A Golden Hour Stroll Through Venice

[00:00:05]I'm doing a little test already, so hopefully you can see and also hear me.

[00:00:11]My gimbal is a little bit tilted, but hey, we're in the water.

[00:00:18]I hope you can all at least see something already.

[00:00:23]Let me know if you can see and maybe also hear me while we're getting to the starting point of this tour.

[00:00:30]As you can see, I'm on a ship going over the canals.

[00:00:37]Oh, and I see Okay, that means I still think that some of you can see.

[00:00:44]That's good.

[00:00:46]>> [laughter] >> Wow.

[00:00:51]So, I just We're speeding. Yeah, I know. I know.

[00:00:55]Just going to show you my face for a moment. Welcome everyone in uh in English.

[00:01:02]Good to hear that sound and vision are good.

[00:01:05]So, it's of course always a little windy when I'm on a when I'm on a ship, so I'm going to start it about 10 minutes earlier um because we are nearby the starting point and yeah, these ships is public transportation, so they're just going on and on and on and on.

[00:01:21]So, uh >> [laughter] >> Why is the chat showing on screen? I don't know. I I to be honest, I did uh several things today um because uh tomorrow I have another profile, so maybe maybe that's why it is today a little bit different. So, but I I hopefully it is okay with you.

[00:01:39]Uh and if you can still see enough of this uh beautiful city. And we're just at the we're just uh set already at the starting point.

[00:01:48]Like whoa. Lots of the La Roma. That is by the way also the area where most of the people when they when they come to uh visit Spanish, then they will all come over here to uh Piazza de la Roma, Plaza de Roma.

[00:02:04]Uh that's just uh you have a very modern bridge over there, and at the uh for your left side, that is where the Piazza is, or the Plaza is.

[00:02:15]Um So, um and what is coming over here, the I would say to a lot of people that we maybe have to go out. Uh maybe I have to go out on this one. Maybe this is the end.

[00:02:32]I don't know. My Okay, my Italian is not so good, but uh I think we have to go out.

[00:02:40]So, just going to find another place to step on the step on the boat because I have a ticket.

[00:02:48]Uh yeah, it it looks like a perfect day in Venice. I can tell you it is a perfect day in Venice. You can maybe see my face is already a little red. That's because of all the sun that I sun that I got today.

[00:03:00]So, uh I really uh uh need my sunglasses.

[00:03:07]And I've been uh walking around here a lot already. Okay, so I'm just going to try to find out where to go.

[00:03:15]>> [laughter] >> So, we're just going to Oh, we're just going to Sorry.

[00:03:19]We're just going to walk a little bit.

[00:03:21]So, where's my sunglasses now? We're just going to walk a little bit and uh then find a find a place where we can start the stream. So, because it is it's still what? 10 10 minutes before the official start. So, let me just >> [laughter] >> I'm just getting a nice tan. Yeah, that's that's for sure.

[00:03:40]So, um Of course, I just have to just going to check a little bit.

[00:03:49]Uh no, this is all the other Murano. No, I'm not going there.

[00:03:54]So There's several. They're everywhere.

[00:03:57]This place is where you can where you can get um these vaporetto's.

[00:04:03]That's the that's the ships and what I did is I just got a just got a ticket for us.

[00:04:10]Venezia and this is the ticket and with this ticket I can go for about 75 minutes. I used it already for 15 minutes, so we can go for another hour.

[00:04:22]So my plan was to take you all over the Grand Canal. The main part is going like in an S shape through through Venice. So let's see if that will work and of course everyone who's just joining, welcome.

[00:04:37]Good to see you. Welcome to Venice where I have been uh since since this morning today.

[00:04:45]So it's about 2 hours flying from Amsterdam. So not even that far not even that far away.

[00:04:51]So today I've been preparing the stream that I'm going to do tomorrow.

[00:04:55]It's a lot of testing, a lot of things, so that's why you maybe see some of the uh some of the things in the in your screen.

[00:05:04]So I'm just going to As you can see behind me there are lots and lots and lots and lots of places where I can take where I can take one of these one of these ships. Only the question is which one to choose.

[00:05:19]Which one to choose? So there are a lot of Let me see if I can find it a little bit more. One moment.

[00:05:27]Going to flip the camera.

[00:05:29]So Let's see because the ones over here I I maybe want to have number two.

[00:05:41]Number two is one that's going over the over the Grand Canal. So you see all the ones over here. Now, Murano, that's one of the islands north.

[00:05:50]Lido, that can also be the good direction, but I think the Lido, number one, that is the slow uh the slow boat. So, let's go to check. Okay, help me a little bit on the We are now off over here.

[00:06:06]So, we need to get uh and we want to go here. This is This is the This is the main canal, basically. It looks like a metro network. Basically, this is the uh this is the metro network of of of Venice. So, you see there are several lines, and the best one is the number two.

[00:06:23]And I saw the number two that's going to Zaccaria. So, okay, where is Zaccaria?

[00:06:29]Help me with that. If you see it somewhere.

[00:06:33]>> [laughter] >> Oh my goodness, so very well prepared.

[00:06:38]It can also be the other way. So, that's the Oh, San Marco. San Marco and Zaccaria. So, it's maybe the wrong wrong direction. So, >> [laughter] >> it is it is complicated. No, I'm not going to take yellow. I'm going to take yellow because then we're going to Murano.

[00:06:56]So, okay, this this is this is not the good one.

[00:06:59]Let me see.

[00:07:02]Let me see because there are several other ones.

[00:07:05]Cuz we're now here at Piazzale Roma, and we can also go to the railway station, Ferrovia, and over there we also have it to the other side.

[00:07:13]And over there there are also a lot of them going. So, I'm just maybe I'm just going there and see if we can find a good one over there. Okay, that's good to know that I'm not the only one trying to find out. And uh as I'm I've only been here several hours, and the last time before was 10 years ago, so it's not that I know the public transportation system by heart, of course. That's if you're always if you're going into a new city, it's always a thing.

[00:07:42]Prepare yourself a little bit. I love this modern bridge by the way. So Okay.

[00:07:52]I can walk of course I can walk everywhere. So that's the thing if it's not working out with the with the boat then I'm just going to walk because there are a lot of beautiful little side streets. So I just want to give you an idea of where we are. So here on this side I said it already this is the place where most people are arriving.

