The City of Water

Hello hello,

We have officially said goodbye to Italy and the host family who have been so generous to us. We spent two days in Venice and I finally got to fulfil my childhood dream. When I was about 10, I read a novel called The Thief Lord (I know, no medals for the title) and the protagonists were young children who ran away to Venice and learn to live on the streets with others. The way the author described the canals and the square and the pigeons just transfixed me. From then on I had this dream to visit Venice at least once to match the image in my head to the real thing, and I have to say it did not disappoint. 

Venice is known as 'The City of Water' and it's a very fitting name. There aren't any cars or any real form of normal transport apart from two train stations. Everyone travels using water buses, which are basically large boats that travel through to the canals to different destinations. It was an interesting experience to be constantly surrounded by mesmerising water at every turn. 

The first day we went to Murano which is renowned for its glass objects. Everything is hand crafted by heating the glass hot enough to be transformed into various shapes and objects. There were also Venetian masks littered in every store and naturally, I did a bit of shopping. 

When I went to El Salvador they sold little ceramic animals and I went a little crazy, buying different sets. So this time round I bought small, glass animals. I have no real interest in buying things that aren't of use, so I figured the small ones would be nicer and take up less space. The actual art itself is spectacular. To think that someone has hand crafted every single piece that we walked past is almost incomprehensible. The roof of most stores were littered with chandeliers which Julian nearly knocked a few times. To create different colours different minerals are added and the glass pieces must cool down slowly to prevent cracking. That precision is someone's livelihood, and an incredibly rare skill. It was a fascinating experience to witness. 

The second stop  was Burano which is renowned for lace. Again, it's all hand crafted and was a little pricier. I personally have no use for lace, but I did appreciate all the intricate work. Most stores have women sitting on stools doing embroidery and creating works of art. This again is another incredible art, requiring so much precision, time and patience. People spend their entire lives learning how to be accomplished in their craft and it's so important that those who pass through these areas realise the amount of effort that has been put into everything. 

Come nightfall we took a gondola ride through the canals of Venice. It was so relaxing and quiet. There was an eerie atmosphere as the ancient buildings were now shrouded in darkness and you could hear nothing but the lapping of the water against the gondola. I still think it was overpriced (100€ for 35min at night or 80€ for 30min during the day) but I guess this is one of those things you have to do once in your life. 

Venice is just a beautiful city. The buildings are old and majestic and the canals give the city such a different feel. You see buildings that have water lapping at the bottom and the alleyways that have dead ends and bridges dotted everywhere. Just taking a boat from the docks and looking at the city on the waterfront is something else. When there's mist and you look at the ocean, it feels like the end of the world and you've reached some unobtainable end. The city floods on occasion and there are platforms for you to walk on and you watch the water cascading over the edge of the docks. I've never been anywhere like it. It's beautiful and mesmerising and so unique. It was exactly like I'd imagined as a child. People fed pigeons in the square and bustled around in fur coats  There were large statues all over the city, some of the winged lion, the symbol of Venice. I genuinely loved every minute of it. I'll be back Italy, one day soon