Venice

How often do Ryanair fly out of Pisa? Anyone?

| Mairead

We’re leaving Florence today, well, tomorrow as I write and we’re leaving very early (read 9am…) so I anticipate having too little time then (now, to you) to write so I’m writing now…. which is in the past… which means I may have developed a time machine… it is now as you read and as I write?… Oh better yet, I’ve found a way to explain The Power of Now…. maybe later.

02 07a

(Window in Venice)

Although the Florence bit is nearly over there’s still the journey home…. Four days of wonderful riding through Italy, Austria, Germany, Holland, England and Wales… Emmm… Thing is, the trip down kinda put me off the trip home and I’m busy looking at a train to Pisa and a Ryanair to Dublin. But don’t tell Denis. He’ll be motoring along without a care until the first stop before he realises I’m not on the back. He’ll open his mail and this blog will be there, maybe I should write something nice for him, so he’ll understand…

02 07d

(Windows in Siena)

Never mind, I’m not really going to Pisa, I’m going overland and I’m going to make the journey as easy for myself as possible! First, I’m going to start by following my own advice… well, I was only sharing it because I wasn’t using it myself. So, I’ll notice what’s happening now on the journey.  Instead of imagining and getting fearful about what might happen or about how it might be as hot/tiring/sore as the last time I’ll notice how exactly it is right now. Also, I’ll appreciate stuff that happens and I’ll share with you what I’m grateful for each day…

02 07f

(Window in Duomo, Florence)

You might notice that “easy” for me doesn’t really include any physical issues…. (well, we will be stopping very regularly, in fact by the time we get home we’ll have stopped at approximately 25 motorway services/roadside cafes  over the four days, so that’s a given!) No, all my issues are mental – interesting, right? Mmm…

02 07h

(Window in Pitti Palace, Florence)

We’ll be in Austria next time I write to you, and I’ll let you know how I am then, but of course it’ll be now… again, Mairead.

Today is Wednesday, it must be Florence…..

| Mairead

We had a very pleasant trip down from Venice to Florence yesterday, the temperature was just right and the traffic was light and the scenery was very pretty. Then we got to the city. Fast traffic, hot sun and little scooters nipping in and out of every available space on the narrow roads, while their riders talked on the phone! I need a lie down just thinking about it…. Needless to say no photos, I needed both hands to hang on tight while I prayed fervently.

26 06d

(Look at those great clouds. About 45km from Florence)

But it’s all okay now, we did arrive at our new accommodation, safely. A large-sized bed sit with its own little garden on the edge of Florence. Another Airbnb find and the host has gone off to stay with a friend while we live in her very comfortable home. I on the other hand am not so comfortable. Got great mail from Susanna about mosquitos and Florence but by the time I had opened it the little angels had done their worst 😦 I anticipate more fervent praying….

26 06b

(And great shade)

So lets remember the good times in Venice! Forgot to mention yesterday that we did take a Gondola ride. It was eighty euros for thirty-five minutes but we didn’t pay that! We were standing around at a busy Gondola pick up point, trying to work out how to attract the attention of the guy in charge when Miranda spotted us. She was with her boyfriend, both in their early twenties, both from China. Turned out they wanted the same thing we wanted – a good deal! She was very determined and had the whole deal sorted while we followed her around!

26 06g

(Traffic jam on a side canal)

There was a bit of a traffic jam at the beginning but eventually we arrived at the grand canal and the Gondolier started to point out the Mayor’s house and Venice’s seven star hotel (maybe next time?) It was at this point that Miranda leaned across to take a picture and our gondolier commanded “No moving around, I need balance.” Up to then I had accepted that he knew what he was doing and all the rocking from side to side didn’t mean I was going to end up in the water, now…. I wasn’t so sure. We all kept very still after that. And I took a little look around (just moving my eyes not my body) to spot the life jackets, maybe they were under the seats?

