Travelling with Stabilo #9: Unforgettable Venice
经纬游踪 #9: 美丽水乡威尼斯
Venice, a city that is full of history. Located in the northwest of Italy, Venice was once one of the most powerful republic in Europe. Its location meant that the Venetians were able to have a monopoly on the trade routes to the East prior to the discovery of the New World, thereby making Venice a city state superpower. They were the ones that started the Crusade, using their massive Naval power to try to get Jerusalem back from the Byzantines. They hired mercenaries to steal St Mark’s remains from Egypt and snuggle it back to Venice. Their riches enabled amazing artists such as Titian to exercise their creativity during the Renaissance. Even now, Venice is able to retain much of its glory. It is still one of the most attractive city in the world for travellers, and well-known for being a historical yet romantic city. This is why we ended up choosing Venice instead of Milan as the last stop of our Italian Journey.
威尼斯是一个歴史悠久的城市。位于意大利东北部的威尼斯曾经是欧洲数一数二的强国。威尼斯的地理位置让威尼斯人在新大陆发现之前垄断了跟东方贸易的航线，成为一个超级城邦。他们发起了十字军东征，以强大的海军试图为天主教会夺回耶路撒冷。他们以重金收买大盗，去埃及夺回使徒马可的遗体。他们的富庶孕育了像提香那样的大艺术家。到了现代，威尼斯还是保留了原有的光彩。她是世界上数一数二的旅游圣地，历史和浪漫集于一身的美丽都市。这也是为什么对我们来说，威尼斯比米兰更吸引，而成为我们意大利之旅的最后一站。
Venice is pretty easy to get to. It only take about 3 hours high speed train ride from Florence. Just outside the Venice train station within a few minutes’ walk, you can easily get onto the Vaporetto No. 1, which is a ferry service that travels down the Grand Canal to the city centre. Venice is essentially an island, and is famously covered with big and small canals. The Grand Canal is then like a main “road” that connects the northwest and southeast of Venice. Venice is also a car-free city, which means that the only way you can get around is by boats: Vaporetto that operates on the Grand Canal and along the coastline, and gondolas that goes around the nooks and crannies of the small canals. Of course, you can also walk. Venice is compact enough and there are always bridges crossing the myriad of canals that let you get from one side of the island to the other.
威尼斯交通方便，从佛罗伦斯出发坐高速铁路大概三个小时就到达。火车站一出来就可以搭上贯穿大运河的一号渡轮前往市中心。威尼斯是个岛城。大大小小的运河遍布整个岛上，而大运河则像一条主干道连接着岛的西北和东南。威尼斯城里没有车，主要的交通就是在大运河和沿海运作的渡轮，还有小运河上的凤尾船贡多拉。当然，你还可以徒步，因为整个岛都被不同的行人小桥连了起来。
Vaporetto No. 1 is one of the most cost-effective way to do sightseeing in Venice. For only 7.5 Euros you can enjoy a slow ride of around 40 minutes down the Grand Canal, admiring the beautiful scenery it has to offer (That is, if you manage to get a window seat. It could be difficult during peak hours). On the Grand Canals, boats of all shapes and sizes can be seen bustling up and down: Vaporettos, Gondolas, freight boats, even fishing boats. Both sides of the Grand Canals are lined with glamorous Gothic style architecture dating back centuries ago. Because Venice is actually a swamp with sandy soil, Venetian buildings needed to have large Venetian wooden poles to serves as foundation to make sure it doesn't sink. Also, because travelling down the Canal is the main transport route, many buildings would have doors that open up straight onto the Canal. All these historical and interesting buildings resulted in a beautiful skyline that really defines Venice.
一号渡轮是在威尼斯除了走路以外最划算的观光方法。只需要7.5欧就可以享受一个历时四十分钟，沿途都是美景的旅程 (前提是你要抢到窗边的位置）！大运河上，大大小小的渡轮，凤尾船，货船，渔船，忙碌的穿梭着。几百年的歌德式建筑物林立运河的两旁。因为威尼斯的地基本都是湿地的软沙土，所有的建筑都是用特别的威尼斯式大木桩来做地基。而且因为水路是最重要的交通网，很多建筑上的门都直接开到运河上。这些古老又特别的建筑在大运河上形成美丽的风景线。
Walking is also a good way to explore Venice. From St Mark’s Square to the famous Rialto Market is only 15 minutes by foot. You will walk through many narrow alleyways that lead to tiny squares, and you will be crossing bridges where you could watch gondolas float by. In the early mornings, the shops on the Rialto Bridges would still be close, but the streets would already be full of people rushing to work. The market stalls would also be already open and bustling. At Rialto Market, you could buy fresh seafood caught straight from the Mediterranean Sea, such as calamari, scampi and Spider Crab. You can also find here fresh produce for cooking a wholesome meal. Apart from the Rialto Markets, there are many markets distributed around the city, selling fresh seafood for tourists and locals alike.
