Hello Deepa!
Eyes opened at five o'clock in the morning. Madhu made tea. Because of this tea, it does not seem that we are thousands of kilometers away from our home. After retiring from daily work, he sat down to write a diary. Keep writing till eight o'clock. As soon as I finished writing, Deepa came to my desk and said, 'Take me in your arms and show me in that window!'
I picked him up in my lap and lifted him to the window. When she looked outside, a weak and trembling voice came from the window of the house next door - 'Hello doll!'
I saw a very old lady peeping through the window of a nearby house, probably around 90 years old.
I said to Deepa- 'Good morning to Dadiji.' When Deepa said good morning, the old lady was very happy. He asked- 'What is your name?' When Deepa told her name, she could not understand. Maybe listened a little too high. Deepa got down from my lap and ran away. The old lady sat there on that chair.
We were on the second floor of this building. We had experienced in Rome the loneliness of the elderly in Italy, but the situation here in Venezia was no different. Here too people are more dependent on machines than on children. This old lady may not even be able to see the face of a man for many days! Today must have become very important for him as he started the day with a little girl hello and good morning.
Having breakfast in the morning and taking lunch together, we were able to leave the service apartment at quarter to eleven. The streets we walked through today were thinner than yesterday. Today our program was to go by motor boat to the Ponte di Rialto Bridge which was about one and a half kilometer away from our house. From there we had to go through the Basilica di San Marco to San Marques Square, about 1 kilometer away. That's why we wanted to go by motor boat to the Ponte di Rialta bridge and cover the rest of the way on foot so that boating was done and we didn't have to walk.
On leaving the house, Vijay put the option of going to the ticket window to catch the boat on Google search, but Google could not understand this option. We drove to the banks of the Grand Canal and inquired about the ticket window from the Italian citizens standing there. An Italian woman reported that the ticket window is too far from here (far away!) Only passable passengers can board from this point. If you buy a ticket out of the box, it will cost one and a half euros and if you buy any other ticket through the window, it will be seven and a half euros per ticket.
Now we understand why Google was not able to find the ticket window. He is called Box here and he was on the other side of this canal. Now it is also understood that why yesterday the Chinese couple was nervous, they would not be able to find the ticket window and the ticket would be coming out from the vending machine there for 7.5 Euro which would be very expensive for Chinese people like us. Father asked the woman who can buy one and a half euro ticket, so that woman could not understand father's point.
We sat there on the steps of a church. There, many pigeons were roaming around the earth. Deepa befriends him by feeding him biscuits and rice arve (roasted rice). We started thinking about our future strategy. Father could not walk that far and there was no other way to reach that place. So we decided to leave the service apartment to Dad.
This city drinks alcohol all day long!
It took us an hour to reach Ponte di Rialto from the service apartment. There was a wide canal here on which an ancient paved bridge was built. This area of Venezia is crowded with tourists. The market through which we came till here is a medium width ie about 20 feet wide road with shops and restaurants on both sides. In between, there are also squares where men and women from all over the country and abroad sit and drink wine and cigarettes and eat pieces of meat from the plates placed in front of them. Vijay remarked at one place- 'It's a strange city, drinks alcohol all day long!'
Dancers
We saw a group of young girls dancing in a small square in white, expensive and ornate costumes. These girls carefully covered their faces and put on such hats on their heads which covered almost a third of their faces. Probably all this was done so that no one would recognize him! A cap was placed at the dance venue in which some tourists were pouring euros. We stopped and watched his dance for a while and were surprised to think that in Italy it is not considered bad for the youth to earn money like this, but it is considered an art!
My skirt is louder than your voice!
There will be hardly any country in the world where tourists are not present here in Venezia. There are more girls in these tourists than men. Small and large groups of girls are also seen with which there are no male members. These girls, who came from different countries, have completely different faces, appearance, gait and habits, but there is a great similarity between these girls in one thing. Most girls' skirts are just above the knees.
Seeing these, I was reminded of a protest procession taken out by a women empowerment organization in Delhi after the Nirbhaya incident a few years ago in which some placards were written - 'My skirt is louder than your voice!' Variety of skirts are worn in which the lingerie display was carefully arranged. Maybe that's the reason or something else, I can't say for sure why that church is forbidden to wear skirts and pants above the knee!
O Albeli Beach Bajaria, do not do such talks!
Here in any street, in any square, in any market and in any tourist place, young couples are seen hugging and showing affection to each other. Perhaps my vision is distorted, which I see all this, but seeing them, I remember that song from the movie 'Mother India' again and again- 'O Albeli Beach Bajaria Na Kar Aisi Baatiyan, listen all Logwa Kate Nak Re.'