26 06h

(Miranda took our picture. Look at the Gondolier in the background – they all use their legs to push away from the walls)

You see it’s a very precise thing the gondolier is doing, it looks easy enough, because they make it look easy but it’s not so easy. And it made me think about living in balance and how that might take a long time to achieve and may look very easy from the outside but it’s always a work in progress. So what’s that all about?

26 06i

(Perfect balance)

From itchy Florence, Mairead.

Ordinary Venice.

| Mairead

After my observation on the blog yesterday that I was not noticing the beauty all around me I decided to start paying attention. My mission: To pay attention and notice the ordinary. Here in Venice even the ordinary is different so that wasn’t too difficult. As has become our habit, Denis and I set off on our fifteen minute bus ride to the city before breakfast. We arrived around nine o’clock. This was useful because a lot of ordinary things happen around nine in the morning.

25 06b

(Breakfast)

But first we were going to have breakfast. This was a much cooler day and rain was forecast and believe it or not we were looking forward to rain! When we got off the bus Denis (who was also on “ordinary stuff” patrol) noticed a pathway we hadn’t seen before so we took it. There were fewer people walking this route but there seemed to be more boats. We stopped at the first cafe and ordered coffee and pastries (not exactly high fibre but very yummy.) And that’s when ordinary Venice started to happen.

25 06c

(Taxi!)

The delivery boats. I know I’ve mentioned this again and again but… everything, every thing coming into this city comes in on a boat and get to its destination on a handcart. Three delivery boats had passed before I had wrangled the camera out of its bag. But I got DHL. Well of course DHL deliver to Venice!

25 06a

(DHL… Excellence. Simply Delivered… to Venice. On the lookout for UPS)

We took 351 pictures yesterday and they are all of ordinary things. Here’s a taste of ordinary Venice…

25 06d

(The milkman)

25 06e

(The laundry)

25 06f

(The builders)

25 06g

(The ambulance)

25 06h

(The bin men)

By lunchtime I was exhausted! Noticing the ordinary is work. It’s everywhere. It’s constant. It put my senses to work. When my senses are at work… with what’s happening right now in front of me my brain can’t be making up stories about the scary things that might happen in the future or the annoying things that did happen in the past… But it’s a bit of work and maybe I’d much rather be numb or bored or talking to myself about scary stuff…. Nah, here’s some more ordinary Venice….

25 06i

(Someone had a blocked drain…)

25 06j

(Bottle cap art – lots and lots of ordinary plastic bottle caps)

25 06k

(A bus/boat stop dock…. there are lots of these in Venice)

We’re off to Florence today…. might be hot…. might be busy…. might be fun… might be terrible… or it might be amazingly ordinary right in front of my eyes, Mairead.

It’s Saturday in Venice…..

| Mairead

I did wonder if Saturday would be very busy in Venice and it was, but still not uncomfortably so. I don’t like crowds so my tolerance level is set quite low and I didn’t have a problem. That’s Venice for you, it’s so different that every lane, street, canal, piazza is a new experience and us tourists are not trying to fit into one or two hotspots. (Well, except St Mark’s.)

24 06b

(Everything has to be delivered by water, then handcart – above are boxes of souvenirs from Venice about to be unloaded and sold in the shops)

The water bus/boat was full in the morning when we arrived but there was a lovely woman opening and closing the entrance bar and making space. I, of course, understood nothing of what she said but I did understand the body language… Let me translate:  smiling all the time = I’m very friendly and I welcome you to my city, it’s lovely here, have a great time; waving two hands in the direction of the interior of the bus/boat = although I would love to just have you on the bus we must welcome these other people into our space but for you there’s loads of room inside and you might even get a seat if you’re lucky; standing on the dock saying lots of words including one that sounded a bit like the name on the dock = this is… (name on dock) and from here you’ll be able to visit… (list of amazing stuff nearby); I spent most of my time on the boat listening to her.

