Loading...Our train from Ravenna dropped us back in Venice at noon. By the time we walked back to our hotel (with a stop in the Piazza del Roma to figure out where the airport bus stopped so we wouldn’t have to worry the following Sunday), I was tired of dragging my poor suitcase around Italy.
We set out in search of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a small church in the Canareggio district that has recently been restored by the American organization Save Venice. We were curious about it because we had both read John Berendt’s “City of Falling Angels” before we came and he talks a lot about Save Venice. Anyway, we took a wrong turn and ended up in Campo Santa Maria Formosa instead.
Rudy Maxa and Rick Steves both recommended taking the gondola rides from S. Maria Formosa and we had intended to check it out. Now, by some sort of serendipity we were here and it seemed that the fates were telling us that it was time to take the gondola ride. I was extremely reluctant. Despite my father’s best efforts, I’ve never felt completely comfortable on a boat, especially not a small low boat like a gondola. I was also most concerned about getting in the gondola and getting out. I was a little terrified.
We approached a gondolier and he pulled out a map. He showed us where he could take us and what he could show us and for how much. We asked to see some interesting things. He said “Casanova? Marco Polo?” We said “Let’s do it.”
According to our gondolier, February is usually the lowest tide month for Venice. That was funny because before we arrived we had read and heard horror stories about the dreaded “Acqua Alta” or floods that can occur. The canals were terribly low which means that the boat is very low, which means that the distance between the steps down to the gondola and the actual gondola is very large.
I got in to the gondola ok, but I was terrified about getting out. I thought about it the whole ride. We glided through Castello and Canareggio, 2 of the oldest districts in Venice. Our gondolier pointed out houses where Casanova had trysts and the house where Marco Polo grew up used to be. We returned to our starting point. Somehow at the expense of my knees I pulled myself out of that boat. I was shaky, all I could think about was climbing out of that boat. That was my storyline about the gondola: ha ha, I almost fell in the water. Thank God that was over.
The other night I was going through the pictures I took during the gondola ride. I was surprised by all the beautiful things we saw. All the little doorways and the quiet little alleyways. Venice was meant to be seen by the water and these were the little waterways that are hardly seen. How interesting, after my experience in Ravenna where I had to stop myself from taking pictures so I could be present and enjoy the experience I was having, that now I had pictures that were better than the experience. I suppose sometimes you don’t always have to be present in your life as long as you have a good camera.
The best way to view the pictures (in my opinion) is to click on the first one which opens a larger view, then click Next in that new window. This way you can also read the captions.
