Chapter 6 Ordinary Venice

one In Europe, Venice is one of the cities I am more familiar with. Familiarity also has its faults. It is easy to lose the amazing excitement when you first saw it, forget the overall charm of thick lines, and your gaze changes from looking up to looking up. It is hard to say whether you have a firmer grasp or a looser grasp.It's like when we make friends, if we are too familiar, it becomes a common communication. Sometimes when we suddenly see him appearing on stage or publishing a book, we feel that we have to look at him with admiration.I am not yet qualified to be called an old friend to Venice, but I was not surprised or surprised when we met, and the rest was just a calm look and ordinary words.

No matter which time, there are always too many people and more and more, and I am tired of it. Today's world tourism tide is on the rise, and thousands of people are rushing to travel.Please look at the stations, docks, and airports. How many people are there for business?Modern communication makes it unnecessary for most political affairs and business affairs to arrive in person, but must arrive in person, and equipment and others cannot do it for you, which is tourism.One of the top tourist destinations for world tourists is Venice. Other famous hotspots, such as looking at the waterfalls on the rocks, or looking at the pyramids in the desert, or panting and climbing the Great Wall, all have a single goal and a wide space, and the tired tourists can't get tired of the scenery; Venice is On the contrary, there are many goals and narrow space, but there is no need to climb up and downhill, and it does not tire the passengers but tires it out.

I have been thinking, why are tourists from all over the world, regardless of region, age, or cultural level, willing to come to Venice first? In terms of scenery, it is neither majestic nor beautiful; in terms of historical sites, although it has preserved a lot, most of them cannot be ranked; List a few but can not be better than all over Europe.So, why? I think it is mainly due to its interesting ecological landscape. First of all, it is in modern times without the noise of cars and horses.All transportation depends on boats and walking, so its urban meridians are cobweb-like rivers and alleys.This kind of water city exists elsewhere, but it is not as pure as it.For most tourists from all over the world, wandering in the river alleys of Venice is like a childhood dream; secondly, this pure water city is close to the sea and was once the gateway to the world, the center of gravity of Europe, and the overlord of the Mediterranean , Shakespeare topic.Even once, it was still a free camp, a warehouse of talents, and an anomaly of the Holy See.Its former glory has left relics, and the main relics are the buildings by the water that are closely arranged and whose age and ownership are not clear, including those churches and squares.This makes history become a riverside landscape, and tourists read history by boat, and the reading is textured and rough.There seems to be a bit of a symbol here?In my opinion, this way of sailing is very much in line with the psychology of most middle school students who don’t like sticking to history but like to browse history; again, although it is so special and interesting, it is crowded with densely packed shopping malls, and the history of itself and the surrounding area The handicrafts that are most pleasing to outsiders in the world are presented in a concentrated manner, coupled with restaurants of different categories, so that tourists can linger.More importantly, it does not have the noise of dazzling low-level street vendors pulling tourists like some tourist destinations in the world, giving people a sense of security that there is no need to avoid anything.The facades are so narrow and elegant, and when you enter lightly, the owner greets you with a smile on his lips and then stops looking at you, allowing you to choose or leave. This atmosphere is very charming.

Of course, there are more highlights, but from my ordinary point of view, this is roughly the case. Unfortunately, it is these advantages that have brought it harm.Since everyone is looking at an interesting ecological landscape, we must try to protect it and prevent damage.However, it is easy to protect rocks and waterfalls, but it is difficult to protect cultural relics and historic sites, and it is even more difficult to protect ecological landscapes. The alleys can only make it so small; the old buildings can only let it soak in the water; so many people come and go, it can only make it troublesome to untie the boats; The raging tides threaten again and again; of course, mere tourism income cannot cover the cost of building dams to stop the sea, pollution control, and maintenance of dilapidated houses, and it can only be appealed to by congressmen, scholars, and citizens time and time again.

Didn't everyone notice that the warning line on the wall shows that the tide (text) has flooded the city (people) more than 100 times in the past 30 years?Didn’t everyone (book) (house) find that many old houses soaked in sewage by the canal are already dying and in danger, the winding small river is already emitting a stench, and the remote alleys are also smelly? Undoubtedly, there are tourists admiring and playing, while others are playing wild and excreting. Venice is too good to have to suffer. Well-meaning people have been calling for sympathy for the weak, but they always classify the outstanding ones as the strong ones, which seems to be out of the scope of sympathy by nature.In fact, most outstanding people in the world have become the weakest and weakest due to the sharing, scrambling, and excretion of everyone. Venice is the best example.

