MY' 'ITALIAN JOB'- 3: VENICE

MY 'ITALIAN JOB"-3 : VENICE

We were greeted by a thin fog on arrival at Venice and that set the 'romantic Venetian mood' for me.I was instantly charmed by Venice's magical atmosphere and I am really hard at words to describe my experience of Venice.
 Venice is rightly the 'world heritage site'.

                                          Map of Venice.

           Venice has an area of some 7 square kilometres and consists of 50 or so islands. It is divided into six districts( sestieri): to the right of Canal Grande are San Polo, Dorsoduro, and Santa Croce; to the left, San Marco, cannaregio and Castello. Its 'Murano' island is famous for glass-blowing industry.
         apporoximately 175 canals flow through Venice. They are spanned by an estimated 444 bridges. The entire city is constructed on oak,larch and elm piles driven into the underlying ground to provide support for the wooden pontoons upon which rest the foundation walls of the buildings.
    The light seems to rise from the water to shine on Venice's facades, domes and bridges. The city still has delightful little squares with trees and old-fashioned cafes in which, by lunchtime, sunbrowned old men ensconce themselves with their 'Gazzettino' and 'prosecco'.
  The gondolas have their own charm but are ridiculously overpriced, though the experience shouldn't be missed, especially in the evening, when the light is perfect and the tranquility is only punctured by the monotonous splash of the gondolian's oar.
  Nighttime in metros like London is almost taxing with thousands of lights and signs glaring down upon you. Hence I found the Venetian night the most beautiful, almost dreamlike. Dark brings stillness to the 'calli' and the canals. All is quiet except for the gentle lap of the waves against the walls and the muffled laughter from the restaurants. At such moments, Venice eems as majestic, magical amd mysterious as a 'murano' glass chandelier in the candlelight.
  Life in Venice is calm and relaxed. Everybody moves on foot ,giving a very 'human' rhythm to daily life, free from stress and hectic activity.
Oh,Venice!!I promise you another visit!!
   Here are some of the photos taken by me:

 Canal Grande:

                                                 'ALL' ARCO BACARO': a cosy wine bar, where you can get the finest wines and delicious snacks.

                                               'CANAL GRANDE in morning fog,

Venice, Sunrise

Venice-view to Pizzaleta

                   Evening scene at the 'Fondamenta della Misericordia' in the Cannaregio district.

This is the best part of Venice (according to me,of course). This is a lively area, full of small shops, workshops and markets. Here students, pensioners, foreigners and locals intermingle. In the evening everyone sits with a glass of wine or spritzer outside one of the bars at the Fondamenta Ormesini. This area is fer away from the busy San Marco Square and is thus almost completely spared from the impact of mass tourism. It has maintained a villege-like, very Venetian charm.

                                                   Duomo, Venice

                                                   Hotel Principe, where I stayed

                                                                  LUCIA, Venice

                                                                Main Tower, Venice

                                   'Mondo in croce'- Giamaria Polenza, Biannale d'Arte di Venezia

                                                 a beauitiful old monument, Venice

                                              the Palazzo, Venice

                                              'Pier Paolo, Venice

                                               ' Prada' building, Venice

                                             another Venetian monuments

                                        the 'Street Musicians', Venice

                                                Beware! you have to pay 8 Euros  for a seat to listen to them!

         Well, it was but natural for me to fall in love with Venice since I have been named after the famous        heroine of Shakespeare's 'The Merchant Of Venice'!!

Have a nice day!!

                                                                                                         .........PORTIA  

My 'ITALIAN JOB'-2 :VERONA

MY 'ITALIAN JOB'-2 :VERONA

On reaching Verona we were put up in Hotel Italia Verona, a really beautiful hotel. On the advice of Mrs. Dorothy I purchased a 'Verona Card' for 15 Euros to see 14 most important attractions of Verona on a guided tour.It is always better to have a proffessional guide with you in Italian cities for correct information and for safeguarding you and your valuables, especially in Verona which is  'famous' for its cheats and touts.

Citygate, Verona

  During this hectic tour I visited the still functioning Roman Amphitheatre which is almost 2000 years old!

                                       ancient Roman amphitheatre (Teatro Romano Dal Museo), Verona
 I also visited the well-maintained ancient monuments like the Verona Cathedral(Duomo), Castell San Pietro across the Peter Bridge, the Loggia del Consiglio, Piazza dei Signori (where Poet Dante's statue is located) and other such places. I won't tax your patience by their description since you can get all such information on 'wikipedia'. However, I am posting here some photos taken by me:

                                          the ancient Arena, Verona.

                                            Verona cathedral (Duomo) 1

                                                  The Duomo, Verona

                                               palazo Maffei, Verona

                                            Piazza Del Signori, with Dante's statue in the foreground.

