Luminous, Lugubrious, Lagoon Landscape
If you fly into Marco Polo airport you will see the marshy reeds of the lagoon as the aircraft lands and taxis to its stand. The flat marshy landscape where fresh water merges with salt water. In the distance you might see the outline of Venice or the Adriatic Sea.
The water of the lagoon merging into islets of marshes of reeds, sand and soil. This is what the landscape looked like before Venice was made habitable.
It is a wondrous landscape. If you arrive by bus or train then you do need to take a boat (a vaporetto or the Alilaguna) out into the lagoon at some point.
If you look towards the sea from the airport you will see the tower of the Basilica on the island of Torcello standing out in the lagoon landscape. In the summer it stands starkly against the sun filled landscape and in the winter it may rise out of the mists or dense fog of the lagoon.
The Laguna has scattered wooden posts marking the watercourses to help navigation keep to specific safe channels. In the marshy waters the water level can change suddenly and boats can go aground. You may see a ‘dredger type boat’ maintaining and replacing the posts as they decay in the saltwater. It’s a never ending task keeping these posts repaired. Look out for a seabird resting on top of a post – it’s a frequent site.
Wondrous Window Boxes
There are parks and hidden gardens in Venice. There are more suggestions about secret gardens to visit in a later section.
However the city has a continuous colourful backdrop of window boxes. Look upwards from late spring to autumn (fall) and you will see an array of colour. Vibrant splashes of red, pinks, crimson, violet white and yellow. The different shades of red geraniums blend together against the yellow, cream and terracotta of the buildings.
Geraniums (Pelargoniums) in both the traditional and trailing varieties. Begonias are a plant I’d never choose for my own garden as I prefer the wilder herbs and flowers. However in Venice they seem a perfect plant. They thrive and give a wash of colour throughout the summer. The sea climate gives fewer frosts and they have a long season and may even overwinter. Together the Geraniums and Begonias are as much a part of Venice as the palazzos and canals.
In the winter you will see white and pink cyclamens, purple pansies with draping cascades of ivy, Winter flowering plants bravely giving colour during the cold, damp weather. Towards Christmas the window boxes may be sparkling with Christmas lights and their reflections in the glass of each window.
The window boxes may be terracotta, painted wood, usually framed by wrought iron curlicues. Together the container and its colourful cargo of flowers give pleasure to Venetians and visitors alike. They also create an ecosystem for insects like bees and ladybirds (ladybugs).
