This past weekend we took a tour group to visit Venezia (Venice) and the surrounding lagoon, staying overnight in a nearby town in Veneto (the region of Italy in which Venezia is the capital city). Because our program director, Cinzia, is veneziana, I was excited to hear about the history and explore the city with someone who knows the ins and outs of a Venezia that tourists don't typically see.
And so we left at like 5:45 Saturday morning, sleeping a bit on the five-or-six-hour bus ride. Upon arriving in Venice, we realized that it was about the hottest temperature we've experienced yet in Italy. Saturday was, in no uncertain terms, miserable. I was sweating through my clothes within ten minutes of getting off of the bus (attractive, I know), and unfortunately, we were distracted most of the day by needs for water, shade, and gelato. I can't say I enjoyed Venice all that much on Saturday, and that's not the only reason. But first, a very brief history of Venice.
Venice was built on a group of 117 small islands in the Veneto Lagoon a long freaking time ago by many concurrent groups of people fleeing invaders from the north. It was isolated enough to grow, and because it sits right on the Adriatic Sea (the part of the Mediterranean east of Italy), it became a huge center for trade across the Mediterranean. Then some explorer (clearly, I'm not getting distracted by minor details) discovered a way to sail around Africa and reach the Indies without passing through the Mediterranean, and Venice began to decrease in prominence. Venice has several big problems now: 1) it is literally sinking as a natural result of erosion; 2) mud that flows from rivers in Italy into the lagoon threatens to clog the canals and take over the city; 3) tourism is Venice's main industry. Tourism has, in fact, driven the cost of living in Venice so high that most Venetians cannot afford to live there and have moved, which is tragic.
And so, I hated the swarms and herds of tourists crowding the walkways, bridges, and boats in the canals. I would have liked to see what it was actually like to live in such a unique city, but instead, I felt like I was in an amusement park. And so Saturday, I realized that despite the excellent architecture and all, I didn't really care to go back to Venice.
Sunday, instead of going into the city, we hopped onto a boat tour around Venice and the Veneto Lagoon. We visited a small island called Murano, which specializes in world-famous blown glass (souvenir alert, some of you), and then spent part of the afternoon on Burano, another small island. Burano was absolutely beautiful, and is probably my favorite place in Italy so far (at least even with Siena). It's not overtaken by tourists, and it's just gorgeous. Every building is painted a different bright color, supposedly so that fishermen could identify their houses when they stumbled home drunk late at night. I wandered alone for an hour or two through back streets and alleys, taking tons of pictures (I killed the battery on my camera that day; the pictures below are all from Burano). We spent a little time in less touristy parts of Venice later that afternoon, and that was a lot more enjoyable than the day before. And so overall, my trip to Venice and Burano was absolutely worth it.
These colors are just insane.
Kathleen and I being adorable.
Just an alley.
Note: the pictures haven't been uploading right, which is why they won't actually open so you can see them at a decent size. I'm going to try again later, when I have time.
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