleasant in terms of climate. But that's not it. Hello Venice! Hello my queen!
The road to the Hotel Tivoli took about 10 minutes almost in a straight line along one of the canals. From the first minutes, the navigator, prudently installed in the phone, helped us. A wonderful old house (however, like everything else in the city), high ceilings, a nice courtyard with a small front garden. The room is very tiny, right under the roof, but the ceilings are 4 meters high with huge beams, the windows are with shutters, two towers are visible from the balcony, the bells on which already announce the exact time. Breakfast is delicious, but standard European. But there is absolutely no desire. We literally run to Piazza San Marco, passing the Rialto Bridge along the way, overcoming titanic efforts not to look into every shop, not to photograph every house and street. And now, San Marco! The area looks huge! St. Mark's Cathedral is beautiful, the Doge's Palace is striking in grandeur... A cup of coffee on the square to the sound of music, and we merge with the city... There are not so many tourists, but they are (as it turned out later, the maximum crowding of people on the square is in the morning, because . . all tour groups gather here - by 12 the square was almost empty). Walk along the embankment, climb the bell tower, from where a magnificent panorama opens. Hmm, and who said that Venice is a small city? ; ) Next, a tour of St. Mark's Cathedral (there was no longer a queue - and an hour ago there was a huge one) and the Doge's Palace. It took several hours to inspect the latter; interior decoration, lush architecture, it's all worth seeing.
Having got out of the captivity of the palace, it was decided to head towards the hotel... no joke, since three in the morning on my feet. But I didn’t want to leave the square at all... as if spellbound, for another half an hour they just stood and admired the colors of the passing day...
. . . Not too early in the morning, the bell, as it should, informed us that it was time to say goodbye to sleep. The streets seemed so familiar, as if we had lived in the city for a long time. We decided to dedicate this day to water walks. In Piazzale Roma, 12-hour tickets for vaperetto (water transport) were bought. The route was as follows: Grand Canal - Murano - Burano. The Grand Canal, as expected, made the most pleasant impression. At Piazza San Marco, we transferred to another boat, which took us to Murano in 40 minutes. Along the way, we passed the little-known and not the most popular areas of Venice, the island-cemetery of San Michele. At first glance, Murano did not strike or surprise. But on the other hand, we ended up in a glass blower's workshop, and after that we slowly walked to the main canal. The atmosphere was very peaceful, the town was reminiscent of Venice, but in miniature - the same canals, the same houses, but very simple, the same shops with works of local craftsmen, the same aroma of coffee... It would seem, nothing special, but so cute, so cozy . It turned out to be an overwhelming task to choose jewelry - the variety made my head spin already in the third store. So, while walking, the track of time was completely lost, we no longer had time to Burano. More precisely in time, of course, it was possible, but the choice was made in favor of another evening in Venice.
The next early morning, saying goodbye to the city, we made a firm decision to return here again and again, for a week, for a month, maybe forever (why not dream about it, right? )...
p. s. By the way, the rain never came, sometimes the sun even shone, and the weather was generally pleasing.
To be continued.
