i canali e i muscoli

// the canals and the muscles

After two days of treating our taste buds to the flavours of Bologna, we moved on to Venice.
Venice wears its fame with a humble grace. The canals, the tiny streets, the masses and masses of tourists, the bronze and delightfully muscled arms of the gondoliers; the town is quietly charming.

As we rambled across the little bridges, following the signs that point in every direction to St Mark's square, I tried to pretend to mum that the place I was casually drawing her towards wasn't really anything that great. When we got to the square, she said something like wow and I was satisfied. The last time I was here, the town flooded in the afternoon (a daily occurrence at certain times of the year) so it was a far more crowded square that the one I had experienced before.

Saint Mark's square is the main feature of Venice, big and full of people and pigeons and cafes, and adorned with a duomo that stops you in your tracks. At one end of the square, sits the giant church like a jewel, a trail of people lining up for the privilege of peering inside. The building is supported by pillars of marble in different colours and patterns from purple to green. Paintings of various scenes stare down at you from the ceiling above and every tiny space on the rooftop is proudly occupied by a gargoyle or a statue or a carving, as though a swarm of little magical creatures stormed the church and each claimed their own little spot hundreds of years ago.

You walk around in awe, hoping a pigeon doesn't drop something distasteful into your open mouth, and you take a billion photos that will never do it justice, before you turn to be met with the sight of the clock tower, the sea, the people, the white stone, the overwhelming beauty and madness, and you think 'jesus, I need a drink' so you head for the nearest bar.

Venice is one of the few places in the world that can't be ruined by an over-abundance of tourists. The prices are high but you're ON a high (what exactly is in those canals anyway?) so you pay them without grumbling. You wander around, looking at the masks, glass, lace and leather for which Venice and her surrounds are famous, and you try to get lost. Everyone says it's easy to get lost but the town is only about three metres square and every steet leads to the Grand Canal so really, it's pretty hard to lose your way, but you do stumble across some pretty special things in the process.

(Side note: we ducked into a museum containing dresses and other items made by a single woman, from paper. Impossible to believe, her skill and patience were incredible. One of the best exhibitions I have ever seen.)

The whole place is indescribably impressive so I'll leave it at that.