ºÝºÝߣ

ºÝºÝߣShare a Scribd company logo

Article 5

?
?
Oluwafunmilayo Ajala
Oluwafunmilayo Ajala

Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, attracting around 50,000 visitors per day. The author describes some of the highlights of visiting Venice, including shopping along the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge, seeing performances by gondoliers, and exploring the art and architecture in St. Mark's Square. Some attractions mentioned are the Basilica di San Marco, Doge's Palace, and Correr Museum. The author recommends taking time to wander off the main streets to find cheaper shopping and appreciate the unique atmosphere of the city's small streets and alleys.

1 of 1
Download to read offline
travel22 October 2010 NEXT234NEXT.com A parked gondola with a gondolierA parked gondola with a gondolier Walking through Venice V enice is one of the most important tourist destinationsintheworld. In 2006, it ranked as the 28th most internationally visited city in the world; and in 2007, it had an average of 50,000 visitors a day.Duetoitsbeautifullandscape (or perhaps more accurately, waterscape), uniqueness, and richmusicalandartisticcultural heritage,thisItaliancitybecame amajorcentreforthegrandtour inthe18thcentury. It remained a fashionable haunt for the rich and famous throughout the 19th century to the early 20th century. The famous Carnival of Venice was revived during the 1980s. Many international conferences and festivalsarenowheldinthecity. Shoppingandfashion The Rialto Bridge and the PiazzaSanMarcohavethelargest convergence of shops in Venice. There is a line of shops on both sidesofeverystreetintheseareas. Although the narrow walkways between buildings can make walking tricky, especially in the touristseason,thishardlydeters thethrongthatplytheroutedaily. For sale on both sides of the Rialto Bridge are the famous ¡®Venetian¡¯ masks in different designs,coloursandsizes.There are also carvings of the gondola with the beautifully painted glasses from Murano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon. The Murano glass comes made in differentshapesandsizesandalso aspiecesofjewellery. I discovered that shopping in the busiest tourist areas is more expensive than walking into the neighbourhood shops to buy some things - ¡®Tourist Price¡¯, it is called. So, I would definitely recommendgoingoffthebeaten track sometimes, for the more economically priced items. A breathtaking view of the Grand CanalawaitsyoufromtheRialto Bridge.Wecouldnotresistgoing down to sit in front of the water andwatchVenetiansandtourists walkingpast. Gondolaride Wewerereallylookingforward toridingagondola,butonasking the price, my friend Avie and I screamed. It was a 100 euro for a trip! That was the price of my plane ticket to and from Venice. We had to pass. We caught our funbywatchingthegondolaglide by; they have different colours, eachwithuniqueinteriorfittings. Somehadredvelvetdrapingwith carvedwoodenlacquerseats. The most interesting ¨C and romantic - gondola ride we saw were a couple with a bottle of champagne and flute glasses, complete with a singer. The guy dished it out in a full tenor concerto voice. Everyone that gatheredonthebridgegavehim a round of applause when he wasdone.Itwasreallybeautiful. From this spot on the canal, we also caught the wonderful sight of a newly married couple still dressed in their wedding outfits taking a gondola ride. It looked liketheweddingofdreams. Artsandliterature Venice was a major centre of art during the Middle ages, Renaissance, and Baroque, and thus went ahead to develop a unique style known as the Venetian School. Canvasses