Know why that world was such in which listening to the words of the heroine of that film, the hero's nose started getting cut. I may be wrong, but at least I think that the old world was good, in which the nose was cut while talking in the middle of the market. In that world, even cats and dogs who showed affection in the middle market looked bad. There are no dogs and cats on the streets of Italy, but they are lacked by the embracing tourists from abroad.
Body Anxieties
By now one and a half was left and my blood sugar level was starting to drop. Anyway, we were walking continuously since quarter past eleven. We sat on the Ponte di Rialto bridge and ate laddus and mathris, which Madhu had made from Jodhpur and brought with her. Wherever an Indian man goes, his work does not work without Laddu-Mathri. These pizzas, pastas and burgers are nothing compared to these homemade laddoos. There was also a desire for a short time, but it was not India where the government and society, the municipal corporation and Seth get the common man built for the common man, urinals, toilets, inns, tin sheds etc. Here man's life rests on the saying 'Throw your money and urinate!'
You see our sea!
We arrived at San Marx Square at about 2.15 pm. A crowd of thousands of men was already standing here. Huge buildings are built around this square. The skyscraper San Marco Church is the most unique, very different and very grand among them. It is a huge building with long queues of tourists on both sides of the main gate.
These were the people who had the courage and willingness to wait outside a building for hours with a ticket. Don't know why these people could not understand that one or two churches are enough to see from inside! How different will the rest of the churches be!
We decided not to go inside the basilica and just spend time in the scenery outside. It is a huge square built on the edge of the sea. Hundreds of boats and motorboats were parked in the sea. Hundreds of white sea birds were flying in the square. It was as if they were telling humans that you see our sea and we see your land.
Yes it's full!
After a while we ate lunch in a verandah on the left side of the Basilica. At the same time an Indian girl came and sat on our bench.
I asked her- 'Where have you come from?'
The girl replied- 'from Madhya Pradesh.'
-'You also eat food!'
It was clear from his eyes that he was surprised to see some Indians in Italy eating roti and vegetables, but he only said - 'No you guys eat. I have eaten.'
I asked- 'What did you eat?'
The girl laughed but said with a little hesitation- 'Pizza!'
-'Is the pizza full?'
On this question of mine, he laughed louder than before and said- 'Yes, my stomach is full!'
Give a Euro!
We returned from there at about three o'clock. On the way we bought bananas from a shop. The shopkeeper must be a resident of India, Bangladesh or Pakistan. That's why he knew Hindi. He asked for 2 euros for six bananas. When I asked him to weigh the bananas, he said, 'Give me one euro.'
Next we bought milk and vegetables from a general store. For 650 grams of tomatoes, 900 milliliters of milk and 1500 grams of potatoes, we had to pay 5.75 euros i.e. 460 rupees. It was probably the cheapest shop in Venezia!
Trams also run in Venezia!
At 6 o'clock in the evening, Vijay and my father went for a walk on the canal towards the railway station. At this time there was a lot of tourists here. Sitting on chairs placed on platforms built along the canal, people were consuming cigarettes, alcohol and meat, the three states of matter, gas, liquid and solid. We have to return back to India on 28th May.
The airport is about 13 kilometers away from here. So Vijay and I thought that we find out the means of going to the airport from here. Dad sat there on the steps of the old church built on the side of the canal and we proceeded towards the taxi stand with the help of Google. After walking about half a kilometer, we reached a square.
From this square, a wide canal turns at 90 degrees and meets here another very wide canal. Canals on all three sides can be seen by standing on a culvert built here. The wide canal is so wide that it gives the feeling of reaching the mouth of the sea.
Bus service, taxi service, motorboat service and tram service run from this square. We were astonished to see all these four tools together. We could not even imagine that there is even a tram service in Venezia!
The city of Venice is made up of more than 100 sea islands, between which access is done by canals, culverts and boats and steamers, but some of the islands in the city of Venice are so large that tram service is easy to run in them. We may have reached a big island.
Coming here we felt like being in Rome or Florence. Here the city was breathing open air. This tram service from Venezia only runs on this island, going from one end of the island to the other.
There is only bus service and taxi service available to the airport. The municipality of Venezia has fixed rates for the fares of all means. If we want to go by bus then we have to pay 8 Euro per person and if go by taxi then we have to pay 40 Euro per taxi.
Even if we had caught the bus from here, we would have had to pay only 40 euros for 5 members. The fare of Rs 640 per person for just 13 kms for traveling by bus is very high. Whatever means we go by, we have to spend 3200 rupees in Indian currency. Whereas in Delhi we have to pay around Rs.350 for a five-person taxi and about Rs.75 for a bus.
Taxi service from this square is available 24 hours while buses, boats and trams are closed at night. After interrogating from here, we returned again through the same culvert in front of the station where Father was sitting on the steps of the church. After sitting there on the bank of the canal, we again returned to our service apartment.