American writer and critic Henry James (1843-19 16) once commented: "Of all the canals in the world, the most noble is the Grand Canal of Venice. Its starting point is magnificent, and there is a beautiful octagonal building on the left side of the river, St. Mariano Weilai Church; The only regret is that at the end of the canal is the railway station, and there are even uglier parking lots nearby. This is the failure of the Grand Canal. " Richard Wagner (18 13-1883), a German composer who wrote romantic operas, once lived in Vendramin Palace, where 1883 died. Nowadays, every winter, Vendramin Palace will open a casino. It is said that one day, Wagner was sitting in front of the piano when he suddenly heard the gondolier honking his horn loudly during a sharp turn. Inspired by this, he added the shepherd's flute to the opera Tristan.
Near the Varniko Palace in Karez, it is a place where ships loaded with vegetables and fruits trade. The great poet robert browning (18 12-1889) once lived and wrote here in the 9th century. By the canal, Browning wrote many beautiful poems, as beautiful as those carved on a mossy wall. For example, Browning praised Italy, "Ah, Italy/Open my heart and you will see/have the name of Italy engraved on it".
Gilbert and Sullivan (/kloc-two famous operetta musicians in the 9th century) co-wrote The Boatman on a gondola. In the opera, they used a lot of folk songs of Venetian boatmen, thus composing cheerful and relaxed opera music, but Mark Twain claimed: "They can't stand their constant music like cats calling for spring." However, the former sailor on the Mississippi River once had the opportunity to visit the Grand Canal in Venice. Later, he described gondola as "free and elegant, gliding like a serpent". There are many different modes of transportation to visit the Grand Canal. The most convenient and economical way is to take the "water bus". "water bus" is a unique landscape of the Venice Grand Canal. They are small, exquisite and colorful, but they are usually crowded.
The most distinctive feature of Venice is gondola. Venetian gondolas are painted and very smooth. Along the banks of the canal, they were tied to the colorful doorposts of the barber shop. Gondola's bow is wrapped in steel and stands tall and upright. Walking in the canal, gondola jumped over the waves and flew like a wild horse released from the fence.
In the past, poets in straw hats used to paddle this ancient and noble means of transportation along the Grand Canal. They rowed boats and sang love songs from Naples. Nowadays, love songs are rarely heard in Naples instead of Presley's rock music, and Broadway tracks can also be heard here. For example, near the single-plank bridge of the Institute, you can often hear the beautiful music of the opera Dream Knight. However, it should be reminded that the cost of taking gondola is much higher than that of taking a motorboat. The former is about 75 dollars /50 minutes, and the latter is only a few dollars for a ticket. If you want to fully appreciate the scenery of the Grand Canal, you'd better take a motorboat at St. Kyle Ferry. Of course, before boarding the ship, you can have a good visit to St. Kyle's Church, which was built in 839 AD. It is said that in 827 AD, two Venetian businessmen led ten ships to Alexandria, Egypt, with the task of retrieving the remains of St. Kyle. In order to house St. Kyle's body, Venetians specially built St. Kyle's Cathedral, which integrated Byzantine and Gothic architectural styles. There are also many treasures plundered by the Crusaders in the church, including emeralds, rubies, rare African marble and religious paintings inlaid with gold. And alabaster art looted from Constantinople. It is said that in A.D. 1204, the Governor of Venice Enrico Dendaro sent troops to capture and plunder Constantinople. Interestingly, at that time, the Governor was blind and was over 90 years old.
If you don't want to get on the boat so soon, you can also walk along the river bank. A few hundred yards away is the next motorboat ferry. You can have a snack and have a rest in Harry's Bar. Don't underestimate this place. Orson welles (19 15-1985), an American filmmaker and actor, directed and starred in Citizen Kane, which truman capote (1924- 1984, an American writer) once tasted here. Hemingway once showed the bartender how to make martini absinthe correctly here.
When water bus meanders along the river, you will notice that there are many beautiful small gardens or fish markets on both sides of the river bank, and you will also see a church with a brass dome with Romanesque bell towers on both sides of the main building. On the bank of the canal, there are two huge and beautiful buildings. They used to be warehouses for goods imported by German and Turkish businessmen. Now, they have been transformed into a post office, and the other has become a natural history museum.
At the corner near rialto Pier, you will see Kadolo Golden House, which was built in15th century. Its front is a Gothic marble column with a beautiful curved balcony. Many people think that if the buildings along the coast are compared to the jewels around the neck of the Grand Canal, then the Kadoro Golden House can be called the jewel in the crown of the Grand Canal.
There are about 450 bridges in Venice, but only three bridges span the Grand Canal. The first is the Institute Bridge leading to the Institute Art Museum; The second is the Rialto Bridge. The last one is the Skalutz Bridge, which is close to the railway station terminal, so the traffic is very busy. For hundreds of years, the Grand Canal has witnessed too many people. There are long queues of religious believers, carnival parades and gondola dragon boat races attended by men, women and children. Bright Japanese lanterns are hung high on boats for banquets and dances; Fast yachts take celebrities and politicians to luxury hotels; Huge merchant ships are full of televisions, Pepsi and high-end carpets; Garbage ships attract flocks of seagulls to follow; Ships returning from fishing in the Adriatic Sea are full of fresh shellfish and squid, and go straight to the hotel by the pier along the canal.
In this parade, you can also see the motorcade celebrating the wedding, playing festive music all the way, attracting the attention of countless people. Funeral fleet is much sadder, with black-rimmed curtains hanging on it, the bow filled with plain flowers, followed by gondola on both sides and the lost ship, with relatives and friends who came to pay their respects, some wearing black hats and some women covered with black veils. Along the Grand Canal, you will find many college students carrying travel bags. They come from all over the world. They can tell you the story that happened near the Grand Canal. They will tell you that Henry James (1843-19 16), an American writer and critic, once wrote his representative works in an obscure house on the shore. Or Marcel Proust (187 1-1922, a French writer) and his mother had an argument about the contents of page 17 of Memories of the Past.
They will also tell you which pier to disembark from to visit churches and monasteries, and where to enjoy the works of Renaissance artists, such as Titian, giorgione and Tintoretto. They will also remind you where there is no charge, where you must buy a ticket to visit and so on. The most expensive place is the museum, where the most outstanding works of art in Italian history are generally displayed.