[00:08:16]So mainland is into this direction. We see at the right side there's a big station where the trains where the trains are coming and you have the left side and look the sun is setting. At the left side there's a big parking garage and here's where all the buses and the trams are arriving. So and until recently by the way this was also the cruise port.

[00:08:40]But the city of Venice decided not so long ago that they don't want the big cruise ships anymore so nearby in the city mainly because of all the damage that they're doing to the houses the palazzos that are directly on the water. So and it's a glorious sunset already.

[00:08:59]That's true. So Okay.

[00:09:03]Um that's the place to get inside and then over near we see the start of the Grand Canal.

[00:09:15]Basically the main road the main road of this of this city.

[00:09:21]But of course it's not a road but it is a water.

[00:09:26]Yeah the one that takes you to a pub.

[00:09:28]Yeah the pub is at the pub is at the end. So of course I'm always asking uh Okay. I and I see that you're sending me messages Catherine. If it's Is it very important for now?

[00:09:43]Or not? I saw that it was a wrong picture. I don't know. I could not change that.

[00:09:48]But I think we're live and hopefully everyone can see what I'm what I'm seeing.

[00:09:57]Uh No.

[00:09:59]I don't [laughter] know what no means.

[00:10:02]But I see a lot of people. So can everyone still hear and see me or not anymore?

[00:10:11]Just let me know. Hi Tariq, also welcome.

[00:10:15]And everyone else. Oh, this is so beautiful over here.

[00:10:20]So let me see if you can still see me. If not, I can log in and log out and see if I can fix that.

[00:10:27]Oh, wonderful canal. Okay, that's good.

[00:10:29]And I'm just uh >> [laughter] >> Nothing important. Okay.

[00:10:35]Everyone can see and hear fine. Okay, that's basically the only thing that I wanted to know.

[00:10:41]So I'm walking now towards station.

[00:10:45]Here we are. Here that's the big train station.

[00:10:49]So also with the station over here, you can take for example direct train.

[00:10:54]That's what I did not even 10 years ago I think or 25 years ago. I took a direct train from Milan to Venice.

[00:11:03]And then on the way from the Milan to Venice, you have a nice stop somewhere halfway, Verona, another beautiful city.

[00:11:11]So here in the northern part of Italy, there's so many beautiful so many beautiful places.

[00:11:17]So let's see if we can find a nice ship for us.

[00:11:23]Looks like the one over there can be maybe a good one.

[00:11:27]So let's see what this one is.

[00:11:31]I have my uh I have my chip cards with me.

[00:11:34]So.

[00:11:36]Oh, this is the number one, I think.

[00:11:38]Okay, we can also take number one. Only the number one is uh uh is stopping a lot more. But, let's let's do this.

[00:11:46]Let's do this. Then, we are starting on a on a ship.

[00:11:49]It is uh stopping a little more.

[00:11:52]I just have to scan. Yeah. Oh.

[00:11:56]It's still green. So, it's still good.

[00:11:59]Let's go on this ship.

[00:12:04]And that's the only one, as you can see, but Okay.

[00:12:13]Okay.

[00:12:15]There we go.

[00:12:17]From Ferrovia on the ferry.

[00:12:22]Well, these guys are very important to uh to make sure that we're all staying that we're all staying safe.

[00:12:30]Um there we go. So, everyone very welcome today on a live stream. A little more south than I'm uh normally are.

[00:12:41]So, because I am um a boat, as you can see, and I'm going to over a canal. But, this time it is not a canal in Amsterdam.

[00:12:50]No, this is uh some some people are ca- calling this city the Amsterdam of the south.

[00:12:57]And Amsterdam the Venice of the north.

[00:12:58]But, yeah, so welcome in the Amsterdam of the south, where we're just passing.

[00:13:05]Where we're just passing the train station. As you can see, the train station is a little more modern.

[00:13:11]A lot newer than the rest of the city, because what we see more in Venice, and that's what we're of course going to see mainly, is the old city center that was built already uh from about 600 after Christ until uh 1800. That's like the the main part.

[00:13:33]Oh, look by the way how beautiful these bridges are already.

[00:13:37]And also I really like all the flowers that we have over here.

[00:13:41]Of course, you know that I am a that I love flowers.

[00:13:45]We have a lot of them here on the side.

[00:13:47]You see all these people sitting outside. It is just to give you an idea. I think at this moment it is still about 28° 27 28 something like that. So in Fahrenheit that is about 85 86 I think.

[00:14:02]So this is quite beautiful and warm.

[00:14:06]And we're now starting to go over the Grand Canal.

[00:14:13]The main canal where all the traffic used to go over. Nowadays the main traffic is of course the tour boats.

[00:14:21]But in the old days and I'm talking about until the 1800s 1900s this was full of ships that were mainly uh getting cargo from one side to the other side and not only in Venice but of course of course all over the Mediterranean. So and it's good to know by the way that of course I'm I am here today and uh I'm not pretending that I'm a tour guide here in in in in Venice. So I just want to I just want to show you some beautiful parts.

[00:14:56]I'm going to say what things I like. I have some stories but not a lot because yeah for that there are of course a lot of tour guides over here that can tell you a lot more. Plus I didn't have the time to prepare so I basically had 1 hour to prepare this tour.

[00:15:13]And you could see that this is a start.

[00:15:14]Uh I took the the wrong ship already.

[00:15:18]Okay, by the way this uh uh this is by the way the vaporettos that you see, these are the These are the public transportation of uh uh of Venice. You can uh you saw on the lines that it's like a metro line.

[00:15:31]They're going basically everywhere.

[00:15:34]And uh I guess I should go on a kayak here, too, but it's maybe a little bit too too much of traffic over here.

[00:15:42]And what do you see over here, by the way? This is uh a little church.

[00:15:47]And the church is in a complex of a big palazzo that's called the Labia Palazzo.

[00:15:55]Uh and I was I was I was searching for some stories.

[00:15:59]I was searching for some stories about the palazzos that you can find in uh in Venice. And the palazzo itself is just at the back of the tower that we see over there. So, we can now see it from the side.

[00:16:11]So, the Labia family was living over there.

[00:16:14]Um originally originally the Labia family uh was not from Venice, by the way.

[00:16:21]They came from uh Basque country, so from the northern part of Spain.

