Venice – Where Dreams Float and Reality Takes a Dip!11 min read

Venezia – a city of trade, money, and romance. Venice is a fantasy island.

Things that I learnt during my stay in Hotel California (just kidding!)

• As a happenstance, I landed here from Rome in the middle of the Venice Winter Carnival. A twenty one (21) day sassy affair of glamour, novelty and everything which makes this mystery island more beautiful.
  • The whole city wears masks, dances around streets and people recreate past events & nostalgic environment which is nothing like I have ever experienced before.
  • I came across so many people who travelled from Istanbul, Germany, and surrounding places just to be part of the Mask wearing Carnival – talk about being socially unintelligent and lucky!

• Dating back to 420, Venice is steeped in history. It has the oldest coffee house of the world which predates the independence of America and discovery of Australia which has been serving customers in the heart of Venice since 1720 – Café Florian.

• This was the only place on the planet in 1500-1600s which can make a boat in 24 hours. Like a full on fighting boat, the ones which were needed by all Europe to fight the Ottoman empire kind. Venice made 100 war ready boats in 90 days for Holy League (Europe + Venice) against Turks where they were able to recoup lost territory after losing Cyprus to Ottomans in 1573.

• At the end of the 15th century, with 180,000 inhabitants, Venice was the second largest city in Europe after Paris and probably the richest in the world. The territory of the Republic of Venice extended over approximately 70,000 km² (27,000 sq mi) with 2.1 million inhabitants (for comparison, at about the same time England had three million inhabitants, the whole of Italy 11 million, France 13 million,  and the Holy Roman Empire ten million).

Venice has 50,000 residents which host twenty-eight million (28 million) tourists every year – more like each person’s hosts 560 guests across 365 days of a year. That is more than the entire population of Australia on a piece/combination of 118 islands with plus or minus 400 bridges.

• You cannot ride a bike in Venice. You cannot even roll a bike with you anymore in Venice – well for practicality reasons as there is no space firstly. Secondly, the alleys are so small if someone attends to their children or is glued to their phone then people can’t move in the city as human motion clogs the alley ways. In addition, as per my google maps, there aren’t many alternative routes unless you’re Spiderman  (which is super cool too, just a heads up no room for swinging here – just keep calm and wall crawl). Although, you can walk your dogs here, I loved the fact that so many people had their dogs out & about and on ferries with them. Imagine the dogs personal experience where every street is water, and it knows not to jump in it versus dogs at Sydney beaches who lose their mind when they see water.

• For my frugal, travelling on a budget and cost conscious friends, don’t get surprised if someone charges you 20 Euros (AUD 33.30) for a coffee, a croissant and a coke. It is a miraculous place so the established business practices don’t apply well – they do but for a floating fantasy island benchmarked level.

P.S. If you ever wanted to get really surprised, ask about dry cleaning/laundry service in Venice – I think the quote was 13 Euro for one shirt and 5 Euro for each undergarment. You can fly to Rome for at a cost of 4 Shirts & 2 underwear’s!

• A floating aristocracy with two hundred (200) nobility families who were able to choose the leader of the state (Doge) on behalf of everyone for centuries.
  • The dude (Doge) still had to consult the council (made up of the same noblemen families) before making any decision but a pretty fancy title and ego boost for the guy who was elected to head the state till death. They usually picked Doge’s who were old already so still managed to have like 175 of them till the fall of Republic in 1797.
  • Also, one family can have more than one representative to the council and as the usual evolution of the world around survival, roles & dexterities – strictly as no women on the council. 

• The smallest Calle (street) in Italy is in Venice. The street is merely 53 centimetres and called Calle Varisco. To my surprise, someone still managed to put an air conditioning unit inside at the back of the alley – do not worry there is room for flies and mosquitoes to fly pass through!

• The locals will tell you that trading in Venice is like a God value. They used to have masks in the past to maintain anonymity, lack of emotional expression & influence while trading and the element of mystery to keep up the dopamine related to the trade of the goods. 

• Irrespective of your interest in history, museums and/or faith spectrum -The Church of Resurrection and Basilica is a must see attraction. The church which was built in 800 years and has old and new testament of bible verses written/drawn on the ceiling with Gold (like literally Gold). Also not to mention the style change of every art in 100 years till the completion of the Church.
  • I really liked the story of genesis, story of Noah, Adam & Eve, Apostles, Second Coming, Pathway from Second coming and many others which most Muslims, Christians and Jewish folks already know in some shape and form. On a personal level, it always makes me feel hopeful, more curious and accepting of others when you see exact story, history, depiction & event tale represented in another religious site. 
  • Also the collection of artefacts, from Napoleon’s attack dating back to the boats of the Autumn empire, their artefacts, weapons and armours and night lights on top of the ships. 

  • Not to mention the unmatched collection of coins through 600 to 1900s – every size, every metal, every structure and novelty you can image. It is truly a gem of a place when it comes to global trade, unique civilisation and evolving role & survival with style in a world which was falling apart and Venezia winning some and losing some. 

• The main industry in Venice is glassmaking, the blow up and make it any shape you want kind of glass in addition to the windows, doors, balcony & usual glass we encounter in day-to-day life. The 100 families which own the glass masters and the crafts have had a very influential history for this city and previous republic. Surprisingly, every time Constantinople fell venetians learnt a new skill or expanded their global dominance in an existing one i.e. Glassmaking. 

• Glassmaking is a very Eastern skill, and traditions were already well established in many countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Although Venice was influential in these regions, Islamic glass didn’t have any great presence in Venice until the capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the Crusaders on their 4th Crusade. This resulted in an influx of fleeing Byzantine glassmakers into Venice bringing with them skills and techniques that were totally new to Europe. By the end of the century, Venetian glassmakers had adapted many of these imported processes, alongside their own, to obtain unique results. This influx of techniques was to be repeated again in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans.

• The Queen/Royal Family has said to have spent over 76 million pounds on leveraging on the skills of the Murano glass makers for Buckingham place’s decoration and State room displays.