                                           city-arch while going towards Juliet's house.
 I would like  to hold myself back from posting other  photos here.
  Though all these places took me to a different era, I was much more interested in visiting Romeo and Juliet's houses. Romeo's house is at 4,via Archo Scaligere. The lane is very narrow and gloomy (fit for a tragidy play!), and there wasn't much rush there, so I went  to Juliet's house which was a couple of streets away, just off Piazza del Erbe.
all the while some lines from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet were ringing in my mind, like, when Romeo stealthily comes to visit Juliet and stands below her window and when she comes to that window he exclaims to himself:
            "But, soft,what light through yonder window breaks?
             It is the east, and Juliet is the sun....."
 And then the famous lines of Juliet:
             "O, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?..."
 But my romantic mood was shattered when I saw this vulgar billboard of vodafone directly on the compound wall of Juliet's house! Oh, what blatant commercialisation!:

 But I didn't know that further shocks awaited me. The whole area smacked of cheap and vulgar  commercialisation. the mere entry to Juliet's house costs you 4Euros! And the socalled 'balcony' to Juliet's window isn't original at all!
The place was crowded with teenagers who were making a vulgar exibition of their  'love' with lewd gestures. Some boys weren't sparing even poor Juliet's statue. They were embracing and kissing it and getting photographed themselves while making lewd moves to that statue. Oh, it was so nauseating! Then, many of them were busy writing 'love-messages' on the walls, even by climbing on each other's shoulders!:

                                           'Love- graffiti ' on Juliet's wall

                                                                                     Balcony of Juliet's room-window

Juliet's Statue.

I just wanted to have  a glimpse of the interior of Juliet's room but was unable to move forward even an inch. then there was this Italian teenager girl who was constantly stalking me.Since I couldn't follow her Italian chatter I just smiled at her but God knows what meaning she drew from my smile, she just grabbed me by hand and dragged me up the stairs to Juliet's room. And just when we entered that room, all of a sudden she pinned me in a corner  and kissed me so hard on my lips, almost biting them! I was so shocked by this sudden and unexpected assault that I couldn't even breathe for a minute! When I ultimately gathered some courage and shoved her away there was a huge laughter all around. I practically ran away from that place to save myself from getting further violated. It was only when I reached my hotel room that I could breathe freely. This incidence spoile my beautiful day and left a very bad taste (literally) in my mouth.
 So,  with  a great apprehention that I went out in the evening with my colleagues. On our hotel manager's recommendation we went to a bar named 'Rain'. This bar is located in the heart of Verona. It really provided a great amosphere to enjoy a glass of most delicious wine, nibble some tasty Italian food and listen to great music.

                                        'Modern' Verona: a shop-window
        A hint of caution, though. Veronese are keen eaters of Horse-meat(Cavallo).They can eat any part of the horse!
             I am almost a vegetarian and live mostly on fruits, juices, eggs, bread and cheese. So I survived mostly on Italian 'Pizzocheri (buckwheat pasta with cheese) and 'Bigoli'(a thick spaghetti) during this whole tour.
       The next morning we left for Venice.
I will tell you about my Venice-trip in my next post.
........PORTIA

My 'ITALIAN JOB'

MY 'ITALIAN JOB'...1
Life is full of so many surprises! I had never even dreamt of going to Italy, so I was taken aback when Mrs.Dorothy Webber  offered me  an assignment. Her company has got a contract to run a  'Christmas Holiday' campaign for a group of hotels in Italy. My part of work is to do the write-up and assisting in making a user-friendly layout. Then she graciously offered to take me with her team on a week-long trip to Italy to 'get a feel of things'.
 When I told about this to my mom she readily gave me permission to go, saying,"grab this opportunity, baby! Don't worry about me. I'm much better now and you won't get such chance again. I am so glad that you'll be visiting Venice during this trip.I'll tell you something interesting about it on your return."
   So, I joined Mrs. Dorothy and her colleagues and we reached Milan on last Wednesday,24th October.
           Milan didn't impress me much and we didn't get much time to explore it on account of lenghty business meetings and irritating sporadic drizzles.
   I was getting bored because all my collegues were in their fifties and being much travelled they had no interest in sight-seeing. They were just happy with Italian food and drinks. But sensing my unease, I was allowed to move about.As it is, I am very happy with my own company. Then it is a pleasure to move alone in a place where nobody knows you and even don't understand your language much.You can have your own impressions. Such exploration is really thrilling!
  We visited Milan, Brescia,Sirmione, Verona and Venice during this past week.
        Brescia is the second largest city in the Lombard region of Italy after Milan. It is situated at the foot of the Alps and close to 'Lake Garda'. The famous  'Mille Miglia' car-race starts and finishes in Brescia.

                                             An Avenue in Brescia.

                                             courtyard of a palace, Brescia

                                         A colourful shop in Brescia

                                             the cosy and romantic 'La Zanzara',Brescia                      
  Well,there are so many photos but I won't take up much of your time for them.
     Let me tell you about Sirmione now. Sirmione is a comune in Brescia. I instantly fell in love with this town. It is almost like paradise!
 There are numerous attractions here like 'grotto of  Catullus','the Scaliger Castle','the Church of San Pietro', 'the Villa of Maria callas(one of the most renowned opera singers)' etc but the main beauty of Sirmione is in its proximity to the wonderful 'Lake Garda'.
  Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy,almost half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Verona is to its SouthEast and Brescia to the SouthWest.
  This sweet-water lake has been assiduously kept very clean and there are some hot water springs too! The walk-way around the lake has been laid out so imaginatively that I just walked on and on  till my legs gave up and night descended upon me!
 Here are some photos of Sirmione and the 'Lake Garda':

near Lake Garda

                                            near the Scaliger Castle, Sirmione

                                               scaliger Castle, Sirmione

                                              Entrance of Villa Maria Callas

                                            pathway to Bar Spaggia.

                                              Lake Garda 1

                                               Lake garda 2

                                             Beautiful sidewalk of Lake Garda

Lake Garda

Hot- water springs in Lake Garda

 

The sidewalk of Lake Garda

Another view of Lake garda

Oh, I have taken so many photos of this wonderful lake, but I urge you to visit this place at least once.

From Sirmione we went to Verona, but about it in my next article.

.....Portia