[00:16:25]They were one of the rich people that bought uh bought a piece of land over here and started started trading. And they were filthy rich. They were really filthy rich. And one of the stories goes that uh to show the rest of the country and also their guests how rich they were, they were uh if they had guests uh in their in their dining room, because it was one of the big rooms, they were sometimes throwing all the gold outside the windows in the canals, just to show it doesn't matter. We have golden plates, we have golden cups.

[00:16:56]Uh but we're so rich that it uh so people can see that. But what people did not know, so people were surprised that oh my goodness, this is just throwing it in the canal. But what they did is they asked their servants the day before, well, we have a stopover here. They asked their servants the day before um they uh the servants, they were placing nets just under the water. So, the day after, they were just going down and they were picking up all the golden plates and cups again.

[00:17:28]So, they could use them again. So, it was uh it was just for show.

[00:17:33]And now, I cannot get rid of the screen of the chat in the screen. I'm really sorry for that.

[00:17:41]And it is it is because I did today a lot of tests because tomorrow Look, by the way, how beautiful the uh the places on the side are.

[00:17:52]Um So, now, I was I was uh tomorrow I have to do a stream, but that's on another account and it's with a different technique. So, I did today, together with Catherine, about 3 hours of testing all that kind of things. And most probably because of that you have the chat back on screen. So, but I don't think uh what I can do is that trying to log in and to log out, but that is a little bit risky if I'm doing that because there is a chance that I cannot find the stream anymore.

[00:18:25]So, I think you have to live with that.

[00:18:30]Okay.

[00:18:31]We're on line number numero uno num- line number one.

[00:18:36]We have over here line number two.

[00:18:42]We're going to go down. This is so beautiful, isn't it?

[00:18:48]Look at this. All these all these houses on both sides.

[00:18:55]And we're calling them palazzos. And that's the interesting thing in there when I was reading up about By the way, this is now the casino. It used to be a first also a big house of one of the rich families. But when I was reading up about Venice, Venezia, um I was um um I was really thinking like there's so many similarities with Amsterdam. Um, one of the big similarities is that both of these cities, well, uh Venice was not even a city, was a city-state.

[00:19:27]Uh, but they are both both didn't have like a a king or royals or something like that. Both of these cities were governed by rich people. So, and that is quite different with a lot of other places uh places in Europe where you have like the palaces the palazzos and the palazzos were for the um for the for the royals or for the people that were very powerful. Well, over here it was the merchants the merchants that had the power and they were uh And yeah, that is the the haunted one.

[00:20:01]Yeah, there are haunted ones, too.

[00:20:03]For sure.

[00:20:04]If you look around a little bit uh you can also imagine that if you have a house like this nowadays, by the way, they are pretty very pricey.

[00:20:15]But a lot of them are so pricey that people are buying them and then selling them after soon already because um the costs are in the construction. If you want to maintain a house a palazzo on the canal like this that cost will cost you a lot of money.

[00:20:36]Look how beautiful this is.

[00:20:38]All these different colors.

[00:20:42]And of course the most of the color that you see is little bit the yellow color and you also see some red and what you have uh if you're traveling all over Europe, by the way, all over the world a lot of the times the uh the color of the houses are related to the stones that you can find in the area. So, if you can find in the area yellow and red stones, then you can build houses like this or even make things sometimes from the soil.

[00:21:10]So, that is basically what you see over here.

[00:21:15]And yeah, Robin, of course, water living on the water is expensive for sure, that's true. You can imagine that over here it's maybe even a little more.

[00:21:28]Oh, look at this. Look how beautiful this is. And of course, some of them are also government buildings, as you can see over here. Here we see the Italian flag and the European the flag of the European Union.

[00:21:38]So, meaning that is a building from the government. We also see the side canals that you have everywhere. And we're now coming in an area where where we have some more of the markets.

[00:21:53]Later on, of course, we have also the Rialto Bridge, so it's the markets that is over the over the bridge.

[00:21:59]But here at the right side of us, you have some of the markets.

[00:22:05]And also the markets over here, they are very traditional and very old already.

[00:22:10]They have been here for hundreds, sometimes even over a thousand years.

[00:22:16]And I said already, it is there a lot of uh things quite similar with Amsterdam, and it is that is mainly the connection with trade. So, both Venice and Amsterdam became very, very, very rich because of trading. And Venice was a little earlier, to be honest, because that was the end of the Middle Ages. It was most powerful between 1300 and 1600.

[00:22:43]And around 1600, that was the moment when Amsterdam was taking it over as the most powerful and most rich port city in the world. So, it was first Venice, and at the time that Venice here was powerful, we had in northern Europe, northwestern Europe, also another city was the city of Bruges. Maybe some of you have seen that with Patricia because he was doing that 2 days ago as a local.

[00:23:07]Uh okay, we're going to park the boats.

[00:23:10]Yeah. Yeah, it is uh that's how it goes.

[00:23:14]We are parking the boats on the side.

[00:23:19]So, it's basically like uh yeah, like a metro. So, you see over here, this is the part where not to stay.

[00:23:31]And be careful.

[00:23:32]It's not coming over here and then the other side, it will be open.

[00:23:39]First, people have to go out and then people can go in.

[00:23:44]I'm trying not to film too many times the people over here.

[00:23:49]Going in here in the water, we see all these wooden poles and these wooden poles are basically to park the boats.

[00:24:00]The parked in gondolas because of course not not a boat like this, but the gondolas we see over there, a row of them laying and they are all parked between these uh between these poles.

[00:24:14]And exactly, mind the gap.

[00:24:16]We are by the way nearby, you can see the name Ca' D'Oro.

[00:24:20]That means the casa, the house, and d'oro, yeah, I don't know if some of you are speaking some Italian, that means although means gold. So, the house of gold and that is just in the way here.

[00:24:42]That is because that is over here on the side, >> [cheering] >> the beautiful house just behind the the taxi place.

[00:24:51]There's no gold anymore nowadays, but the story goes that in In old days it was plastered with gold.

[00:24:58]And yes, over here are the gondolas.

[00:25:04]Yes, the gondolas as you can see.

[00:25:06]And of course, you also have these water taxis.

[00:25:09]It's all a little above my budget.

[00:25:15]I would love to do that one day. Maybe if I'm moving to become a tour guide in uh in Venice, but of course, then I also have to talk uh I have to talk Italian and I have to do courses.

[00:25:30]Yeah.

[00:25:32]Wow, it's beautiful over here. Isn't it?

[00:25:33]And and I mean, you maybe think I say from what are you Are you using a filter on your phone?

