Cristina Nita-Rotaru
Assistant Professor Department of Computer Sciences
Purdue University
Venice
I don't think that there is a city that had such a long lasting impresion on me as Venice. And although the popular, touristic places, were beautiful, it's the quiet places, far away from the invasion of tourists that I loved the most.
I still remember the night when I got there at the "Santa Lucia" Station; it was really late almost midnight, I was very tired since I have been traveling for almost a day coming from Sorrento and that day there was a strike. I don't think I had very high expectations, after the blue of Capri, the magic of Grotta Azzura, and the spectacular Pompei. I was so confused that I forgot that Venice was built on water and I was shocked when asking how can I get to Giudecca where my hotel was located, I found out that I needed to take a bus that was actually a boat ("vaporetto"). Everything was dark and the water looked scary, the view from the boat looked pretty industrial (when going from the station to Giudecca, the boat passes through the industrial part of Venice). In one word, nothing impressed me, I was tired and hungry, very disappointed about Venice, and wondering how did I get the idea of going there in the first place. The next morning, coming out from my hotel I saw for the first time Piazza San Marco, across the canal. And that's when I understood the meaning of the expression 'takes your breath away'. It was so beautiful, I thought that for a while my heart stopped beating. No other city gave me that feeling. For somebody like me that grew up in a typical east-european apartment building and has just stepped out of a former communist country for the first time, the place looked so unreal, it felt like I was in a movie or something.
Some people don't like Venice; they complain about the smell of the water, about the fact that the streets are very narrow, and that the touristic places are extremely crowded. My memory about Venice, is of an unreal, unusually beautiful place, living by its own rules and coming from another time.
September 1998
) Canale Grande from the Rialto Bridge. |
) Canale Grande. |
) The Rialto Bridge. |
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) Canale Grande. |
) Canale Grande. |
) Canale Grande |
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) The Academy Bridge. |
) San Giorgio. |
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) The Clock Tower viewed from the Belltower. |
) The Ducal Palace. |
) Piazza San Marco viewed from the Belltower. |
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) Piazza San Marco from the Belltower. |
) View of Venice from the Belltower. |
) Venetian window display. |