The Lygers » Murano http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:32:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Venice pics http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/10/venice-pics/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/10/venice-pics/#comments Tue, 31 Oct 2006 12:34:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=261 How to get around when the city floods.
Me in Murano
The Piazza San Marco in all its chaos. Notice the hundreds of flying rats who make the piazza their home because stupid tourists keep feeding them.
The Grand Canal
One of the “main streets”
A Venetian trash boat.
]]> http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/10/venice-pics/feed/ 0 Ryan Goes to Italy: Venice http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/10/ryan-goes-to-italy-venice/ http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/2006/10/ryan-goes-to-italy-venice/#comments Tue, 31 Oct 2006 09:02:00 +0000 Ryan http://www.ryanlyford.com/myblog/?p=260 Saturday night I arrived in Venice. I don’t know why anyone saw a marsh and thought, “Hey, here’s a great place for a city!”, but they did. Somehow they turned that marsh into a beautiful city. The only problem is, well, it’s still a marsh and pretty darn close to sea level. If global warming does cause sea levels to rise, like Al Gore told me, Venice is screwed. Already sections of the city are underwater during high tide – including the Piazza San Marco, the main tourist center of the city. Many of the first levels of buildings along the canals are unusable because of rising waters. My guess is that long term real-estate speculation would be very risky in Venice – unless you’re investing in house-boats. Upon arrival I opted to buy the 3 day tourist pass which allowed me entry into all the civic museums (including Doge’s Palace and the Basilica di San Marco) as well as unlimited rides on the ferries. That last bit was key because, even though the passes were 50 euros, one ride on the ferry was 5 euro – and I took the ferry a lot. My hotel which was (thankfully) not far from the train station so I didn’t need to lug my bags very far. After checking in I walked from my hotel down the “main street” to the Piazza San Marco. I like how the “main street” is only 2 meters wide in places and has about 10,000 tourists all trying to squeeze through at the same time. I can’t imagine how crowded Venice must be at peak season, but I’ll bet getting around is a pain in the bum-bum. After the walk I decided to take one of the ferries back down the Grand Canal. This is when I decided ferries were a far better way to get around than trying to navigate down the crowded (and sometimes flooded) streets. Venice has no cars. I know this, but it was still strange to see a city where the only means of transportation was by boat or walking. I saw trash boats, UPS delivery boats and Ambulance boats all doing their daily routine in the city. Small canals and streets wind everywhere and all start to look the same after a while. Even with a map it’s very easy to get lost wandering around the city. Venice would be a great place for a big game of “Capture the Flag”. Early Sunday morning I took a ferry to Murano – another island in the Venetian Lagoon. Murano is famous for its glass making and has held this tradition for many centuries. I visited the Glass Museum (free entry with my pass) and saw some exquisite pieces. I then walked around the town which is populated nearly entirely with stores selling glassworks. I caught a ferry back to Venice and visited Doge’s Palace. The Palace, built in the 14th century, was the residence of the Doge (basically the mayor of Venice) and housed several Venetian governing bodies as well. It has “one of the largest rooms in Europe” which, as the name implies, is quite large. Connected to the Palace is a prison which was also included in the tour. I continued using my free entry pass at the Correr Museum which in many countries would have been a museum full of amazing art, but was just ok by Italian museum standards. At the end of the day I took a tour around the island on one of the public ferries my passes were good for – sort of a poor man’s tour of the island, but enjoyable nonetheless. Sunday I saw Basilica di San Marco – located in the piazza of the same name. It supposedly contains the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist (hence the name of the church) which the Venetians were somehow able to get out of Alexandria in the 9th century. Like all the cathedrals I saw it was grand, although to get into the cathedral you had to walk across footbridges because the first part of the basilica was flooded due to high tide. Next was the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Peggy lived in this house for many years and it contains works from Picasso, Dali, Ernst and Pollock. Although small it contained an impressive display. My personal favorite was Marino Marini’s “The Angel of the City.” I tried to buy a T-shirt with the sculpture on it, but they didn’t have my size so I had to settle for a refrigerator magnet. After the Guggenheim I picked up my bags from the hotel and hopped on a train to Florence.

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