[00:25:40]By the way, nearby Rialto, so in the Rialto area and also the Rialto Bridge, we'll be soon there.

[00:25:47]Oh, look at this.

[00:25:50]It's of course the way how to go around in Venice.

[00:25:56]This guy is not wearing a hat. Sometimes they're wearing hats, but uh No, but I'm not I'm not using a filter.

[00:26:04]This is just the color that it is right now.

[00:26:09]It's the color of the houses in the light of the sun going down.

[00:26:19]So, this is the Rialto Market, the Rialto Market stop where we are right now.

[00:26:27]And of course, you also have these beautiful places. Look over there.

[00:26:31]That's one of the things that I always love about Italy is all these places where you can sit outside and in this case, it is next to the canal.

[00:26:41]Uh but also there are I've been walking a little bit today through Venice to go from one location to the other location. And when I was doing that, I saw so many little squares where and almost on every square there are one or two restaurants, local restaurants where they have really good food.

[00:27:01]Where you can have a wine, a glass of wine.

[00:27:04]Of course, in the morning your coffee or your cappuccino.

[00:27:13]There's a So, you can really see the differences.

[00:27:17]So, locals and tourists for low budgets they are taking like the metro, like what we have over here.

[00:27:25]And if you have a little more money, you can take a gondola. That's about 90 euros per hour. And the same is for a water a water taxi. That's even a little more expensive. We're getting the Rialto Bridge.

[00:27:41]Just up too.

[00:27:50]I'm just going to try to get it up.

[00:27:53]Just try to get it the best way in your screen.

[00:27:59]We're on the corner. And of course, the Rialto Bridge is quite famous over the Grand Canal. And it has on both sides of the bridge in the middle part, there is a market. So, there are market stands on both sides.

[00:28:14]And it is now already a little later.

[00:28:16]So, most most of the market stalls are already closed.

[00:28:22]But if you're coming earlier in the day, then you will see a lot of people trading, selling stuff. Of course, nowadays most tourist things.

[00:28:39]Yeah, this is a beautiful bridge. The thing is everything is beautiful over here.

[00:28:45]Okay, I have to And right now is another Rialto stop.

[00:28:51]You see over here also different types of boats.

[00:28:55]And there's also a trash boat.

[00:28:58]So, a lot of the a lot a lot a lot of the things a lot of the services of the city are also going by water even more than I'm used to in Amsterdam.

[00:29:10]Okay.

[00:29:11]Uh I'm just going to the other side for a moment.

[00:29:18]No.

[00:29:21]Just to give you a little bit a better idea look how beautiful it is.

[00:29:27]Wow.

[00:29:30]Do you want beautiful sunsets? Okay, here we have one.

[00:29:36]I'm sorry that you have some chats some text of the chat.

[00:29:41]And Robin you should do come come to Venice. And to be honest I was here today and I thought it would have been busier.

[00:29:50]So, it's maybe just now the period between the or just before the really high high season.

[00:29:56]Of course, there are a lot of tourists.

[00:30:00]But I've seen it I've seen it busier over here a lot busier.

[00:30:07]Wow.

[00:30:12]Okay.

[00:30:14]Over there.

[00:30:16]The Rialto Bridge now from the from the back part or from the other side of course.

[00:30:24]And Ronnie is asking do they have restaurants boats on the water for evenings? Of course, they have.

[00:30:30]On a place like this you have you have everything.

[00:30:37]And of course, these luxury taxis you see a lot of time just two people in there.

[00:30:44]It's lovely to be here.

[00:30:50]I just ran I mean of course the cruise ships are still nearby because they're now at the other side of the water. So they're still nearby and then people are coming by bus or by with with the train the last part or with a so I don't know if that uh if that helps with the number of people.

[00:31:11]It's more like they're not parking directly on the site.

[00:31:15]And I remember when I was when I was before here was I think about 10 years ago then I still had the big cruise ships going through the water. I mean not through the Grand Canal over here. This is not big enough.

[00:31:26]But on the end you will see uh you will see what I mean where they used to go.

[00:31:34]Wow.

[00:31:38]It's really beautiful.

[00:31:40]And it's good to know that we are Venice is built on island. So we're on a we're we are in a very big lagoon.

[00:31:49]And because we're in the sea you of course have low and high tide. It can sometimes be even higher tides. So if you're living inside Venice then there is a chance that you're opening your front door you're opening your front door and that the water is just coming inside. So there's several times per year where the water Oh, okay.

[00:32:16]Where the water is uh is is is is is a little high and that's even the some Marco place and several of the side streets are filling up with water.

[00:32:31]And Tisha I haven't seen that they were charging a day rate to be honest. So this uh Of course, now I gave up my my spot at the other side, so Oh, wow. Look how beautiful this is over here.

[00:32:52]We're going from palazzo to palazzo.

[00:32:54]There are so many. I was getting I was getting a list, and then I saw like, "Okay, I have to learn about 100 of these palazzos with all their families and things." That was a little too much for 1 hour.

[00:33:06]>> [laughter] >> And as you see, someone is saying one of the things that's happening over here, and by the way, this is not only happening in Venice, but on the main island where I'm right now, at this moment there are only 50,000 locals left that are still living over here, and it used to be about 150,000. So, it's just 1/3 of the people that used to live here are still now there.

[00:33:28]And uh most of the locals, they cannot afford to to buy these houses anymore. So, more and more of the houses are getting into the hands of rich people that have them as their second, or third, or fourth house.

[00:33:43]Uh and of course, a lot of the places are also turned into hotels.

[00:33:47]So, sadly enough, the local life of Venice has been uh a lot less than it than it was before. And only in the last, let's say, 10 to 15 years now, the government over here, and that's by the way, not only in Venice, but you see the same in several other um European European cities, they're trying to cut back on tourism.

[00:34:11]And one of the things is that there are no new licenses for hotels anymore. And uh the the other thing is also, yeah, that they placed the cruise port on another location, and they're trying to do all kind of things to make it better uh for locals. But at the same time, at the same time, of course, the city is also um uh the main economic thing in of this city. They're earning their money from tourism.

[00:34:37]And that is a different thing from the city where I am living.

[00:34:41]Because in Amsterdam, uh, it is still maybe the fourth or the fifth uh, way of income, while over here it is the first one.

[00:34:56]And welcome everyone that's just joining.

[00:35:02]Just going to show you a little bit more.