originated in Venice during the early renaissance and they weregenerallyrough,unlikethe polishedpresentdayones. Venicehaslongbeenasourceof inspirationforpainters,authors, poets, and playwrights. Two of the city¡¯s most famous writers are Marco Polo in the Middle ages,andGiacomoCasanova.Of course, as any lover of literature knows, Shakespeare set his famousplays,¡®Othello¡¯and¡®The MerchantofVenice¡¯inthiscity. Therunningtap This phenomenon is worth mentioning because of its peculiarity.Therearemanytaps scatteredallaroundVenice.There isatapalmostateverytwostreet cornersandthestrikingthingwith each,istheshape.Itdoesnothave any device to turn it off. Shaped liketheopenendofafaucet,itis always running. The water that gushes out from it is so cold, it soothesyourthirstimmediately. As a walking tourist, there is no needtobuywater,justcarryyour bottleandbeonthelookoutfora Venetiantap. Openairconcert Afterspendingthepreviousday walkingroundincircles,askingfor directionstotheBasilica,wehad resolved to make it the place to spend the last few hours before catching our flight out. Time permitting, we hoped to visit a museum or two. Unfortunately, weneverfoundtheBasilica. Instead, we saw one of the breathtakingchurchesofVenice and sat down on the stairs with the other tourists watching the flocks of pigeons coming and going. We later found ourselves inanoutdoormusicalconcertof sorts,withaladyplayingthecello accompaniedbyfourmenonthe piano,guitar,anddrums.Itwasa wonderful,coolevening. Afterenjoyingthemusic,weset offonourwaybacktothehostel. Duetothemanydark alleyways ofVenice,itisnotsafetowander thestreetsinthedark.Everyoneis backintheirhousesby8pm;and thestreetsaresilent,exceptforthe busytouristsareaswheremostof thehotelsare. SanMarcoSquare The following morning, we foundtheBasilicadiSanMarco afteranotherroundofaskingfor directions,andIhavetosayitwas worththetrouble. The pathway to the square is betweenanarrayofshopsonthe ground floor of the Procuratie Nuove building. Bursting out to the San Marco Square, it was a wonderful sight to behold. OppositeistheLaFeniceTheatre; andalittlebitfurtherdowntothe right is the Doge¡¯s Palace, also knownasPalazzoDucale. Walking down towards the Basilicaentranceontheleftisthe ClockTower(Torredell¡¯Orologio) withtheviewoftheastronomical clock in the front. Adjacent is the Basilica di San Marco. The entrance has the painting of the ascensionofChristandthereare differentpaintingstellingdifferent storiesontheindividualarchess of the building. Right in front of the Basilica is the Bell Tower of St. Mark¡¯s (Campanile di San Marco),atallbrownishbuilding rightinthemiddleofthesquare. On the opposite side of the square is the Correr Museum. It holds interesting collection of globes, starting from the 16th century. It also has an Archaeological Museum of Roman Antiques and a picture gallery in the building. Not far fromtheBellToweristhecolumn bearing a winged creature, representing the Lion of Saint Mark,facingtheopencanal.From here,youhaveaviewofthecanal initsopenmajesty. Standing in front of the canal and looking round the whole square,itwaslovely,withhundreds ofpigeonsmovingaroundthefeet of the tourists. Funny enough, these particular pigeons seem very at home around people. I haveknownbirdstoflyonhuman approach, but the reverse is the case with the pigeons of San MarcoSquare. Whatawonderfultrip.AsIgot on my flight, I promised myself to come back and spend a week, goingroundtheIslands. By FunMilAyO AjAlA IRRESISTIBLE Staying with the same destination this week, because when you¡¯re in Venice, you¡¯ll just not want to leave. The Rialto Bridge PHOTOS By FunMilAyO AjAlA

