The heat radiates from the fondamenta. I scurry from shady spot to cool, dark doorway. It’s blisteringly hot with exceptional humidity. It’s forecast to go on for days…

The Venetians carry on, as they always do, as a boatman told me yesterday, ‘We’ve been fighting people for over two thousand years…’ He’s actually blisteringly accurate. The Venetians built their city out of mud and timber. Thousands of logs floated down the rivers of the Veneto and into the lagoon. Every single timber was hammered into the mud of the lagoon. Hammered relentlessly into the shifting sediments of this watery basin. Thousands of these timbers, packed cheek by jowl, created a foundation on which the Venetians could build.

First there were small huts for the fishermen, made of reeds and mud. Next came single storey houses with wooden roofs and then houses made of stone….. Now there are thousands of palaces and more interesting architecture than anyone can absorb (as John Ruskin observed in his ‘Stones of Venice’ tome of the 1870s). Everywhere you look in Venice there’s something interesting to see.

The photos below show the entrance to Venice’s Hospital (entered through an amazingly intricate Baroque facade). Next there’s a white Istrian stone-carved staircase, in a palace near Rialto. Who knows what secrets lurk at the top of the stairs. Finally there’s an informative sign post with instructions on being quiet ‘Silenzio’ in the hospital neighbourhood of Castello. Everywhere you look in Venice there’s something interesting to see. For numerous articles on Venice visit my blog (see below). I’ve been writing about Venice and Italy for the last ten years. There’s a never-ending source of material and ideas for any enquiring mind. That’s Venice.

Strolling around the city is never boring, there’s always a fisherman’s boat or an interesting reflection to observe. I find myself in awe of the people who live here, where everything is transported by boat, or by hand cart. There are no cars, just boats and pedestrians. By boat or by foot – that’s the choice in Venice.

A few days ago I saw a beautiful bride in a gondola, arriving rather elegantly I thought, for her wedding. Getting out of such a vessel is by no means easy, it took four men to help her out of the boat. She achieved her disembarkation with serenity and aplomb.

Venice is a magical and exceptional city, marooned between land and sea. The city inspires its visitors, they discover a unique, 16th and 17th century city preserved as it always has been; no cars, no highways, just alley ways, water ways and a canal or two. The city allows visitors to dream, to imagine and to step back in time….

Kenneth Branagh’s brand new film ‘A Haunting in Venice’ is strongly recommended. As is the excellent review by Anthony Lane. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/25/a-haunting-in-venice-movie-review-el-conde

• www.educated-traveller.com
• www.grand-tourist.com
• September 2023