24 06j

(Sometimes a bit choppy in the Gondola)

Eventually Denis had to drag me away because we had reached our stop. We were going to Gardini, I think it means garden. You remember our Canadian friend yesterday? Well we decided to also go to the modern art exhibition. It’s a biannual event so I took that as a sign we needed to go… So, the exhibition takes place in a group of buildings in the park. Lots of trees, so great shade.

24 06c

(Shady trees at the Gardini)

Very different to the rest of Venice (the island bit, I mean) where space seems to be at a premium and we hadn’t seen any trees. It was another hot day and I was feeling the effects, so we were very glad most of the buildings were air-conditioned.

24 06a

(This is the first exhibit, it’s from Spain. It’s a pile of rubble and represents “making visible what escapes our attention”. Love that!)

My favourite exhibit was of personal notebooks. I spent the last year on my course grappling with how to make a personal notebook. What is it? I’m still not entirely sure myself… but this is what I did to produce mine… Get a blank notebook and stick pictures, drawings, found objects (that’s a great phrase that’s used all the time in modern art, it seems to mean anything you didn’t make yourself) flowers, bugs, anything really. But you should like or love the things you stick in. Then your notebook becomes a representation of you, to yourself. I suppose it’s a conscious representation of all the stuff you like that’s usually unconscious to you. Having your unconscious stuff out there for you to see can be very helpful when you are looking for ideas for producing art or craft. But I think it’s useful for another reason.. and I’m going to start showing people how to use it in that way….. soon.

24 06d

(A page from one of the personal notebooks, full of tickets. I want to do this!)

After the modern art we took a bus/boat ride all the way to the terminus, it was cool in the breeze and we got to see Venice from the water.  I did notice something weird that was different from our first day here…. I’m no longer walking around with my mouth open! I mean, I seem to have stopped noticing how amazing this place is. I have become accustomed to it all. It’s Sunday as I write this and I can still remember the moment we arrived on the island on Friday and I walked across the bus (real bus) park and saw buildings sitting in sea water. It was startling and beautiful and caused my mouth to open wide!

24 06i

(Lots of cruise ships visit Venice, this one is headed straight for our bus/boat)

Every step we took on the first day was in amazement. The bridges, the gondolas, the flowers hanging from the balconies, the water, the narrow lanes, the colours, the sounds – of lapping water of a beautiful language, the smells – food, coffee, perfume, the sun, the shade, the heat, the breezes, the steps, the taste of the coffee, the food, the queues, the lack of queues, the queue jumping, the waiters dressed impeccably, the ice cream dripping faster than you could eat it, the boat docks at every front door, the water lapping up the side of the buildings, the amazing shade of deep green “stuff” growing on each building at the waterline.

24 06k

(This is the fire brigade… and these are the firemen… in uniform… lovely)

Do we eventually stop noticing every beautiful thing in our lives? Mairead.

This is Venice

| Mairead

Well we’ve finally arrived, this is Venice.

22 06c

(Our first sight… so familiar)

We took a local bus to the island (well not exactly an island, it’s joined by a bridge to the mainland) and within two minutes of getting off we were taking pictures of familiar scenes. It’s exactly what you’ve ever seen on TV or in magazines. Exactly and it’s beautiful. And it’s surprising. Yesterday was Friday and there were a lot of people around but there’s plenty of space for them. It’s a pedestrians paradise, no cars, no bikes, no scooters, even no motorbikes! No waiting to cross the road… well, the road is a river so no waiting to cross because there’s a bridge or two for that.

22 06e

(Everything, everything has to travel on water)

We have four days here so we just wandered. Wandered down by the river, picking this lane way or that, coming to a little plaza and thinking it was a dead-end only to find there was a narrow alley hidden on the other side. Oh and the shade, wonderful shade from the tall buildings and the breeze, wonderful breezes from the sea. By the way, I was a little concerned that there might be a bad smell –  there isn’t,  just the smell of sea water – nice.