I am used to wandering through the alleys of Venice for a long time, looking at the closed doors of every house, and my heart is full of sympathy.Looking up, these buildings don't even open the windows, but there are many signs that there are people living inside, and the windows are closed, just because they are afraid of the noise on the street.In the frenzy of tourists from all over the world, how do these local residents go out and shop on weekdays?The young people in the family may have gone to work, but what about the elderly?We can run away when we smell the stench of Xiaohe Xiaogang, what about them?

two I have a special interest in the alleys and doors of Venice, and for a special reason. The ecological landscape of Venice has not changed much for hundreds of years, so a person who is closely related to our China should also be familiar with this scene.He walked out from here, and then missed all this in the far east.This was a kind of spiritual price paid in advance for him, but the reward was astonishing, that is, many Westerners began to miss the East after chanting his name again and again. Of course, I mean Marco Polo. Whether Marco Polo really visited China, whether his travel notes are true or not, has always been controversial in the international academic circles, and will continue to debate.What is not disputed is that there must have been this man, a traveler familiar with the Orient, and certainly a Venetian.

Regarding whether he has really been to China, both the opposition and the affirmative have presented very strong evidence.For example, the opposition believes that the time when he participated in the attack on Xiangyang written in his travel notes does not match; the fact that he served as the general manager of Yangzhou does not match the reason, and there is no historical evidence.The affirmatives believed that his detailed description of Yuan Dadu and Lugouqiao, and his accurate description of the assassination of Ahema, could not be based on hearsay.After reading various materials, I believe that he has indeed been to China, but the scope, identity and depth of his travels are exaggerated in the biography.

What needs to be reminded of the academic community is that he was originally just an expansive traveler, not a rigorous scholar.Writing travel notes was not the purpose of his travels, nor did he think about it beforehand, so the later memories are often spoken at will.In fact, we can still see such travelers now. The hardships along the way forced them to use exaggerated tone to encourage themselves and their partners. It becomes a habit after a long time, and sometimes I even confuse myself, listening to their travel stories is always discounted.Therefore, we cannot read Marco Polo's travel notes as a scientist's research notes.

Of course, ethnic differences should also be taken into account. Italians are still more casual than British and Germans.There are loopholes at random, but loopholes cannot disprove the non-existence of things.In any case, this casual, bombastic traveler is actually very lovable, and it is this lovability that cheers him through the most difficult historical journey. Although there are many shortcomings in travel notes, once they come out, they have far surpassed one person and one thing. They have become the foundation of Europeans' dreams about the East, and they have also become the temptation of life for them to venture out again and again.The great voyages of Columbus, Da Gama and others all started from this biography, and the captains were still reading it over and over again during the stormy waves.If it has been recognized as the driving force for the West to discover the East, so what is a little loophole?

