A Rainy Day in Venice
VENICE. Need I say more? I want to caution the readers of this post that this is not a 'romantic' account of Venice.Sure, I like Venice. But the day I landed up there, I did not see any of the 'Romantic' sides of Venice. (I am sure it is though and I don't aim to offend anybody).
So here goes. On a trip to Italy, we had to go to all the 'touristic' places. So we hopped onto a Vaporetta from the mainland and were on our way to Venice. It is a very pretty sight to see the ancient Italian architecture suddenly coming into view. Venice is spread across small islands. We got off the boat on the main island and set off. It was May, and in Europe this means that it can rain anytime. The first sight of Venice is full of colours, performers, Italian cafés, hawkers, kiosks and tourists.
When we reached St Mark's Square, the skies opened and everybody had to take shelter under the Palace's corridors. The water level went up. But we had come a long way to see Venice and so we had to see it! So we went through the small lanes, in the rain, over the canals, into the square, in the shops, to the glass factory..... All this without any raincoats/ umbrellas. But the moment it started raining, there were hawkers everywhere selling plastic ponchos for € 3.00! At the glass blowing factory (which is truly amazing as the art is not taught, it is handed down by the elders) everyone was more interested in sitting next to the heat from the hot oven than look at the demo.
There was no place to walk. The shops were full. We had to buy a good Venetian mask but had to settle for a refrigerator magnate. We were all cold. There was a cold wind blowing. My shoes were soaked. And our boat had not yet come. Thats when we found a tiny café on the sea front. How we got place in the middle of the café I have no idea. We went in there wet, with umbrellas hanging out, with our wet bags, dripping water for a cup of coffee. After contemplating whether to have strong Italian coffee or something else, I settled for Hot Chocolate ;). I had had Hot Chocolate before that at home but the hot chocolate you have, when you are cold and sitting in the middle of an Italian café trying to stay dry and hoping someone understands English, is something that will be an impression in your memory forever. If there is heaven on Earth, that day, it was in that tiny coffee shop.
P.S. I seem to get wet in the rain every time I go to see this really talked about place. Hmm I wonder why??
So here goes. On a trip to Italy, we had to go to all the 'touristic' places. So we hopped onto a Vaporetta from the mainland and were on our way to Venice. It is a very pretty sight to see the ancient Italian architecture suddenly coming into view. Venice is spread across small islands. We got off the boat on the main island and set off. It was May, and in Europe this means that it can rain anytime. The first sight of Venice is full of colours, performers, Italian cafés, hawkers, kiosks and tourists.
When we reached St Mark's Square, the skies opened and everybody had to take shelter under the Palace's corridors. The water level went up. But we had come a long way to see Venice and so we had to see it! So we went through the small lanes, in the rain, over the canals, into the square, in the shops, to the glass factory..... All this without any raincoats/ umbrellas. But the moment it started raining, there were hawkers everywhere selling plastic ponchos for € 3.00! At the glass blowing factory (which is truly amazing as the art is not taught, it is handed down by the elders) everyone was more interested in sitting next to the heat from the hot oven than look at the demo.
There was no place to walk. The shops were full. We had to buy a good Venetian mask but had to settle for a refrigerator magnate. We were all cold. There was a cold wind blowing. My shoes were soaked. And our boat had not yet come. Thats when we found a tiny café on the sea front. How we got place in the middle of the café I have no idea. We went in there wet, with umbrellas hanging out, with our wet bags, dripping water for a cup of coffee. After contemplating whether to have strong Italian coffee or something else, I settled for Hot Chocolate ;). I had had Hot Chocolate before that at home but the hot chocolate you have, when you are cold and sitting in the middle of an Italian café trying to stay dry and hoping someone understands English, is something that will be an impression in your memory forever. If there is heaven on Earth, that day, it was in that tiny coffee shop.
P.S. I seem to get wet in the rain every time I go to see this really talked about place. Hmm I wonder why??
Makes me crave for rain, Italy and cocoa!
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