22 06f

(Nice)

As we were wandering we came to a bus stop (bus that goes on water – very biblical) and decided to check out the busses. There was a lady in front using the machine but having a problem with it. She allowed Denis go ahead of her. She spoke English so I took the opportunity to use my best language. It turned out she lived in Canada! Hello Canada people! She was on a school reunion with some friends and was taking time out to visit the modern art exhibition which her friends thought was a crazy thing to do with all the old art in Venice! Anyway, we chatted until the bus came and then we got on together. We were just starting to enjoy the spin when our new friend realise we had all forgotten to validate our tickets. We thought “oh dear, does that mean we will get to use these tickets again?” Our friend thought, “there’s a huge fine!”

22 06i

(Example of a small alley. What looks like graffiti on the left is actually directions to St. Mark’s square!)

Now, it was a genuine mistake (no, really it was!) and I was remembering my charming (!) way with the waiter the day before… so we weren’t too worried. Until our new friend pointed out the inspector that had just got on – oops. She disappeared – fair-weather friend! We hung tight, Denis considering, me shining up my charm offensive. There was a bit of a kerfuffle at the next stop (throwing someone without a ticket off the bus?) and when we started again our friend had returned and the inspector had disappeared….. (have you heard of the opera Death in Venice?)

22 06j

(We’re saving our Gondola ride for a day without cameras or photos)

It turned out she had got off at that stop, validated her ticket and got back on… what a good idea. We hadn’t so we were left with the burden of having to use our ticket later for another bus journey… mmmm.

All is well here in Venice, Mairead

We’re… still in Germany!

| Mairead

Germany is a very big country! We spent less time on the road yesterday – just eight hours. We did have a new high of 38 degrees (Celsius) which only made us all the more excited when it went down to 33! Also, we had a very happy experience at the hottest point in the day.

20 06c

(ooh some shade…)

There we were motoring along when we come to a complete stop – a traffic jam. Traffic jams don’t usually bother motorbikes so we tootled along between the lanes. All the German and Dutch drivers moved out of the way to let us through, which was very nice. But eventually we came to a foreign (!) camper van and it moved into our way instead. Anyway the truck on the other side moved further away and let us through, but we were still no nearer the front of the jam. Now we were sitting in the middle of a three lane motorway, sun beating down and hot air coming from every vehicle around us. Did I mention under appreciating the air-conditioning in our car?

20 06a

(Traffic stopped as far as the eye can see. That’s the camper van in front to our left)

That’s when we noticed the services area. So, a little more tootling around the front of the trucks (one of which was now leaking water onto the road) and we reached the petrol station. Denis had a little (illegal) plan to continue out of the services area and ride on the shoulder of the road. Fortunately, he didn’t have to, there was a man stopping all traffic leaving the service area and he stopped us.

20 06b

(See those great clouds and those mountains are the alps!)

Btw, I forgot to tell you that I had done a year of German classes when I was 18. If you’re a regular reader here you’ll remember that a year isn’t long enough for me to have any level of fluency but plenty of time to say “hello”. As “hello” in German is “Hello!” (or at least that’s what it sounds like…..) I had learned another phrase “Sprecken zie English?”

20 06d

(Nice German town we found on the back road… doesn’t it look like Clonmel?

So as the man is explaining in perfect German why we cannot go back on the motorway I interrupt with my phrase. And he understands me! And he speaks English! And he tells us that a truck had dropped its load so we will have to take this other route, pointing to a back road out of the service area.

20 06e

(Look! We found Amazon!)

Well, you could have knocked us over with a feather! Never before have we seen a back road out of a service area! In fact we have spent many riding miles wondering how the employees at the service areas get to work. Do they live at the service areas? Is there an underground tunnel to the nearest town? No, there’s a back road!

We’ll be crossing the border to Austria today and then late today we’ll arrive in Venice. We may take a day to acclimatise (sleep) but then…. what should we go see in Venice?

Until Italy, Mairead.