Inferno II

Inferno II

part 2 - Venezia

Again, reading Inferno took me back to our vacations in Italy. We took the same train from Florence to Venice but on a rainy day.

Train tickets can be purchased online at Trenitalia. I strongly recommend buying the tickets about a month ahead to get a nice discount. Ticketless option with email payment receipt only requires to print the email in order to show the PNR code onboard.

I've heard and read lots of descriptions of Venice but as usually happens, you din't really get it until you really got there. And I was a bit disappointed because it was so crowded and confusing that it started to annoy me. The rain didn't help! By the end of the first day we were soaking wet, one of our umbrellas was stolen and we had experienced what everyone had told us: prices rise when you eat at the table. Be aware: window prices are for take-away food.

The basilica di San Marco is gorgeous. The details of the mosaics are amazing, even the floor is a work of art. Try to visit it on a sunny day to enjoy the magic effect of sunlight described in the book. On a rainy day it was dark and the artificial light wasn't good enough to admire the golden interiors in all its splendor.

Standing at the border of Piazza San Marco, enjoying the view of the gondolas with San Giorgio Maggiore at the back, I finally felt that I really was in Venezia! This is the image I've always associated with the floating city. The crowded streets and high prices ca be left aside, only gondolas gently rocking on the waves of the lagoon.