Mrs V has asked me to pass on her thanks to everyone for all the nice things you all said last week. We had as good a time imaginable in Venice. It was Mrs V's first visit to the city, and the last time I had been there...well it was quite a while ago when I was just a young hopeless romantic doing the student inter-rail thing with the backpack. So it was entirely different this time round.The overall impression is of course, there's an awful lot of water around.....160 canals in all, but I had quite forgotten that other than the Grand Canal, much of the city has very little traffic and it is all very peaceful and tranquil as you wander around aimlessly.
And I mean aimlessly.....never before, and I suspect never again, will a map of any city be more or less useless. Venice is a maze of narrow lanes that seem initially to be leading to dead ends, when in fact just around the next half-hidden corner, is the next lane to take you towards your intended destination. And walking around at night, we had some great fun imagining we were Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie being scared out of our minds in Don't Look Now....
Oh and if Venice has 430 bridges crossing these canals, well we must have walked over at least 420 of them...
Here's some related mp3s for y'all:-
mp3 : PJ Harvey - Water (Peel Session version)
mp3 : Orange Juice - Bridge
mp3 : Scottish Polis Inspectors - Walk
Finally....I guess if you pop in here every now and again, you'll consider yourself to be a music lover. If so, then I insist that if you ever get the chance to be in Verona during Opera Season (June/July/August), then get yourself along to the Arena for an experience that will never be forgotten. Forget any pre-conceived ideas you might have about stuffiness and high-pitched songs from fat blokes and fat birds.....the Verona di Opera is why the word spectacular was invented. At times it was more like being at a football match than anything else.
mp3 : Lush - Carmen
Happy Listening.
PS : I really insist that you give the Scottish Polis Inspectors track a listen. Then read more about them right here.
7 comments:
You said "Finally....I guess if you pop in her every now and again, you'll consider yourself to be a music lover"
Gosh! Which "her" were you talking about?
Glad you both had a good time.
Well,
after having seen some rather fat people do 'Aida' in the Aspendos Amphitheatre in Turkey (nice picture here:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ElRU43ZdZWc/RqY0i2X9LqI/AAAAAAAAAXs/ov0rYepUuEk/2007-04-13+62228+Aspendos+Theather.jpg
myself a few years ago, I know very well what you mean, mate: a stunning experience indeed ... and 'normally' I wouldn't care at all for opera! Copy/paste the link if you like, and you'll see what I mean ...
Glad to hear you enjoyed Carmen and that your trip was so beautiful!
Dirk
Freudian slip duly corrected!!!
Cheers ctel.
Welcome back, glad you had a good time. You make my night in Yotk by pale by comparison!
Spot on about the Venetian map! I kept finding myself looking for a street when in fact it was another one of those darn canal things!
Also: totally agree about the opera in Verona, sitting outside in the warm evening watching the spectacle is not to be missed. Did the upper terraces frisbee their cushions down into the departing crowds below at the end? They did when I went!
Phil
I've always wanted to visit Venice. Glad you had an amazing time.
As for that Inspectors track, it's great. Quite a lot of Go-Betweens in there, I'd say...
It sounds like you had a beautiful time. Mrs V is very lucky.
Both times I went to Venice I remember how completely useless it was to keep track of where you are. I just had to keep following the little signs that point back to San Marcos or the Rialto Bridge. And the fact every street has glass shops, mask shops or gelati doesn't help with orientation. My friend and I did end up achieving our own little goal of trying the gelati in each major section of Venice. A very rewarding tour tactic.
As for opera, seeing Carmen in Verona would be a brilliant experience. I've only ever seen an opera show once - Don Giovanni in Prague, apparently in the same theatre that it was premiered in. I think the fact I don't know the language the opera's being sung in makes it all that much more exotic and beautiful.
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