The Sinking City – Venice, Italy
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
McDonalds with a view...
McDonalds with a view
Thankfully, there wasn’t much of a hangover to speak of the next day. I think this has a lot to do with some sleep, and the amazing purity of German beer. We were on the bus at the usual 8am, and were in store for a long day. We had an interesting lunch time stop, at a McDonalds with the most amazing view you have ever seen. It was really busy, and it took me almost 25 minutes in line to get food. Because of this I almost missed the bus. I had quickly ducked to the toilet, only to return and find everyone gone.
Busabout Bus!
Our accommodation for Venice was a campground, right next to the airport, and about 20 minutes drive from the actual city. We faced a massive line when we checked in, due to the large number of us, and the ‘relaxed’ processing time of the desk staff. The campground was alright, but had clearly seen better days. It had its own supermarket, but no kitchen, wifi, but facebook was blocked.
Venice Water Taxi
Sleep In
I was supposed to get up at 8, to get the 9am shuttle bus with Kelly and the two kiwi girls, but I slept right through, and ended up catching the bus with a few friendly faces, like the couple from Eltham who I met in Lauterbrunnen. There were a few new people from Busabout, like Kym from Melbourne, and Sarah from New Zealand. It was a good 20 minute drive from the campground, to the main bus and train terminal, on the west side of the island. Now for those who don’t know, Venice is completely car free, and when you see the photos, and understand the city you will know why.
Floating Fruit Market
St Mark’s Basilica
We entered the maze that is Venice, and thanks to the numerous signs, we made it to St Mark’s Square. This is the tourist centre of Venice, and a very useful navigation point. I had read up on Venice in both my Busabout guide, and my online guide, and it seemed that the main attractions were churches, bridges and the city itself. One thing that caught my eye was the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, mostly because it was contemporary art, but also because the Guggenheim Gallery in the US is where a majority of Dan Flavin’s work. The line to get into the Basilica was stupidly long, so we decided to wait until later.
St Mark's Basilica
Our group got smaller and we headed along the ocean towards what looked like a really nice church. We got distracted on the way by an information office, and ended up back in the square. We noticed the line to the basilica had disappeared, and upon inspection, it actually had. We took the opportunity, and it was an amazing experience. Photos were not allowed, but I snuck just one to give you an idea of this amazing church.
Me in front of St Mark's Basilica
We headed out to see the Rialto bridge, important in Venice’s history, as it was the trading centre of town. We found a nice café in a nearby street, and all ate Panini’s. We justified the café’s service charge, by taking advantage of their toilet. We split after lunch, as Kym didn’t want to come to the Guggenhiem Collection. Sarah and I got nicely lost on the way there, and discovered some awesome spots.
The Rialto Bridge
Random Discoveries, Guggenheim Collection, and the Church of Santa Maria
I found the home of the Interpreti Veneziani, who played at the Melbourne International Arts Festival last year, the Accedemia Bridge, a nursery Venice style, and some awesome street art. One work of street art was by Shepard Fairey, creator of that famous ‘Obama Hope’ picture. You can read more about his most recent project at www.obeygiant.com
Street Art by Shepard Fairey
We managed to find the Peggy Guggenheim Collection after a while, paid our ticket, checked our bags and headed in. There were some amazing works, and I was surprised by the range of art displayed. After visiting galleries like the Tate Modern, and the Pompidou Centre, a few names had stuck in my head, including Andrew Calder.
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
There was a work of his displayed in the back part of the gallery, pretty much in the middle of a foyer between two doors that led outside. Google his name, and you will see the sort of work he is famous for. It is mainly large metal mobiles that are very well balanced and designed to be quite fluid. I stood in this foyer area for a long time, watching the interaction people had with his work, and the effect of the wind from the doors. It was a pretty awesome thing, to just stand and watch, and I found it hard to draw myself away.
Work by Maurizio Nannucci
Another work that caught my eye was located in the courtyard. It was called ‘Changing Place, Changing Time, Changing Thoughts, Changing Future’, by Maurizio Nannucci and was made with neon tubing. I also loved a work by Yoko Ono, called the wishing tree. Visitors were given pieces of paper, and told to write a wish and hang it on the tree. I wrote one out and hung it on the highest branch I could. I liked my wish, as I was inspired from the gallery, so I had something to wish for.
Looking towards Santa Maria Church
We ended up making it to the large impressive looking church that we had seen from St Mark’s Square. It was called Church of Santa Maria della Salute, and was a bit of a disappointment on the inside. We randomly ran into Kym on the steps, and took a water taxi across the grand canal.
Me on a gondola!
True Tourists, Surprise Light Sculpture
We met up with a whole lot of the other Busabout people, to take a gondola ride as a large group, with the main hope to save money. Someone stupidly asked the gondolas near St Mark’s Square how much, and we were then given a steady stream of offers and general hassle as we tried to walk away. For some reason, I was given the job of head negotiator. We walked away from St Marks Square, and the prices started getting cheaper. I negotiated 80 Euro for 5 people for 35-40 minutes per gondola, and everyone agreed. We set out, on a gondola in Venice, truly touristy.