在威尼斯的小巷子漫步也是一个不错的选择。从圣马可广场步行到著名的里亚尔托市场只需要十五分钟。沿途穿过很多狭窄的小巷和迷你的广场,还可以在小桥上看贡多拉在小运河上带游客漫游。一大清早，里亚尔托桥上的小店还没开门，可是小巷已充斥着赶着上班的人，市场的摊位也早已热闹起来。在里亚尔托市场上可以买到各式各样的海鲜，例如墨鱼，皮皮虾和蜘蛛蟹，也可以买到蔬菜水果。除了里亚尔托以外，威尼斯还有很多小市摊，贩卖着不同的海鲜给游人选择。
For every village and every town in Europe, the town’s bell tower always has the best vantage point, and Venice is no exception. For 8 Euros you can ride the elevator up the 98 m tall Campanile, and admire the magnificent view of Greater Venice. Interesting, you cannot actually see the smaller canals. All you would see are densely packed orange roofs of Venetian houses, as well as the four big round domes of St Mark’s Basilica. Coming down from Campanile, one can go directly to the wharf close by and catch a Traghetto, which are Gondolas for locals. They have the same boat design as the Gondolas, but are only available as a canal crossing service across the Grand Canal, unlike the Gondolas, which takes tourists around smaller canals and different parts of Venice. The Traghettos, however, are much cheaper. One ride across the canal costs about 2 Euro, whereas a Gondola ride can be up to 80 Euros for a short 30 minutes ride.
在欧洲，每一个城市的钟楼都是那个城市的最佳的眺望处，威尼斯也不例外。只需要八欧元就可以乘电梯登上九十八米的钟楼，远眺大威尼斯的景色。不过，在钟楼上是看不见小运河的。只能看见密密麻麻的红屋顶，还有圣马可大教堂的大圆顶。从钟楼下来，可以在小码头坐凤尾摆渡过河。这些摆渡只过大运河，不像贡多拉那样带游客穿梭大小运河漫游。可是价格也便宜多了。摆渡一程只要两欧元。贡多拉可是八十欧起跳的呢！
At nightfall, Venice lights up with colourful nightlife. You can stroll by the sea near St Marks Square to admire the night view of the Venetian coast. You can visit bars located in narrow alleyways and are full of travellers and locals drinking and chatting. The Venetian Casino is world famous, but you can only go in if you are properly dressed in a suit (and dress for ladies). You can even go see an opera at the famous Teatro La Fenice (tickets need to be booked in advance). For Food, Venice offers a myriad of restaurants, where you can try the famous squid ink spaghetti and spider crabs. Venice is also well-known for being expensive though, and you might get the occasional death stare from the restaurant owner if you decide just to order mains and nothing else.
晚上，威尼斯的生活是多姿多彩的。在海边漫步可以看漂亮的夜景。巷子里不同的酒吧吸引着当地人和游客去畅饮聊天。威尼斯的赌场是欧洲有名的，只有衣着得体的人才能进入。还可以去历史悠久的凤凰大剧院看一场茶花女（不过要订票）。饿了可以挑一家意大利餐馆，吃有名的墨鱼汁意面和蜘蛛蟹。不过威尼斯的餐馆都是出了名的贵，而且若果你只点主菜不点别的是会被鄙视的。
All in all, Venice is truly a romantic place. And like Maldives, it is under the threat of sinking from global warming and the increased number of tourists. So before that happens, take your loved one to Venice, and enjoy an unforgettably romantic adventure!
威尼斯是个真正浪漫的地方，而且像马尔代夫一样，在面临着下沉的危机。所以快点带上你的他或她，一起去威尼斯来一次浪漫之旅吧！
