I took yet another wrong turn and looked around. It was 10am, but down here in the maze-like bowels of Venice it could’ve been 10pm. I’d been up since 4am and the caffeine from the cup of coffee on the plane was wearing thin. Breakfast would’ve been lovely and there was certainly the tantalising smell of food in the air, but following my usually-acute sense of smell had already led me into three dead ends.
A couple of geriatric Italians grinned at me toothlessly from a doorway. Even if I attempted to ask them for directions in Italian they would feign illiteracy.
I stared at them and grinned back, making the shape of a gun with my index finger and thumb. My over-sized canines had done most of the work, but I had to admit: the finger-gun was a nice touch. Pointing it at the pensioners I asked: ‘Dov’è Al Doge Beato?‘ They showed me, with a nervous succession of frail arm movements, where I might find my humble abode for the next two days: The Blessed Duke, the Happy Duke — something like that. It sounded cheesy, but it was charming– everything in Venice is lovely.
Perhaps ‘lovely’ isn’t quite the right word; ‘quaint’ better describes the almost-complete dilapidation of the city. As I walked on, almost everything is in an awful state of repair. There’s something about floating in the middle of a warm and windy salt-water lagoon that really eats away at the paint and brickwork. A few bridges and labyrinthine turns later, I stood outside my hotel: a canal-side, turn-of-the-millennium building — and I’m not talking about a few years ago! My room looked out over a canal on one side, and had a floor-to-ceiling double-door leading out onto an ancient stone balcony on the other. It wasn’t cheap, but considering nothing in Venice is, I thought I’d splash out.
‘You can’t miss Piazza San Marco, just head towards…’ I zoned out as he begun gesturing wildly with his hands. It was obviously an Italian thing, pointing and gesticulating; some kind of sign language that I wasn’t privy to. He noticed the blank look on my face. ‘I’ll get you a map.’ Armed with my map and camera and finger-gun I looked around and then at the map, trying to catch my bearings. Picking one of the three paths that headed south at random I felt like one of my other namesakes, Sebastian Cabot. He’d been a major player in Venice back in the day and he’d probably had less difficulty navigating Venice than me — he ended up exploring Brazil for the King of Spain! — but I gave it my best shot. I’d already decided ahead of time that ‘getting lost in Venice’ would be one of the primary objectives of my trip. Losing myself as I cut between two buildings that were no more than half a meter apart; disappearing amongst the endless serpentine alleys, lost to the world. Venice isn’t big, but you only need walk 50 meters off the beaten path, turn a few corners, and you’ll find yourself alone, standing beneath the imposing facade of a Gothic church or Renaissance house.
First up was a trip to to the Piazza — the only real open space in central Venice and the home of most major landmarks in Venice. There’s also a huge clock tower in the middle which, as you’d expect, grants a spectacular view of the ancient core of Venice.
There are museums and churches aplenty in Venice, much like every major city in Italy, but they pale in comparison to the ones in Florence and Rome. I could easily spend hours writing about the 50 churches that I visited during my trip, but that’d be boring! (Unless you like churches a lot… like me!) Perhaps you can now understand where my recent interest in dissecting religion has come from — you can only spend so long basking in the shadow of such an ancient, powerful institution — Roman Catholicism — before something goes ‘pop’.
Venice was home to the very first Jewish Ghetto, a Venetian word that probably derives from ‘iron foundry’, or a corruption of ‘Judaca’, the name given to the streets in which the Jews were confined to in Venice. This is where Jewish segregation all began, though this ghetto didn’t enforce labour like later incarnations around the world — it was merely separation from the aggressive and violent Christians. Set up by the incumbent Duke to protect rather than enslave, the Jews probably sought refuge there — they definitely weren’t free to leave however! It was also around this time that Jews became, um, Jewish: Catholic law prevented money-lending, but Jewish law did not. Jews also became the best doctors because most medical texts at the time were in Arabic, a language that Italians and Venetians struggled to understand.
The Venetian Ghetto existed until Napoleon came along in 1797 and removed all of the gates that had penned them in for 250 years, though some early documents could put it over 700 years! All that remain are the hinges that held those gates, but the Jewish love of money lives on! (Remember, it’s not our fault though — blame the Pope!)
It was a little sad, walking around the dirty, tired streets of Venice, a city that had once been the most affluent city state the world has ever seen. The Queen of the Adriatic was one of its many names, a name that makes you wonder just how opulent and vibrant the city had been 600 years ago. For centuries, Venice was ruled by merchants – a republic, led by aristocratic merchants, their sole purpose being to make more money (something they did very well. What most people don’t know is that Venice actually held an empire — a small one, mainly consisting of the Aegean islands Crete and Cyprus, but an empire nonetheless. They had a sizable military force, and their navy of 3,000 ships were almost invulnerable in their stronghold of a lagoon. Most were merchant ships but often converted into warships when piracy flared up in the East, or when they played a large part in the Forth Crusade — the crusade often viewed as the final schism between Catholic and East Orthodox religions — a role in a war that would ultimately spell the end of the Byzantine empire. Not bad for an unnavigable flyspeck of an island!
And the scary bit? It was all made possible with money; a leader with almost unlimited resources and support from a loyal, trusting republic: that’s capitalism.
the girl in stiletto
May 13, 2009
i love you for this. i can smell, hear, see & taste my last summer, the best summer i had so far. i love venice, but not as much as i love florence. venice is magical in its own way though. i spent 3 days wandering around, getting lost in the mazes. and the masks…. someday im going to go there again, to buy more masks.
Abi
May 13, 2009
I love the writing in this post. Due to a combination of factors I have never made it to Venice (got as far as leaving the house but that is another story). I should probably up and go before it crumbles away completely.
chrome3d
May 13, 2009
The moon, Venioce and the boat…the beauty andf history just oozes from that photo.