Gondolas on the grand canal
It was actually quite a fun experience, and I was amazed at the skill of the boatmen. Needless to say we took hundreds of photos, and got to view the Rialto Bridge, Grand Canal and random places, like Gothe’s House. The driver kept his part of the bargain, and we all enjoyed the ride. We were the first boat back, and as we waited for the others, something caught my eye in the foyer of the hotel next to us. I walked into their foyer, and was greeted with an awesome piece of Light Sculpture.
The Virtual Ladder by Federica Marangoni
It was called “the virtual ladder” and was by Federica Marangoni. It was an interesting work, that used red and white compact fluro tubes attached to a ladder frame with two screens at the top showing pictures of the fluro tubes. I liked it automatically for its use of fluro tubes, and was intrigued by its little screens. We followed Brent, the Melbourne guy to a place virtually on the other side of the island for some cheap and authentic food, and it was didn’t disappoint.
Mmmmm Pizza
Biennale Discovery
On our way back, we stumbled across an installation called Season Sorrow, by Evelina Deicmane. It was a clever work with a heavy use of technology to give its message. My favorite section, featured a train that was being powered by a solar panel, that was being charged by a flood light. The train had a large A4 piece of paper with clouds on it, attached to it’s top, and occasionally it would block the flood light, causing the train to slow down and only just make it past. It was part of something called the Venice Biennale, and I was intrigued. As it turned out, there was an art festival that had just started in Venice, featuring works by countries and independent artists from around the world. We managed to find one more on the way back to the bus. I was determined to find more of these installations and vowed to find a map the next day.
I am not here... Venice Biennale
Lunch, Biennale Map
We had had a few drinks the evening before, complete with the random D&M’s and a few people peeling off together. I ended up getting the ins and outs of midwifery from another girl on Busabout, very strange. This meant however, that we slept in. I ended up sitting and chatting with Kelly, and the two kiwi girls, Niki and Kate. We all wasted the middle of the day, then realized that the shuttle bus wasn’t until 3pm, and the supermarket was closed, so we were forced to eat overpriced food at the restaurant. It was reasonable food, and once again, I managed to devour a whole pizza.
Venice Police Boat!
We eventually got into town, and immediately located the local supermarket and its opening times. The plan was to buy all of our food for the next day, breakfast, lunch & dinner. I found the tourist centre and obtained a Biennale map. We headed into the city, of course getting lost after about 5 minutes. We managed to figure out where we were, and I figured out that there was an exhibit from the Biennale nearby, a submission from the Ukraine.
Ukraine Exhibit, Venice Biennale
Ukraine Biennale Exhibit
The girls and I followed the signs, and were very surprised. We first walked into a beautiful courtyard, with a large building in front of us. The path did a little S bend, and we found ourselves in a corridor between the two buildings. Ahead of us was a foyer area, and as we approached the ground changed from old pavers to very white sand.
Ukraine Exhibit, Venice Biennale
We entered the foyer, the floor was completely covered in white sand, there was a hazer gradually puffing away, and four lights in each corner lit the room with spots of light on the white sand. The lamp fitting in the centre of the room had coloured globes instead of the normal white. To our left was a staircase leading upstairs, which we followed. The building was quite old, and very enchanting.
There Is No Art Here... Venice Biennale
We entered the first room, where a large metal frame suspended a can of red paint, a paint brush and a dress. It was mechanically controlled, and performed a series of movements, almost splashing the dress with red paint. The were three more rooms, all of which were dimly lit using coloured carnival globes in the original chandelier fittings. The lights faded up and down in intensity, whilst an abstract soundtrack played from numerous sources around the room. One room feature a display similar to the dress and red paint from the first room. We were all pretty enchanted, and spent a while just standing in the rooms listening to the soundtrack.
Not Here Either... Venice Biennale
Closed exhibits, Pizza & the Supermarket
Eventually we regrouped downstairs and after such a good experience, headed to the next closest exhibit. Unfortunately because of our late start, the main part of it was closed. We were still able to wonder around the rest of it. We tried to visit a few more of the exhibits, and we did stumble upon a very strange one that used glass and stuffed animals. We were all a little freaked out by it.
I Will Not Make Anymore Boring Art... Venice Biennale
We set off to get some food and gelato, of course getting lost on the way. We found some awesome pizza, and I found some great street art related to the Biennale, mainly two posters that read “There is no art here” and “none here either”. We made it back to the ‘Coop’ Supermarket, and brought yogurt and fruit for breakfast, rolls with cream cheese, salami and rocket for lunch, and pasta for dinner. A total cost per person of 7 Euro, a backpackers dream. One funny thing we did find in the supermarket was traffic lights at each register, see photos further up the page!
St Mark's Basilica
I am off to Rome tomorrow, to enjoy some more great Pizza, Pasta, Gelato, and that old stuff that’s there. 