[00:35:07]I agree to say it is really hard to get the to get the balance. So, and I see that I force myself also in in Amsterdam how it's going and the the government is trying to make more and more things more expensive. So, the tourist taxes are extremely high now and they're becoming even higher in the coming in the coming years.

[00:35:30]But, yeah, what happens then is that people are just Well, we still have swallows, by the way. I don't know if you can see it. There are a lot of swallows going through the screen.

[00:35:37]Um, No, so what happens is that people are not staying in Amsterdam anymore.

[00:35:42]They're just, uh, taking a hotel in a neighboring city and then traveling during the day to Amsterdam. So, people are still coming. Only maybe not staying overnight.

[00:35:54]Um, why are the homes so low to the water?

[00:36:00]Instead of what was done in Amsterdam.

[00:36:02]Yeah, now the interesting thing is that originally um, or this city is about 3 ft 1 m 1 m above sea level.

[00:36:12]So, and that is a that is a difference.

[00:36:14]Amsterdam uh, is built on a swamp and, um, there were places they tried to build it higher, but they were going down bit bit by bit. And uh, we're controlling the water level. We're controlling the water level of the uh, of the rivers. But over here, this is part of the sea. So, it's a lot harder to control the water level.

[00:36:34]And of course, sea levels are going up.

[00:36:38]Uh, not only in the Netherlands, but also over here. So, uh, they have to come up with another solution. So, what they did in the last 20 years, they built they built like a big dike system to protect the city.

[00:36:51]Uh, but to be honest, it is not functioning 100%.

[00:36:54]So, there's still issues with this.

[00:36:59]There's still issues. So, still the city is not completely protected against the water of the sea. So, while in the Netherlands, it is mainly in Amsterdam, it's mainly the water from all the rivers coming in. Over here, it is in a lagoon, uh, so it is the sea.

[00:37:16]Wow, and yeah, it is beautiful, isn't it? So, sometimes just I should just start stop talking. You can just enjoy the view.

[00:37:27]It's quite busy now here. Um, the boats.

[00:37:32]So.

[00:37:38]And also, the interesting thing of these uh, these wooden poles that you see over here, some of them have been in the water for hundreds of years already. Oh, we're going again on this side.

[00:37:49]It's literally right, left, right, left, right, left.

[00:37:56]And St. Mark.

[00:38:03]Wow.

[00:38:08]Okay.

[00:38:10]I'm just going to I don't know if you can hear the the the the the creaking sound of the rope every time when we're stopping somewhere.

[00:38:25]Wow, this beautiful, isn't it?

[00:38:38]Oh, okay.

[00:38:40]After everyone is on the boat, and we're going again.

[00:38:49]Or maybe not.

[00:38:54]Yeah, I think I'm now untangled it.

[00:39:02]Wow.

[00:39:04]Okay.

[00:39:05]Ready for the next one.

[00:39:11]Okay. So, by the way, if you're looking, I can maybe later show you the map of Venice, but the this this grand this this Grand Canal is is like a the shape of a big S going through the city, so that's also making uh the views even more beautiful.

[00:39:33]Oh, I look at all the sides. Oh, this is magical, isn't it? And also the the water Wow.

[00:39:44]Look at all the buildings. Look at the sky. The golden hour is really here now.

[00:39:50]But only the palazzos are gold.

[00:39:55]By the way, there's also the at this moment a big art festival in in Venice, the Biennale.

[00:40:04]So, several of the palazzos are in use for all kind of exhibitions.

[00:40:14]Wow.

[00:40:23]>> Some people were in Bruges yesterday, okay.

[00:40:27]It's also also beautiful city. Also Bruges sometimes is called the Venice of the North as is Amsterdam.

[00:40:35]So, you may decide which one is the real Venice of the North.

[00:40:41]Now, what I was I was trying to say like what some of these poles are in the water already for hundreds of years. So, uh it is of course rotting a little bit, but the rotting is only from the top part. The part underwater is literally not rotting as long as it stays underwater. So, they only sometimes have to they have to change the top of the poles.

[00:41:08]And we see every time it's really I don't know if you see it like in the little side is the canal is the side street.

[00:41:14]There are lots and lots and lots of swallows coming in and out.

[00:41:19]Making a lot of sound.

[00:41:27]Okay, I'm just going to show you a little bit more.

[00:41:34]Wow.

[00:41:37]Look how beautiful this is.

[00:41:39]And of course these houses I mean the the different islands that were formed into gather Venice.

[00:41:46]Uh this is a very strategical location if you look at the at the Mediterranean Sea and if you uh look at the location of of Venice, it's basically at the end of two rivers and just at the just in the lagoon. So, it's also protected a little bit against the the higher waves.

[00:42:09]Uh and it forms a connection between uh the more the uh Europe, more southern Europe, and at at the at the other side the east. So, there were a lot of trading lines between uh trading There was a lot of trading between uh the east.

[00:42:26]Oh, look at this beautiful in the in the Now, it's a bit bit between the east between Asia and and Europe, and that was going over Venice.

[00:42:36]So, it was became a very important place for trades. Well, we have over here again.

[00:42:42]Oh.

[00:42:44]Okay, be careful for your hands.

[00:42:49]Wow.

[00:42:52]I think you I think you could now hear it.

[00:42:55]The squeaking uh the squeaking of the of the rope.

[00:43:02]Oh.

[00:43:07]Now, so it was precisely a very a very good location uh to trade. So, uh these locations they were building building building their places uh and it's all also that is similar to what you see in Amsterdam.

[00:43:21]These palazzos, okay, they were a little bigger than we have in my city. Um but basically the merchants were using it for trades and also to live. And and the third reason was so the trade was mainly on the ground floor, and then on the upper floors they had uh some locations where they could have their guests. So, where they could uh have like dinners and uh making sure that everyone could see how rich and powerful they were.

[00:43:53]And then they were living on the on the top floors.

[00:43:56]So, three different three four different levels, but all the things that they were trading you can see it a little bit more with the houses over here. So, the first two floors that was for that was for storage, for the things that they were trading. Think about spices or grain or silk was also a big thing over here.

[00:44:15]And then on the upper floors, that was where they were inviting people. On the top floor is where they were living themselves.

[00:44:24]Okay, we have the next stop. I'm just going to the other side because several people are going off over here.

[00:44:34]Oh, how beautiful this is.

[00:44:40]A beautiful wooden bridge there is over here.

