Il Sogno Italiano : Part 3 : Venice
Friday, February 9th, 2007
Venice is like ….rice (for the sake of better comparison).
Its satiating, boring (when u spent too much time there), yet..u cant get enough of it ( U never get tired of consuming rice everyday, aren’t u??especially when you are a Malay)
Arrived in Venice main train station, St. Lucia at 5.30 a.m., and the bitter cold of winter with the foggy atmosphere (thanks to the hundreds of canal there) acutely struck my lung. For a moment I thought Im gonna conceive a pneumonia, until I got myself into the Train Station Cafe , and stylishly with "sonotano Italiano (pure Italian), ordered my first cup of Venetian Cafe du latter. This is permissible according to Venetian tradition.
You can always order Espresso at any time of the day, but to sip a Capuccino or Cafe du latte after lunch is a big disgrace. All that cream into after-lunch stomach.Perhaps that’s one way the Italian took care of their to-dream lean body, but I on the other hand, would resist the milk simply due to my Lactose Intolerance 
In the Vaporetti strolling down the Canale Grande
Our main transportation is the Vaporetti (water bus..transliterated as : Less-romantic-motor-powered-packed-with-people Gondola) Since any modes of land transportation inside Venice is prohibited, (and its impossible to pass even a bike within the narrow street of Venice), the Vaporetti had been the main, and only modes of transportation there. Its not efficient though, walking is a lot more faster.
But walking have its drawback as well. You cannot NOT GET LOST in Venice. There’s no use sticking to address, and a map wouldnt help that much. Even a Venetian inhabitant got lost now and then. So, I took up the newstander seller advice.. "Take out your nose from the map, breath the air, walk in any direction, and you will encounter Venice is not that hard to master. And you WILL get lost, but then again, thats part of the fun" .
He’s pretty much correct. You will need only several landmark for orientation, the St Mark Square, Rialto Bridge, Accademia Bridge, and Plaza Roma would be sufficient. And really, the more times you spent walking in Venice, the better you get along with it. In my 1st day, it took me 20 minutes to walk from my apartment to the St Mark square. By the 3rd day, I can reach there in 2 minutes
There’s a lot u can say about the condition of an apartment according to how the toilet look like
Our Apartment was superb!!!! Location and facilities is excellent!! and it worth every euro we spent!! Except that the given address thru the net is actually not the address of the apartment, and I spent almost 1 hour WALKING almost half of Venice trying to find the apartment, only to know that it is actually located only 5 minutes from my starting point. I have got quite irritated by the time we arrived, since the owner request us to contact him thru his mobile, but stupidly switched it off the whole time. I was ready to bark to him, but the apartment condition really freeze my word.
St Marco Square : In Daytime, Night, and Dusk
There’s not much to see in Venice, unlike Rome. There’s the legendary Rialto Bridge, the breathtaking St Marks Square and the Career Palace, the Old Clock Tower, and several other churches. And of course, there’s the Gondola (which will left you drain if you get into one thru the Grand Canal). We do visit the Musee Civici, the palace, the Bridge of Sigh, and the numerous church which I have lost counted.
Life is very very slow in Venice. Its not hectic, a perfect place for us to rejuvenate after the tiring tour in Rome. I enjoyed strolling by the river bank, day dreaming with the sun setting far towards the Adriatic Sea. I love walking for hours searching for the best-value pizzeria, and then stop for an espresso sipped for hours while watching the Gondola passed by. I missed the slow Vaporetti, the fog, the way of how slow time passed by. It felt like I was given 30 hours per day.
We practically LIVE in Venice by the 2nd day. We went to the market and supermarket, purchasing groceries, and I cook dinner . Real dinner !! Not that toss-into-microwave thingy. Its pasta with tuna, garlic, spices and even a spark of apple cider!! While strolling here and there like a true Venetian, we met up with a Malay family who are also visiting Venice. For a moment they thought we live here, due to how confidence we walk, and with no maps at hand. Chin up guys!!! The next time u bring ur girl here, let her be perplexed with ur sense of direction 
On our last night in Venice, we decided to try the expensive, yet well-known Venetian Seafood Spaghetti. It cost about 100 euro for 3 course-dinner for 5 people. I’m not sure whether the portion worth it, but I’m sure as hell savour the experience
Dusk in Venice
There’s time when I strolled alone in the Piazza, looking down to St Mark’s Campanile, I wish I could be here with that-somebody. I’m not sure you are going to read this or not, and most probably you are not going to. But I want you to know, everytime I walked down the street, every sound of water splashing from the passing Gondolla, and every aroma of Panini, and every taste of Gelati, I knew I would enjoyed it more if you could be by my side….
And thus, when the tower clock strikes 10 pm, with the chilly night breeze in Piazza St Marco, I caught myself sitting down accross the WInged Lion of St Mark, thinking of you..
NIGHT IN VENICE
Love, in this summer night,
do you recall
Midnight
, and
Venice
, and those skies of June
Thick-sown with stars, when from the still lagoon
We glided noiseless through the dim canal?
A sense of some belated festival
Hung round us, and our own hearts beat in tune
With passionate memories that the young moon
Lit up on dome and tower and palace wall.
We dreamed what ghosts of vanished loves made part
Of that sweet light and trembling, amorous air.
I felt in those rich beams that kissed your hair,
Those breezes, warm with bygone lovers’ sighs-
All the dead beauty of Venice in your eyes,
All the old loves of Venice in my heart.
John Hay
