Happy Monday to you all! Return flights to Europe and an adventure to a sinking city…literally. I only spent a few days in Venice but two things happened to me that I’ll share with you today.
Venice
The first should come as no surprise…the city is sinking…it sits below water level. Exploring the city on foot is really the only way you can get around unless you’ve got access to a boat. This particular morning I was awaken by what sounded like construction work. After meandering out of bed and unto the street in search of some breakfast, I noticed people in uniforms setting up platforms right in the centre of the footpath. A little weird I thought but I just dismissed it as some standard maintenance work requiring low level scaffolding. After consuming a couple of coffees and some cake [standing of course] I noticed that there were large puddles all over the place. Weird. Within half an hour, the water covered the entire city…about ankle deep. An hour after that, it was at knee height. People were scrambling for a spot on these scaffolded platforms along the footpaths. The men in uniforms were in fact snapping together a complete network of raised platforms for tourists to get around. The locals of course knew what was coming, had seen it all before and were prepared. They had waterproof boots that went up to the waists! Bottom half fisherman, top half Italian designer suits!
Water subsiding by mid afternoon the site-seeing, food-eating had began again in earnest. I was told of a particularly good pizzeria worth a visit but was warned how difficult it was to find. I was determined to find this place no matter how long it took; my only constraint was the tummy rumble. After searching for over an hour…[sounds like I’m exaggerating but if you’ve ever been to Venice you’ll know its pretty easy to get lost]…I ask for some directions. Spotting a local wasn’t too hard, an English speaking local…another matter altogether…an English speaking local who knew where this random pizzeria was…tough, real tough. I approach an old friendly gentlemen who looked like he knew the lane-ways like the back of his hand. Thankfully he knew exactly what I asked as if he’d eaten there a million times. He gave me the most detailed and precise directions ever…’take the second left after you’ve gone over the bridge leading onto a red-bricked building that’ll take you to a small courtyard with five other lead-off lane ways…look for the clock on the north-east corner and follow that path for 20 metres. The place you’re looking for is on the left and has a distinctive door’. True storey. The pizza was good. I think it tasted a lot better because I was absolutely taken away by the directions…not to mention the fact that I even remembered what that local geographer had said!