Venice: myths and summer discoveries
I’ve been in Venice for about two weeks now and several bits of travel article lore have been falling by the wayside. Specifically, those that claim Venice is impossibly hot, the canals are full of trash and that they stink. And Venice has a new discovery around every corner.
Venice is not hot and stinky
Venice is not impossibly hot and humid during all of August. It is hot, but not as hot as Miami, nor as humid. Being from Boston, I find the weather similar. Plus there is a pleasant breeze most of the day and the evenings find temperatures where a sweater is useful while dining along the canals. The canals seem cleaner to me than the Charles River in Boston or the Boston Harbor. The water actually has an aquamarine color and I’ve seen fish darting beneath the bridges. 
And no street in Boston is as clean as the canals. If the trash that is strewn through U.S. cities was prevalent here, there would be a problem, but that is not the case.
The next time one reads that the canals are filthy and that they stink, don’t believe it. It is probably one lazy travel writer copying another and perpetuating the myth. One might see the occasional plastic bottle bobbing the canals, but nothing like the trash that lines most American streets. Venice has an amazingly efficient trash collection system that functions virtually every day of the week.
Getting from point A to point B - the easy art of getting lost
Part of the magic of Venice is getting “lost.” On a trip from the Rialto Bridge to St. Mark’s Square, there are infinite different paths to take. Sometimes a narrow street ends at a canal. Some streets are only about three feet wide though on a map they seem the same size as Strada Nuova. Some campos (squares) are little more than a space between buildings. Inevitably, tourists walking between the two points will not wander along the same streets twice, or past the same shops.
Even the Venetians joke about walking in Venice. “There is no straight line between any point on opposite sides of town,” a group joked, “We really never know which way we will walk until we see how many people are filling the streets.” They went on to say, “We normally walk where the crowds aren’t.”
The new fourth bridge over the Grand Canal
I had the opportunity to watch the final span of the new bridge, designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, be floated down the Grand Canal. It was put into place last weekend. This is the first new bridge over the Grand Canal since the bridge in front of the railway station erected in the 1934. Local feelings are strongly either for the bridge or against the modern design. Some feel it takes away from history. Others say it shows that Venice is connecting to the future.
Though one can see the span crossing the canal, it will not open for foot traffic until later this year. The biggest debate now is what to call the bridge. No one wants it referred to as the Calatrava Bridge and names such as the Santa Lucia Bridge (since it connects with the Santa Lucia train station), the Peace Bridge or Ponte Serenissima that harks back to Venice’s nickname, the very most serene.
Church bells of Venice
Speaking of serene, the quietness of Venice is amazing. Except for the Grand Canal with the constant parade of vaporettos and taxis sailing back and forth, the rest of Venice is void of virtually any traffic noise other than the occasional honking of a boat horn when one reaches a blind turn or intersection.
What Venice does have is the ringing of bells. They start in the early morning and ring seemingly randomly. They are either calling the faithful to services or striking out the hour, quarter-hour and half-hour. For instance right now, at 6:17 p.m. bells are ringing like crazy on a Wednesday night.
The bells of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari are particularly powerful and resonate throughout the Dorsoduro. The bells of San Nicolo dei Mendicoli alternate with those of the church of Angelo Rafael at the far western end of the city. Those in the know recommend that visitors try to time their visits to the belfry of San Marco to avoid getting stuck next to the bells during a ringing. The sounds of bells are a memory every tourist will have after leaving Venice. Upon returning to noisy cities, the bells are a sound that one misses without being aware of what is missing.
Rick Steves’ Tours
I had an opportunity to join a Rick Steves’ guided tour through I Frari church and through the Accademia art museum. Since I have often recommended Rick’s guidebooks, I wanted to see how they handled their on-the-ground tours. Basically, the Rick Steves’ mantra applies - accommodations are in smaller hotels, dinners are in more rustic restaurants and the tours of sights are a light blend of history and art with a professional local guide. The museum and church tours are not as extensive as those presented in his guidebooks, but they provide enough for most members of their group and they allow plenty of time for those who want to spend more time at any museum or site.
There is lots of walking and about half of the meals seem to be included, but otherwise there is plenty of free time so that members of the group don’t feel trapped. The feedback I gathered from tour group participants was overall very positive.
Tourist Venice that I love - dancing at St. Mark’s
I have to confess that an evening in St. Mark’s Square listening to the orchestras playing at the various caffes is a joy. I had a chance to waltz with my sister-in-law the other night under the stars, surrounded by the lights of San Marco. It really is magical.
When I say orchestra I am referring to a group of five to seven musicians, normally lead by an energetic violinist. The two cafes that sit side by side, Caffe Quadri and Caffe Lavena have groups that play just about side-side. 
The crowds applaud and there is definitely a competition between these two caffe bands.
Across the Piazza is the patriarch of Venetian nightlife, Caffe Florian, with its own stringed group that seems to play mesmorizingly to a slightly older crowd. And around the corner on the Piazzetta, there is occasionally another group playing.
Venice’s Biennale - the World’s Fair of modern art
This year is one of the years of the Biennale, held every other year. The Biennale is one of the most important gatherings of modern artists in the world. It has been held in Venice for more than 100 years. The pavilions for the art exhibitions are set up in the Castello Gardens at the far eastern end of the city. Recently the art pavilions have been 
spreading throughout the city housed in palaces and palazzos that provide a glimpse of the Old World art and architecture as a setting for the startling new art. This year Mexico, the Ukraine, Scotland, Australia, Luxemburg and Portugal, among others had exhibitions tucked between the city’s canals and bridges.
Though I am not a great fan of modern art, the Biennale certainly stirs up controversy and plenty of conversations. After seeing a Mexican piece of art that electronically collected the heartbeats of viewers and displayed them in blinking bulbs suspended over a darkened room, the deliberations at dinner were passionate about “What is Art?” The lively discussions were between a group ages 14, 16, 18, 54 and 57 with most of the talking being done by the teenagers. Certainly a far cry from the focus on video games that we hear decried.
Photos by Charles Leocha and Karen Cummings
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