Landing at Marco Polo Venezia

There is something magic about this name: 'MARCO POLO, VENEZIA'.

I get such a kick of delight when I use the code 'VCE' to make an airline booking, and then I spend weeks and months gloating over it on my travel itinerary.  And then the day of departure finally arrives and I get to see those three letters printed on my boarding pass and attached to my bag...

And then the anticipation of the arrival at Marco Polo Venice...

On this occasion, the fog made the arrival somewhat hazy.  But knowing Venice was down there and tracing the line of the rail and road bridge into Venice...that really was special.

Can you just make out Venice down there in the fog?  Can you see the long line of the road and rail bridge linking Venice to the mainland? Photo (c) Capturing Venice, May 2016

This is what Venetian writer, Paolo Barbaro, says about landing in Venice in Venice Revealed:

"I look down on it again myself: Venice, mysteriously interrogatory and enchanted, tranquil and troubled.  Pathetic, motionless, delicate - sailing, maybe...There is a moment of silence in the airplane, our fraction of eternity.  Japanese, Brazilians, Venetians...who are we, really, in here, but a group of individuals, big and little, young and old, spying on the flower of stone in the sea from on high?".

Happy Friday!

"How I love our sweet Gothics" (Paolo Barbaro, Venice Revealed)

"How I love our sweet Gothics, which have so little true Gothic about them.  They are not to be found in such aggregate anywhere else, but in this city they turn up everywhere, with their double lancet windows, their friezes, their great front doors, and their eaves worked in stone as if it were lace".

"Accanto quel gotico-gentile, molto poco gotico, introvabile in ogni altro aggregato umano, che qui torna dappertutto tra bifore, fregi, portoni, gronde lavorate come merletti di pietra bianca".

Paolo Barbaro, Venice Revealed/ Venezia La Citta Ritrovata

6126, Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Castello

Still standing on the Ponte dei Conzafelzi

As I stood on the Ponte dei Conzafelzi (see my previous post here), I remembered reading Paolo Barbaro's advice about seeing Venice in Venice Revealed:

"...the most important skill of all is that of standing still.  You have to be still in order to see - to be able to see and thus to participate, understand, absorb and retell the city's tales".

And so I did.  

I enjoyed the site of Palazzo Tetta, which stands at the junction of Rio di San Giovanni Laterano and Rio de la Tetta.  

Standing on Ponte dei Conzafelzi looking at Palazzo Tetta

I looked down at the railing of the iron bridge, noticing the foundry's name stamped in bold letters:

The Ponte Conzfelzi was cast by Fonderia Collalto in the late 19th century

I looked up to take in the name of the bridge and the nearby fondamenta, labelled on Venice's characteristic nizioletti:

I looked the detail of the iron bridge, including this handsome lion head:

And I simply enjoyed the sheer crazy, wonderful pleasure of actually being back in Venice again and enjoying the sunny morning.  

Looking at these photos today brings back that sense of pleasure and love I feel for Venice.  

Buon weekend!

What I'm reading: Venice Revealed - Paolo Barbaro

I always have a copy of Paolo Barbaro's ode to Venice, Venice Revealed on me, either as a hard copy book, or as an e-book on my phone. 

So I'm always re-reading it for the umpteenth time.

And today, on this cold Sydney afternoon, I'm sitting in my favourite local cafe, with a pot of peppermint tea and my beloved book.

This dedication feels like it was written just for me: 

'...to all who attempt or who dream, 

in whatever way, 

of returning 

to her'. 

Buon weekend! 

What I'm reading: Venice Revealed – ‘all the days of my life will not suffice’

Clicca qui per leggere questo post in italiano 

Each morning I sit on a crowded, noisy, hot, hulking train speeding into Sydney's CBD to work in the city and I miss the light, the ancientness, the delicacy, the visual pleasure of Venice. 

I live in a country that is at least a 21-hour plane ride from Europe, and I can’t think how I will ever be able to look enough, to see enough – up, down, straight ahead and then all over again - to know Venice as well as I would wish to do so.