Threatening to shoot geriatric italians? You are a baaaad naughty man!
The Demigoddess
May 13, 2009
Venice is definitely one of those places I have to go to before I die. Something about the place being dilapidated and crumbling makes it so enticing…Is it better to get lost in Venice alone or with a partner? Whatcha think?
sebastian
May 13, 2009
Hehe, as always, I have so much more to say about Venice than will fit in 1000 words. I might have to write a bit more, I think — I visited the other islands, and got REALLY lost for a while on one of the islands… an island which, in theory, was only about 100m wide, but somehow I just couldn’t find my way out.
The full moon photo was pure luck. I had no idea it was going to be a full moon that night, but I camped out at the top of the clock tower for a couple of hours and just watched the city. And then when the moon finally came up, and the boat came into view… well, I knew it had been worth the wait!
Chrome — I did a lot worse in Italy… there’s a reason I like to travel alone, so that I don’t embarrass anyone else…
You should go Abi, but I would probably recommend Florence and Rome over Venice, if you’re only going to do one city — Florence, as you will soon find out, when I write about it, is a whole different beast. Michelangelo’s David… tears still come readily, just thinking about it.
sebastian
May 13, 2009
If you don’t mind making out against a moldy wall, Demi, I’d definitely go with a partner… It would be cheaper too, as rooms are at least 100 euros a night there (well, if you want more than a bed and a shared bathroom).
But obviously, going with someone makes the trip totally different. You can’t get lost in the culture, and you always have that ‘crutch’ to fall back on, if you get lost, or if you get lonely…
I’ve always travelled alone, and I think got more out of it because of that. The ONLY thing I regret is not being able to share some of the beautiful things I’ve seen with other people. Some of the sights I’ve seen, if I’d shown them to a girl, I think she might be mine forever…
Hezabelle
May 13, 2009
Gorgeous! I’ve always wanted to go to Venice. Someday, someday!
Sebastian Cabot as in the son of John (Giovanni) Cabot who discovered Canada?
sebastian
May 13, 2009
Yup, the very same! Quite an adventurous family, it would seem. Padua, Genoa and Venice were very, very strong city states at the time — which then led into the glory years of the Renaissance. Sad, really, that Italy today has nothing but its history.
Hezabelle
May 13, 2009
There are a lot of countries around now who have little but history to their names. All of the former world powers are pale shadows compared to their former glory… and compared to the bright sparkly American Empire.
It’s sad, really. I mean, look at Egypt or Macedon. And poor Greece only got just over 200 years of real power.
sebastian
May 13, 2009
I’m glad you didn’t include the British Empire in that list of ‘in the shadow of their former glory’, though we probably should be. Remember, America is still very fresh, and the only imperialistic force still going — every other nation got it out of their system 2000 years ago, or more recently in some cases!
I think the Greeks had over 200 years of power, but it was more decentralised — their language and methods of thinking, their philosophers… they had a massive effect on the early Roman Empire. Though, they were simply a bunch of philosophers by the time Rome branched out into the Near East, I guess.
Rini
May 13, 2009
Sebby… your pictures… I’m always in love with your pictures…. we need to talk about prints some time…..
floreta
May 13, 2009
i love the first picture best!!
i’m reading Eat Pray Love and she talks about Venice. I wonder if she mentioned the Piazza.. Will have to eat pizza there if I ever go
LiLu
May 13, 2009
You’re doing a TMI Thursday?
This seems way too smart-y for the crowd I usually run with on Thursdays… we shall see…
(Meant as a compliment. Love your writing.)
sebastian
May 13, 2009
Pfft, don’t insult your TMIers!
I’ll dip down to your level for a day, don’t you worry…
Thanks!
Katie
May 13, 2009
I’ve always wanted to do traveling, and I’ve always had intentions of saving up a little travel fund. Of course, the problems I ran into were A) I’d have to dip in for an emergency or B) No one was willing or financially able to go with me on the trip. I simply won’t travel alone.
The pictures you took are amazing. They might be Katie Desktop worthy at some point.
MinD
May 13, 2009
Looks beautiful, and the history of Venice and how it was built truly is amazing. Wish I could go there. Some day, maybe. Probably not. =/
Hannah
May 13, 2009
I love that first photo. It’s beautiful.
I’ve never had a desire to go to Italy (like most people seem to have)..still don’t really, but you almost make me want to, almost.
sebastian
May 14, 2009
I never really had a urge to go to Italy either actually, until last year. And then I thought… shit, other than England, it probably has the richest ‘almost modern’ history in Europe, or maybe the world! Sure, there’s not a whole lot going on there now (Rome is a joke — a monument to 2000 years ago and the Renaissance and not much else!), but the history is so rich, and the churches so beautiful…
Wait until I finish telling the stories, and you’ll want to go, I hope
If there’s a photo you particularly like, Katie, let me know and I’ll send you a larger version — as long as you promise not to share it, and tell all your friends about me! If you can make the long hop over to London, I may be available for further travels around Europe, but all I’ve got left is the cold countries now…
Get a travel journalism gig, MiniD! I wish I could…
The P.D.O
May 14, 2009
you went to venice and did not even invite me? what is up with that. love the pictures and your writing. yum. i think this is the 4th time i have read over your post. i think i am in love. is that alright with you?!
sebastian
May 14, 2009
Sorry, I never invite anyone on my trips…
Though, I’m sure one day I’ll get married and do it all again, but to show my kids the sights
It’s fine by me… but you didn’t even send me a birthday present. What is up with that?
Sarcastically Bitter
May 15, 2009
I love the first picture. It would look great on my wall!