Sunday in Venice

Welcome Friends…it’s Sunday in Venezia. We’ve been here about six weeks and are down to our last week in Venice. We have seen and learned so much during our time here. Our perception of Venice has shifted during our stay and I hope that we have a more accurate picture of what Venice really is.

We began today with a trip to the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista one of the oldest brotherhoods in Venice with a history that began in 1300. Here you can see the grand reception room of the Brotherhood. They were dedicated to good works for older women, young women who needed dowries, and an early Soup Kitchen among other charities. The Brotherhood paid an annual fee to belong and became prominent after a relic was given to them. The relic consisted of two pieces of the true cross and their fortunes grew after the relic resided in their scuola.

Our guide described the grand hall as being caught between two mirrors. The floor tiles were drawn and laid to reflect the circular and octagonal shapes of the paintings on the ceiling thus trapping you between two mirrors. I highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Venice. But Venice is not just beautiful buildings and wonderful art work.

Venice is a relationship between the land and the water, the buildings and the water, and the people and the water. This is the heart of Venice. Venice is reflected in the waters of it’s canals and lagoon. Nothing is conceived without considering the relationship with the sea.

On a Sunday afternoon we found a quiet canal and sat beside it as we watched gondoliers, tourists and Venetians walk and ride by.

The relationship with the water extends, of course, to the food and we indulged in a pizza del mare, a pizza of the sea, with mussels, shrimp and langoustines that marries the food with the lagoon. It was delicious.

We watched as gondoliers worked together to give tourists the thrill of a lifetime and a memory to cherish.

We watched the light change over the canal as the sun followed it’s path across the sky.

…and we asked the question of Venetians we met along the way…What is the heart of Venice?

Is Venice the food, the wine, the light, the canals, the traditions, the city built on water? The best answer we received was from a shop girl who came to Venice from Albania as a child and now considers Venice her home. She said, “Venice is hope.” To her it was hope for a better life for herself and her family. Hope that she would be free to live her life without repression. The history of Venice has always been one of freedom and liberal thinking. Things impossible in other cities and countries were possible in Venice. As I sit here beside the canal with a glass of wine in hand I think of possibilities and I am grateful for the time I have spent here.

If you have a chance to visit Venice, come with an open mind and for longer than a day or two. Venice takes time to know and discover but the discovery of it’s secrets can change your life for the better.