[00:44:50]Wow.

[00:44:58]And we're at now not so far away anymore from the ends of the Grand Canal. So, you can see it's already getting a little wider.

[00:45:12]Exactly, this is the Accademia Bridge.

[00:45:14]Thank you, Catherine.

[00:45:17]And I just also want to show you back just the sky is so extremely beautiful. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

[00:45:30]Yeah, so we have the Accademia Bridge over here and at the back, you see one of the churches, and that is one of the churches that was uh it's one of the two churches that was built after one of the after the plague came over this over this town.

[00:45:48]And this happened several times in Venice because of course trading is night is bringing you a lot of uh a lot of stuff from all over the world that at the same time people that are trading, people that are going oversea are not only bringing all kind of things to trade, but they're also bringing diseases.

[00:46:07]And one of the disease that came several times over here in Venice was the bubonic plague or the black death.

[00:46:16]Um came came over here and the interesting thing is that a lot of the things that we found out to fight the plague were originally from uh also from this city.

[00:46:30]So, one of the things that they found out that if people were coming over here with this disease, then of of course uh other people were getting sick, too.

[00:46:38]So, they were thinking like we have to keep the sick people apart from each other. And they came with a new rule.

[00:46:45]Um they came with a new rule that everyone that uh or if there was a ship and if they had the feeling that people were sick on the ships, then they had to stay outside of the city in a certain in a certain area on their ship for 40 days.

[00:47:03]And after 40 days, if they were still alive and not sick, then they were allowed to come inside the city.

[00:47:10]And the uh for the the word for 40 in uh in Italian is quaranta. So, that's where the word quarantena is coming from. Coming from 40 days, 40 days that you are in quarantine, quarantine that you have to be sure that you're uh that you're not getting sick. So, exactly, quarantine is quaranta quaranta. That's what it means. In in Spanish and French, it is a little bit uh similar, of course. But yeah, they found this out in um um they found this out over here in Venice.

[00:47:46]And they also came with the first hospital for uh the hospitals for people that were having the black death.

[00:47:53]And they started to use the places that they used in the centuries before for the lepers. So, they were always of course also lepers are very cautious.

[00:48:05]Uh contagious, sorry. Cautious, no, contagious.

[00:48:09]And um So, uh they were coming up with certain locations far away from mainland. And of course, over here in this lagoon, they had they had quite some some nice islands.

[00:48:24]So, they were starting to use some of the some of these islands uh to have people in quarantine over there.

[00:48:32]And they were bringing the people that were sick over there. Together by the way with the people that didn't like so much anymore, like beggars.

[00:48:39]Um so, there's still nowadays it's hundreds of years later, but there's still two locations outside of outside of Venice that used to be the places where the people with the black death with the bubonic plague were treated. Um you know, by the way, of course, not only for rich people, but also poor people were placed over there.

[00:49:01]Um but then uh in the 16th uh in the 16th century, there was again the plague that came over the city.

[00:49:08]And you have to imagine in the 6th in the 16th century, the city was a little bigger.

[00:49:13]And uh almost in these two plagues of after each other, almost 50% of the population did not survive. So, the two islands were not big enough anymore. So, the next step what they were doing is they were uh placing and at the end we are now almost at the end of the canal as you can see the water is getting wider. No, but then the third step was uh that they just placed some boats outside of the city center. And in on top there were over 400 boats laying over there protected by military. And people that had the plague had to stay on these boats. And only when they survived several months, then they could come back to the city and were allowed to live here again. So, very interesting what I did over here.

[00:50:01]And yes, and the the church that we were just seeing is now at the other side. That was the church that was built for the 50% of the population that survived.

[00:50:12]And even nowadays, every year there is a a festive day where the people of Venice are thinking about and remembering, and of course it's a good to always a good reason to organize a party.

[00:50:26]Uh but they're organizing this party to remember all the people that died from several times the the plague that came over this over this city.

[00:50:37]Okay.

[00:50:40]Wow.

[00:50:43]It's also interesting to see these gondolas. The the guys that are the captains of these gondolas they all have the same shirt.

[00:50:53]A red and white red and white striped shirt. I don't know if you were realizing that.

[00:51:06]Wow.

[00:51:11]It's so beautiful over here.

[00:51:15]So, I don't even know where number one is going to, but I assume we're going to the Saint Mark's Square.

[00:51:23]I haven't been there yet today. I haven't been on this canal too, by the way. So, about 10 years ago was the last time.

[00:51:35]All right, so beautiful, isn't it?

[00:51:41]And did she say, "Yeah, the shirts that they're wearing is like Waldo, like Where's Waldo?" Exactly. We have lot of Waldos over here in Venice.

[00:51:50]Okay, just showing you the church that I was talking about.

[00:52:01]Finished in 16 1630.

[00:52:04]So, a little newer than most of the others. So, neo-Gothic.

[00:52:18]Oh, wow. So beautiful from here.

[00:52:24]I hope you're enjoying it to be here.

[00:52:28]Yeah, the thing is that every every everything is stunning stunning over here.

[00:52:33]So, I should have a 360 camera or so you can see all the way.

[00:52:42]And over here you over here you can also see a little bit better that it is really uh several islands where the buildings are placed on.

[00:52:58]And here where the water is um where the water is wider. This is by the way where they used to have the canal cruises going through.

[00:53:09]So, they used to go over here. So, you can imagine when you think about how high these uh uh how high these cruise ships are that they're giving some damage with the waves that they're making to the houses on the sides.

[00:53:28]Okay, and it's St. Mark's Square.

[00:53:32]Piazza San Marco.

[00:53:35]I think it's the St. Mark's in English.

[00:53:40]Okay, and just going to show for a moment my face.

[00:53:44]So I'm still there.

[00:53:47]Okay, we're going out.

[00:53:49]The man standing next to me with a pizza. We are in Italy.

[00:53:53]Okay. Watch.

[00:53:55]Grazie.

[00:53:59]So I have to say a lot of grazie grazie grazie over here. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:54:02]Thank you.

[00:54:05]Okay.

[00:54:07]Let's get from boats. So my I'm flowing now a little bit. So from all the all the waves the whole time. So most probably this night I will also in my bed I'm still I'm still float.

[00:54:21]Okay.

[00:54:23]Let's see uh Let's see how busy it is over here.

[00:54:30]Okay, there's little construction construction works.

[00:54:35]So Okay.

