Venice (Italy)
01 SEP 2015
01 SEP 2015
Ever noticed how labels get applied to places, people, or things that have similar characteristics to other, more well known places, people or things. For example, a great footballer in say China will be called 'The Messi of the Far East' or a city or town in Northen Europe with amazing waterways will be called the 'Venice of the North', well, I'm dubbing Venice the 'Suzhou of Western Europe'. Why? Because I can!
We bounded out of Belgrade at some ridiculous hour, I believe it was close to 6am. Again, another question that I can never get my head around answering, why do family holidays always commence before dawn? Was your family ever part of that brigade? The ones that needed to get on the road to 'beat the traffic'. First, I'd like to know, what traffic are you anticipating, is it all those 'mid-morning' road-trippers that you're wanting to beat? And then where are they actually coming from? What about those early morning road-trippers heading your way from the destination your heading to, did you anticipate a convergence point somewhere along the way that might halt your progress? Either way, I never understood the need to rush of as the sun was rising, the purpose was always lost on me, both as a youngster and as an adult.
Another thing I know about road-tripping with my cousin Vladimir. He's one for endless driving. He's a point to point driver without being one of those that like to get side-tracked by additional stops or points of interest on the way. So even though during that day were were going to be driving through Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and the Northern edge of Italy, the drive was always going to be a straight drive from Belgrade to Venice with no other breaks in between other than for petrol or comfort stops. That's just the way he rolls. Ok if you're in a rush, but does it make for a cool driving experience? Well, I'll let you be the judge.
Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
Rialto bridge - Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
Our arrival time in Venice was early afternoon, probably close to 2pm. We stayed in a hotel outside of the actual famous islands that form the well known part of Venice in the lagoon. It didn't take us long however to find get ready, jump a bus and head over the causeway in order to do a little sightseeing. And I have to admit, this day, for the most part was pretty ok. We experienced what tourists usually would on a typical Venice day, the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, Piazzo San Marco and St.Mark's Basilica.
Without doubt the city is an amazing place, both in terms of architecture, construct and lifestyle. I always have a fondness for medieval style places with their labyrinth of alleyways, where the twist and turns brings you so someplace new, hidden and intriguing. Venice to me felt like that but just totally overcome with tourists, my family being part of that dilemma of economy vs. preservation.
We spent probably 3-4 hours in the main part of Venice before an attack of heart, weariness and exhaustion overcame my mother. And here it commenced. Day one of what was going to be two weeks catering to the capacity of 'senior citizens'. Let it be known, this is not a complaint directed at older people or my mother/aunt specifically, its simply that my capacity to do, to see and to go places was now going to be dictated by their levels of fitness and mobility. Anyway, that's something that I'll discuss in future blog pieces. Still, as a start to our road trip I found Venice to be quite a surprising places, somewhere that I'd definitely love to return to and spend a few days in future.
My aunt and my mum - Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
Piazzo San Marco - Venice - Italy
Piazzo San Marco - Venice - Italy
Piazzo San Marco - Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
Without doubt the city is an amazing place, both in terms of architecture, construct and lifestyle. I always have a fondness for medieval style places with their labyrinth of alleyways, where the twist and turns brings you so someplace new, hidden and intriguing. Venice to me felt like that but just totally overcome with tourists, my family being part of that dilemma of economy vs. preservation.
Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
Rialto Bridge - Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
Venice - Italy
We spent probably 3-4 hours in the main part of Venice before an attack of heart, weariness and exhaustion overcame my mother. And here it commenced. Day one of what was going to be two weeks catering to the capacity of 'senior citizens'. Let it be known, this is not a complaint directed at older people or my mother/aunt specifically, its simply that my capacity to do, to see and to go places was now going to be dictated by their levels of fitness and mobility. Anyway, that's something that I'll discuss in future blog pieces. Still, as a start to our road trip I found Venice to be quite a surprising places, somewhere that I'd definitely love to return to and spend a few days in future.
