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Other entries in Venice

Water World

For those of you unfamiliar with the similarities between the movie, Mad Max, and the movie, Water World, allow me to explain them to you. the first movie, mad max, (which david had a chance to watch for the first time on this trip but neglected to do because he is naieve to its greatness) is set in a barren futuristic wasteland inhabited by scavenging, agressive nomads willing to do anything to survive. it begins by introducing the main character as a badass loner fully capable of taking care of himself in a dramatic opening sequence. the story continues by putting this unlikely hero in harms way when he attempts to barter for necessary supplies but finds the trading partners unhappy with his terms. he is taken prisoner but soon escapes with a little bit of luck and goes on to help his captors defeat an even greater villain. once bygones are allowed to be just that, the main character takes the fight to the enemy in an incredible battle involving massive machines and even larger vehicles. of course, in the end, the good guys triumph and there is a vague possibility of a sequel. well, Water World is exaclty the same with a few key differences. it has the same character as the hero, same desolate environment, same desperate but ruthless villains, same alliteration with the M now upsidedown as a W, same plot, and pretty much the same ending. the differences are the setting and the cost. instead of empty desert, they had empty ocean and instead of a $400,000 budget, they had a $175 million budget. so that is basically how i would sum up Venice. It is exactly like all other italian cities except that it is set on water and it costs about 400 times the price.

the morning we left florence and saw the leaning tower, we finished in venice. we arrived in the middle of the afternoon so we thought we would have plenty of time to get set up and see much of the city in the fading day's light. but we really had no real idea about the city and thus were soon informed in a very abrupt way. we followed the infrastructure (by the way, so nice to be back in the land of good infrastructure. such a help to the weary traveler) signs across a bridge into the city. once we were inside the city, we started to look for lodging but the problem was that we really werent in the city at all. we found ourselves stuck in a parking lot with no exits except back out across the bridge we had just crossed. we did a few reconnaissance loops and found nothing. when we thought we were heading in the right direction, we actually had taken a wrong turn and found ourselves heading back out over the bridge. we tried to correct our navigational error but found that impossible for literally 10 minutes because the roads would not allow it. once we were able to get off of the current road and found some new signs pointing back to the city, we followed them to a point we recognized as a spot we were at just before crossing the bridge the first time. we decided to shuck the stereotype and ask for directions so we pulled off the road and talked with an information lady. she set up up with all the necessary knowhow and even a room at a hotel on an island in the bay.

the reason we had gotten stuck in the parking lot was because that was the only area of paved road in Venice. we had to take a ferry over to an island behind the ancient city where we could use our car and also lodge at our hotel. the ferry ride was great because it gave us a slow paced viewing of the water-logged city and the weather was cool but not cold so it made sitting out on the deck very pleasant. after unloading from the ferry, we checked into our hotel and then quickly made our way back over to the main part of the city. to get across, we had to enter into a yellow painted, metal box that floated and rocked in the waves of the water and wait for the public transportation to arrive. these things were really funny/interesting for me to see because it was basically a bus stop but since this was Venice, they dont have buses, or bus stops, so they have long boats, and long boat stops. very cool. in the city we just walked around through the plazas and alleys. it was easy to get lost and that was our objective. we found the expected cannals and gondalas but heard no deep toned singing and saw no horizontally striped zebra punters. the amazing thing for me was to see this elaborately decorated metropolis standing on what appeared to be a sea. the water was deep and there were many large boats in the bay yet there were massive churches, clock towers, museums, houses, and even a doghouse all crowding but also sharing the unique scene. i was really quite impressed. after another delicious dinner, we made our way back to the bus boat and on the way observed the same scenes we had seen in daylight now cloaked in their evening attire. the ride back to our modern island was pleasureable as we rode in the back in the open air letting the wind smack us in the face like dogs with their smiling heads out of a car window--and we loved every minute of it.

unfortunately, the next morning came with a heavy downpour of rain. we delayed our sight seeing departure hoping that it would allow time for the bad weather to pass. it did not so with half a newspaper each to act as an umbrella, we dashed out into the deluge. the city was unchanged by the rain except that now everything was shrouded in a shade of grey. we skipped the museum circuit and instead opted to walk around the town and see her open before our eyes. to our surprise, there was no dearth of denizens and no shortage of umbrella vendors. when the wetness became too much, we concluded to start our days road journey early and leave this enchanting city. Venice is certainly a sight to see even if you dont do anything but walk its streets.

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