[00:54:42]I am walking.

[00:54:44]Hopefully I also still have some some battery. I cannot see that in this app.

[00:54:51]But I know we are nearby.

[00:54:56]Okay.

[00:55:02]I need sea legs. Yeah.

[00:55:04]That's true. But then I have to be a little longer on the on the water I see.

[00:55:12]Can really get sea legs. Okay.

[00:55:17]So I'm just going to show you my face again for a little while. [snorts] So And yeah, you may be also wondering why are you in Venice, Stefan? Yeah, it's a little uh It's really crazy to be honest because maybe some of you have seen that I was uh uh I was asked about a month ago by a travel agent who said like, "Okay, I'm coming to Amsterdam and um I need someone to do a stream because I will be I will be christening one of the river cruise ships."

[00:55:49]So, I said like, "Okay, I can organize that. That's a nice That's a nice thing.

[00:55:52]I mean, it's this my still of course still my side job to do to do streams here and there. I know Amsterdam. I know the river cruise market because we have quite a lot of guests. I've been on a river cruise myself.

[00:56:06]Um on several ones even.

[00:56:08]So, I thought like, "Okay, that is nice nice to do." So, I did that.

[00:56:12]Uh I did that tour.

[00:56:14]And it was for a company called Emerald.

[00:56:17]And they have a lot of river cruises.

[00:56:19]So, I did that tour for like I think it was like about 1 and 1/2 hours in total. And uh then in the days after one of the people from Emerald was was contacting me and saying like, "Um we really liked it what you what you did. Uh do you want to do this for another ship that will be christened later in June? So, it's in only 2 weeks from now. Do you want to do that? So, but the only thing is it's not in Amsterdam, but it's in Venice." So, I was like, "Okay. Uh yeah, why not? I can I can make some time." So, in the end they they approved the offer the offer that I did. But that's why I am in Venice right now. So, I'm here just 2 days.

[00:57:05]Uh my main thing is not this stream of course. My main thing is tomorrow to do the christening. Uh and this time is not a river cruise, but it is a yacht. It's really very expensive. It looks like a super yacht to be honest. So, uh and it is it is still quite small in comparison to the the cruise ships. So, this one and there are about 128 people um that can travel travel with it. and of course there's stuff. But it is small enough that it can go inside the canal over here. So that one can still come come over here. So that's what I'm going to do with tomorrow. And that's why I am over here in Venice and that's why I thought like, "Okay, let's do let's do a stream when I'm when I'm here because yeah, when do you have the opportunity to walk through walk through Venice?"

[00:57:56]So and of course I will enjoy sure in the meantime.

[00:58:00]Look at this.

[00:58:02]Nearby the San Marco Square Piazza San Marco in Italian.

[00:58:11]And over here we have Of course, this is one of the most touristy parts of the city.

[00:58:17]I don't think it's even that busy at this moment. And we have the uh big building over here. This is a big palace and this is what they call the Doge the Doge Palace.

[00:58:32]And the Doge the the word Doge Doge is basically the same as juice duca or duque No, duque. Doge duque. And that's the duke. So here this was the palace of the duke of Venice. And I talked I told you before that um the the government of Venice was formed the the government of Venice was formed by rich merchants. And there was a there was a senate and the rich merchants of the senate together were deciding who become the Doge. So basically it is the Italian word for or the Venetian word for leader.

[00:59:16]Or the leader of the pack over here. The leader.

[00:59:19]And so it was not as powerful as the king because they were still governed by by a senate.

[00:59:28]So, it was a little more like a republic. So, Venice was really a republic, not a kingdom.

[00:59:35]And yeah, the Doge has his palace over here.

[00:59:40]And of course And of course, you can also see over here how rich this city was. But then also the interesting thing where in if you go, let's say to Paris or to the big cities or to to to um also also to Rome. And a lot of these cities, uh the most beautiful buildings are or coming from the kings that decided we want the the kings, the princes they wanted to have like a castle or like a palace somewhere or big buildings. And of course, also the church was making a lot of rich buildings. But the interesting thing is that in Venice, most of of the most beautiful palaces and also the one that we see over here were just made with the money of trade.

[01:00:31]So, it was not for one man.

[01:00:35]It was just made by collecting taxes from trade and building something for the merchants.

[01:00:43]Okay.

[01:00:45]>> [laughter] >> Okay, I'm not going for an ice cream, Susan.

[01:00:50]I promise you because I know how expensive it is over here. The nice thing by the way on the square is yeah, it is very expensive.

[01:00:59]But they have these little orchestras.

[01:01:04]So, see over here.

[01:01:06]There are four men playing instruments.

[01:01:16]So, you have your live music while having a glass of wine, for example.

[01:01:27]I don't know if you could hear that, but Yeah, it is very charming.

[01:01:34]Really very charming, so Okay, I'm just going on the square and look also how beautiful the sky still is. We're really lucky. Of course, I wanted it to be at this time of day because the chance that it is this weather with this views is bigger.

[01:01:53]But, we never know.

[01:01:58]Wow.

[01:02:00]Wow, wow, wow.

[01:02:02]And of course, we have the tower over here, interestingly standing in the middle.

[01:02:10]And on the other side the very beautiful church.

[01:02:19]Wow.

[01:02:22]Have you ever seen the square so empty?

[01:02:24]Okay.

[01:02:26]I don't know about that. I mean, the last time that I was here I was in February, so It was cold.

[01:02:34]But yeah, there are not so many people over here. That's true.

[01:02:39]Wow.

[01:02:42]Look at the facade of this church. Wow, this is so beautiful.

[01:02:58]Wow.

[01:03:02]With the horses, the lions.

[01:03:08]Of course, the parts of the Bible that are told from right to left.

[01:03:17]As you see more in southern Europe that's on the outside of churches with something with frescos that they showed the part of the Bible.

[01:03:32]And yeah, it is really beautiful.

[01:03:36]And of course, we have the big tower over here.

[01:03:46]And then the big square and yeah, as you can see, it is not very busy.

[01:03:52]They're building up something for They're building up a stage at the end.

[01:04:02]Uh that's a good question why we see less people than what you would maybe expect.

[01:04:10]I think I'm just in before high high season.

[01:04:16]That's what That's one of the things.

[01:04:18]It's not a weekend.

[01:04:20]That's the second thing.

[01:04:22]The third thing is and that is something I mean, I've seen in Amsterdam in the last 2 months.