More Related Content

Article 5

  • 1. travel22 October 2010 NEXT234NEXT.com A parked gondola with a gondolierA parked gondola with a gondolier Walking through Venice V enice is one of the most important tourist destinationsintheworld. In 2006, it ranked as the 28th most internationally visited city in the world; and in 2007, it had an average of 50,000 visitors a day.Duetoitsbeautifullandscape (or perhaps more accurately, waterscape), uniqueness, and richmusicalandartisticcultural heritage,thisItaliancitybecame amajorcentreforthegrandtour inthe18thcentury. It remained a fashionable haunt for the rich and famous throughout the 19th century to the early 20th century. The famous Carnival of Venice was revived during the 1980s. Many international conferences and festivalsarenowheldinthecity. Shoppingandfashion The Rialto Bridge and the PiazzaSanMarcohavethelargest convergence of shops in Venice. There is a line of shops on both sidesofeverystreetintheseareas. Although the narrow walkways between buildings can make walking tricky, especially in the touristseason,thishardlydeters thethrongthatplytheroutedaily. For sale on both sides of the Rialto Bridge are the famous ¡®Venetian¡¯ masks in different designs,coloursandsizes.There are also carvings of the gondola with the beautifully painted glasses from Murano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon. The Murano glass comes made in differentshapesandsizesandalso aspiecesofjewellery. I discovered that shopping in the busiest tourist areas is more expensive than walking into the neighbourhood shops to buy some things - ¡®Tourist Price¡¯, it is called. So, I would definitely recommendgoingoffthebeaten track sometimes, for the more economically priced items. A breathtaking view of the Grand CanalawaitsyoufromtheRialto Bridge.Wecouldnotresistgoing down to sit in front of the water andwatchVenetiansandtourists walkingpast. Gondolaride Wewerereallylookingforward toridingagondola,butonasking the price, my friend Avie and I screamed. It was a 100 euro for a trip! That was the price of my plane ticket to and from Venice. We had to pass. We caught our funbywatchingthegondolaglide by; they have different colours, eachwithuniqueinteriorfittings. Somehadredvelvetdrapingwith carvedwoodenlacquerseats. The most interesting ¨C and romantic - gondola ride we saw were a couple with a bottle of champagne and flute glasses, complete with a singer. The guy dished it out in a full tenor concerto voice. Everyone that gatheredonthebridgegavehim a round of applause when he wasdone.Itwasreallybeautiful. From this spot on the canal, we also caught the wonderful sight of a newly married couple still dressed in their wedding outfits taking a gondola ride. It looked liketheweddingofdreams. Artsandliterature Venice was a major centre of art during the Middle ages, Renaissance, and Baroque, and thus went ahead to develop a unique style known as the Venetian School. Canvasses originated in Venice during the early renaissance and they weregenerallyrough,unlikethe polishedpresentdayones. Venicehaslongbeenasourceof inspirationforpainters,authors, poets, and playwrights. Two of the city¡¯s most famous writers are Marco Polo in the Middle ages,andGiacomoCasanova.Of course, as any lover of literature knows, Shakespeare set his famousplays,¡®Othello¡¯and¡®The MerchantofVenice¡¯inthiscity. Therunningtap This phenomenon is worth mentioning because of its peculiarity.Therearemanytaps scatteredallaroundVenice.There isatapalmostateverytwostreet cornersandthestrikingthingwith each,istheshape.Itdoesnothave any device to turn it off. Shaped liketheopenendofafaucet,itis always running. The water that gushes out from it is so cold, it soothesyourthirstimmediately. As a walking tourist, there is no needtobuywater,justcarryyour bottleandbeonthelookoutfora Venetiantap. Openairconcert Afterspendingthepreviousday walkingroundincircles,askingfor directionstotheBasilica,wehad resolved to make it the place to spend the last few hours before catching our flight out. Time permitting, we hoped to visit a museum or two. Unfortunately, weneverfoundtheBasilica. Instead, we saw one of the breathtakingchurchesofVenice and sat down on the stairs with the other tourists watching the flocks of pigeons coming and going. We later found ourselves inanoutdoormusicalconcertof sorts,withaladyplayingthecello accompaniedbyfourmenonthe piano,guitar,anddrums.Itwasa wonderful,coolevening. Afterenjoyingthemusic,weset offonourwaybacktothehostel. Duetothemanydark alleyways ofVenice,itisnotsafetowander thestreetsinthedark.Everyoneis backintheirhousesby8pm;and thestreetsaresilent,exceptforthe busytouristsareaswheremostof thehotelsare. SanMarcoSquare The following morning, we foundtheBasilicadiSanMarco afteranotherroundofaskingfor directions,andIhavetosayitwas worththetrouble. The pathway to the square is betweenanarrayofshopsonthe ground floor of the Procuratie Nuove building. Bursting out to the San Marco Square, it was a wonderful sight to behold. OppositeistheLaFeniceTheatre; andalittlebitfurtherdowntothe right is the Doge¡¯s Palace, also knownasPalazzoDucale. Walking down towards the Basilicaentranceontheleftisthe ClockTower(Torredell¡¯Orologio) withtheviewoftheastronomical clock in the front. Adjacent is the Basilica di San Marco. The entrance has the painting of the ascensionofChristandthereare differentpaintingstellingdifferent storiesontheindividualarchess of the building. Right in front of the Basilica is the Bell Tower of St. Mark¡¯s (Campanile di San Marco),atallbrownishbuilding rightinthemiddleofthesquare. On the opposite side of the square is the Correr Museum. It holds interesting collection of globes, starting from the 16th century. It also has an Archaeological Museum of Roman Antiques and a picture gallery in the building. Not far fromtheBellToweristhecolumn bearing a winged creature, representing the Lion of Saint Mark,facingtheopencanal.From here,youhaveaviewofthecanal initsopenmajesty. Standing in front of the canal and looking round the whole square,itwaslovely,withhundreds ofpigeonsmovingaroundthefeet of the tourists. Funny enough, these particular pigeons seem very at home around people. I haveknownbirdstoflyonhuman approach, but the reverse is the case with the pigeons of San MarcoSquare. Whatawonderfultrip.AsIgot on my flight, I promised myself to come back and spend a week, goingroundtheIslands. By FunMilAyO AjAlA IRRESISTIBLE Staying with the same destination this week, because when you¡¯re in Venice, you¡¯ll just not want to leave. The Rialto Bridge PHOTOS By FunMilAyO AjAlA