On these train journeys, I’ve been re-reading Paolo Barbaro’s wonderful, dense, poetic, love letter to his city, Venice Rediscovered, which was written on his return to Venice, after he had spent years living and working in other Italian cities and overseas.

And it’s comforting to know that even a Venetian resident can feel this sense of desperate urgency to see Venice and to walk its every inch.

Paolo Barbaro writes:

Days go by, and then weeks.  A little each day, I keep telling myself, and I’ll get there – I must see it all.  But months pass, and I grow ever-more uncertain.  No matter how much I see or rediscover, there’s always more – to see, digest, introject and understand.  And then to compare, participate in, listen to: every stone speaks as clearly as a human being.  The next few days will not suffice; all the days of my life will not suffice.  I shall try to say something, pass something on to my children, to those who come after.  But I have the impression that what counts most is forever slipping out of my grasp.  Wasn’t the city I saw from the plane little – very little?  I walk on her stones, look at her, love her, discuss her by myself and with friends.  But the more we come to know her, the more she multiplies, the greater she grows, this flower of stone.”

I first read Venice Revealed as a library book, and there was so much to absorb and re-read and comprehend in Barbaro’s book that I later purchased it as an e-book, and lately I’ve ordered a hard copy version in both English and Italian.  My holiday project over the Christmas/ New Year break was to tackle Barbaro’s marvellous prose in its original Italian version (I'm still going with this!).

Venice Revealed and Venezia La Citta Ritrovata are widely available through online book stores and through iBooks/ Google Play.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read and who loves Venice.

NOTE: I wrote this recommendation because I love the book.  I haven't received payment of any kind for this post.

What I'm reading: Venezia La Città Ritrovata – ‘Non basteranno i prossimi giorni, tutti i miei giorni’



Click here to read this post in English

Ogni mattina mi siedo su un affollato, rumoroso, caldo treno per lavorare in città e mi manca la luce, la vetustà, la delicatezza, il piacere visivo di Venezia.

Io vivo in un paese che è almeno un viaggio in aereo di 21 ore dall'Europa, e non riesco a pensare a come sarò mai in grado di guardare abbastanza, di vedere abbastanza - su, giù, dritto e poi tutto da capo - per conoscere Venezia.

Su questi viaggi in treno, sto rileggendo il libro meraviglioso, denso, poetico di Paolo Barbaro, Venezia La Città Ritrovata, che è stato scritto sul suo ritorno a Venezia, dopo aver passato anni in altre città italiane e all'estero.

Ed è confortante sapere che anche un residente veneziano può sentire questo senso di urgenza disperato di vedere Venezia e camminare ogni suo centimetro.

Paolo Barbaro scrive:

Passano giorni e settimane: un po' al giorno, continuo a dirmi, ci arrivo - devo vederla tutta.  Passano i mesi, e sono sempre meno sicuro,  Per quanto vedi o rivedi, resta sempre di più da vedere, da digerire, da introiettare, da capire.  E poi da confrontare, partecipare, ascoltare, ogni pietra parla come ogni essere umano.  Non basteranno i prossimi giorni, tutti i miei giorni.  Proverò a dire qualcosa ai miei figli, a quelli che mi seguono o m'inseguono...L'impressione è che sfugga sempre quell che conta di più.  Ma non era piccolo, molto piccolo quella città vista dall'aereo? Cammino, vedo, parto, discuto, da solo o in compagnia: cresce e si moltoplica il fiore di pietra, man mano che lo conosciamo.

Ho letto Venezia La Città Ritrovata come un libro della biblioteca, e c'era così tanto da assorbire e rileggere e comprendere nel libro di Barbaro che poi ho acquistato come un e-book, e ultimamente ho ordinato una versione in inglese e italiano.

Venice Revealed e Venezia La Citta Ritrovata sono disponibili attraverso negozi di libri on-line e tramite iBooks / Google Play. Consiglio questo libro a chi ama leggere e per chi ama Venezia.

NOTA: Ho scritto questa raccomandazione perché amo il libro. Non ho ricevuto il pagamento di alcun tipo per questo post.