[01:04:27]Uh because of higher gas prices of course also to get a plane ticket is about 20 30% more expensive than it was 2 to 3 months ago before.

[01:04:39]So, people are hesitant a little bit to travel.

[01:04:46]So, it can be uh it can be another reason too.

[01:04:53]Wow.

[01:04:54]Okay, enjoy.

[01:05:01]And of course, this square is amazing. I mean, this one of these places where everyone is going to.

[01:05:08]Next to the Rialto Bridge.

[01:05:14]It is huge huge huge huge building.

[01:05:21]And then the interesting thing is that we have over here uh Here is a restaurant with a little orchestra.

[01:05:32]Over here is a restaurant with a little orchestra.

[01:05:36]They all have four, man.

[01:05:43]And then on the other side there's not a restaurant with a little orchestra. So, it's really if you have a restaurant on this square over here on this plaza, then you really need to have an orchestra too for the people.

[01:05:58]So, maybe I should have one wine here at the end.

[01:06:00]>> [laughter] >> Although I think I will pay $20.

[01:06:04]17 euros or something like that. I think that was the price for a glass of wine.

[01:06:08]I mean that's for Europe and for es- especially for Italy extremely expensive.

[01:06:14]I know that in the US you're paying that kind of prices in some places, but uh uh I yes, that is I see it already. The company that's on Marco, that's true.

[01:06:27]I yes, Catherine that that's the interesting thing is that that was the next thing that I wanted to say. It's like the orchestras they're waiting for each other. So, the one on the right is playing and then when they stop the one on the left is playing and the ones at the other side. So, they're waiting for each other. They're taking turns.

[01:06:45]>> [laughter] >> But it's lucky to not have the crowds, that's true. That's true. Sadly enough they have this scaffolding over here in the middle or at least some fences in the middle so I cannot show you the complete church, but it is of course really beautiful.

[01:07:11]So, I think I've shown you quite a lot of things. I mean, again, this is uh little less a Stefan tour than you're used to because there are less stories because I uh I'm not a tour guide over here. I have a lot less stories to tell.

[01:07:26]Also because I haven't been here for a very long time myself.

[01:07:30]Nor did I have the time to prepare.

[01:07:33]So, but I still hope you enjoyed it to go on the boat, to see a little bit. I just want to show you a last little part. I'm just going to the other side of the the Grand Palace over here.

[01:07:56]And it's wonderful, too, to walk around over here, of course.

[01:08:04]It was today it was warm, but not hot, to be honest.

[01:08:08]So, I did try to survive, and that's a nice thing. In the evenings, then the temperature's going down a little bit.

[01:08:16]So, this is the perfect time to sit somewhere on a terrace, to have a glass of wine, maybe some food, and enjoy the European lifestyle.

[01:08:28]Especially the southern European lifestyle of uh taking the time for your food, look look around, people watch a little bit, uh listen to the music.

[01:08:43]Of course, I will enjoy the famous taste of Italy because the kitchen is quite good.

[01:08:53]Okay, I'm just going to this side over here.

[01:09:03]Thank you for the for the compliments. I mean, yeah, it's quite impromptu.

[01:09:09]By the way, when I'm when I'm here, it's also nice to know that um I will fly back on Saturday to the Netherlands. So, it's it's not Tuesday, I think.

[01:09:21]I thought I'd forget it. Yeah, it's Thursday. I'm flying back on Saturday.

[01:09:25]And then on Sunday I will go to maybe my favorite festival in the Netherlands.

[01:09:32]That is the festival that is around Hieronymus Bosch from Hieronymus Bosch.

[01:09:38]Bosch.

[01:09:39]And uh he is a famous painter from the southern part of the Netherlands.

[01:09:45]To be honest, we don't have any paintings from him in the Netherlands because the Spaniards in the 17th century they robbed it all. So, now most of his work you can see in the Prado in uh Madrid.

[01:09:59]But, he was a crazy painter, so to say.

[01:10:02]And every 2 years there is a festival in the city of Den Bosch. And Den Bosch that is where Hieronymus van Bosch came from. And they have a nice parade, a parade over the water inspired inspired by the figures by the uh the crazy fantasy basically of Hieronymus Bosch.

[01:10:23]And if you don't know him, I would say Google him a little bit. And Google some of his paintings.

[01:10:30]Um and then you and then zoom in uh zoom in on the crazy uh characters that he uh that he's that he painted. So, then you know a little bit where the inspiration is coming from.

[01:10:42]Okay, I'm just going to this beautiful bridge here on the side, one of these other places that everyone that's going to Venice wants to see.

[01:10:54]Look at this.

[01:10:58]Wow.

[01:10:59]Exactly the bridge of six sides.

[01:11:06]Dabs.

[01:11:08]And there are There's a gondola going through it. So, So, never had hoped to see some of you on on Sunday. You guys will be another beautiful tour.

[01:11:24]A crazy one.

[01:11:26]A one that I cannot prepare because it's just like see what's coming.

[01:11:33]But it is it is amazing it's an amazing festival, an amazing parade, and it will be really summer weather in the Netherlands. So, I have to make sure that I have my uh my sunglasses and my sunscreen with me.

[01:11:51]So.

[01:11:54]Just going to show you a little bit of the sun setting.

[01:12:01]It's really getting dark.

[01:12:04]I see the moon.

[01:12:06]I don't know if you can see the moon.

[01:12:07]It's on the right side.

[01:12:14]It's just over there now on the right corner.

[01:12:18]Little piece of the moon.

[01:12:27]Wow.

[01:12:28]So, I see I'm streaming now 1 hour 12 minutes. So, I assume my battery will be almost empty because that's normally around the max that I can do without uh without recharging.

[01:12:44]So, just going to show you my face for the last time.

[01:12:51]So, thank you all for joining me today.

[01:12:54]I hope you enjoyed it to see a little bit of the Amsterdam of the South. From now on I'm going to uh call this city the Amsterdam of the South. Uh And if you like this, yeah, so you can of course always uh uh buy me buy me a coffee or doing a tip via via PayPal or something like that.

[01:13:13]I really enjoyed it, so I hope to see you again on Sunday with Hieronymus van Bosch.

[01:13:19]And uh So, I really loved it to to to go around on this impromptu tour and uh to show you some of this uh beautiful city. So, thank you again for joining, and I'll see you another time. Bye-bye.