For this thought I always walk the alleys of Venice with a sense of gratitude.Thanks to these alleys for honing a kind of footsteps, a kind of footsteps that lead the world through. Back then, he walked among the Chinese alone, but now, there are many Chinese walking in front of his house.I have had several jokes in the alleys of Venice involving Chinese tourists.Mostly, I met groups of readers and friends from Sichuan, Zhejiang, or Hunan here, said goodbye to each other, and went into the alleys; Laughed for a while and broke up again, wandered around for a few laps and collided face to face.Later, even laughing, I felt that the repetition was too much and I just wanted to avoid it. As soon as I retreated behind the wall, I saw another group of friends on the boat next to me calling me. I sometimes think, is this the spirit of Marco Polo playing a joke on us?To make a joke here, he must first find the Chinese.He must be happy to see so many Chinese popping up in his hometown at once. three Venice, which is noisy all day long, also has quiet moments. I remembered a past event. I arrived in one night two years ago, took a shuttle-type ferry, passed through more than a dozen stops, and ended up at a small island, where the hotel I booked was on the island.At this time, there was still a last ray of light in Xitian, and the houses by the canal were lit up, and the lights were reflected in the river, quiet and not desolate. There are two types of lighting, one is the lighting of the cafes along the river, and the other is the floodlight illuminating those ancient buildings.After a few stops on the boat, the cafe has gradually closed, leaving only the floodlight.These floodlights are not bright, making those ancient buildings a bit like old people who are reluctant to appear on the stage, knowing that they are no longer suitable for such an appearance.The houses immersed in the water melt into the bustling landscape during the day, and it is not easy to form the focus of gaze. At this moment, the night removes their background, and the lights highlight their decadence.Originally, they looked at us during the day, but now we hid in the darkness, leaving only their loneliness. The row of houses in front of the water has been exhibited for a long time and there is no one to rely on, so the damage is serious and it is rarely put into practical use.Several buildings have been claimed by some international companies, which are called maintenance, but are actually advertisements. The shuttle-type ferry berths at one stop, and there are many passengers.Taking a closer look, almost none of them are tourists, but local residents. Now is their time to come out for activities.Stepping on the rubbish and filth thrown by tourists, they came out of the alley deep in the waterway, walked across a few small bridges to the pier, and were going to take a boat to visit their parents two stops away, or go to a certain open gate in the square. A small shop to buy some daily necessities.They were buried in the voices of people all day long, so when they met strangers on the ferry, they didn't use too much politeness, they just stood there blankly, speechless and laughing.Some of them were the staff of the shop that had just closed. They looked tired and greeted acquaintances without smiling. It started to rain, and there were fewer and fewer passengers on the boat. In the end, there were only five or six people left, all of whom lived on the island like me.Entering the big river, the rain is getting heavier and heavier, and it has become a torrential trend. I am worried, what will I do when I get to the small island?How can I find the hotel in the rain and darkness? The sea breeze blowing in the rain was wet and cool. I squinted my eyes and looked at the dark sea. This is the Adriatic Sea, and on the other side is the troubled Croatia.At this time, Venice is already a hideous scene, which reminds me of the scene of the ancient ships departing from Quanzhou and finally landing here after untold hardships. That's all right, but tomorrow morning, it will have to dress up, smile sadly, and busily receive tourists who are looking for charm. After landing, it was raining like rain, and I didn't have an umbrella, so I had to hide under the eaves.Later, when he saw that there was a path between the eaves, he slowly moved forward against the wall, and ran a few steps with his head in his arms when he encountered a place without eaves.At this moment, I don't want to find a hotel right away, but a restaurant. I am really hungry, and at such a late night, the hotel will definitely not serve food.But looking around the rain curtain, there were no lights or figures, only the roar of the sea tide. I didn't know which eaves I was close to, but when I looked up, there was a red light in the distance.Immediately ran away, walked in the door, and saw two Chinese girls, and it turned out to be a Chinese restaurant!Where are the sons and daughters of Huaxia, who opened the restaurant on this small island and didn't close it in the middle of the night?I took a breath and asked. The answer is, Yueqing, Wenzhou, Zhejiang. Four Shakespeare wrote a play called "The Merchant of Venice", which gave many viewers who had never been to Venice a little taste of the city's commercial scene at that time, and formed certain opinions on the merchants here. I have met a lot of Venetian merchants here, and the general feeling is that they are dutiful, honest, elegant, and not treacherous.This further confirmed my previous judgment: only a well-developed business market can cultivate a good business personality, opportunistic, cunning, treacherous, not because I know too much about business, but because I don’t understand business. I went to a glassware store, and the owner invited me to make an exception to visit the firing process next door, because he liked Chinese culture.Seeing that he was proficient in cooking, he casually called him master, but he quickly said no, there are not many masters in Venice, and he is still an apprentice.His face was flushed by the fire, and he was estimated to be over sixty years old. The most memorable one is a Venetian merchant selling masks. Italian masked comedy was the object of my research, and I knew the center was in Venice, so I saw a mask vendor at the seaside that day, and I was so excited. After admiring it for a while, I picked out a few sets and asked the price. Ready to pay. The owner of the vendor is old, with a chiseled face and a dignified look.When I was admiring the masks just now, he didn't react at all, and he didn't even nod to me. He just took off the masks one by one, looked at them and put them on again.When I took off two masks from the masks he had just hung up, he suddenly looked at me in surprise and didn't speak.When I brought all the selected ones to him, he finally smiled and nodded at me, meaning: an expert! At this moment, a friend who can speak Italian came over. He asked me about the masks I was going to buy, and then turned to chat with the old man.The old man was delighted to hear his fluent Italian, but after a few words, he took his eyes off my friend's face, put down the mask he was planning to pack, and went to fiddle with other goods. I quickly asked my friend what was going on, and my friend said that he was negotiating, but he would not budge.I said, let’s follow the original price, it’s not expensive.My friend was hesitating, so I talked to the old man in English myself. However, I kept saying that the original price should be paid, and the old man only said no lightly, and then he didn't look back. Friends said, this is really a strong temper. But I know the real reason.The old man is an artist who makes masks. When he saw my selection just now, he thought he had met a bosom friend. When he bargained, he was suddenly disappointed and sad.If you are an expert, you should see the value, and you should generate respect through spiritual communication. This is the Italian who still flows with Roman blood.I know that I am doing a small business, it doesn't matter if it is big or small, I don't care whether I am poor or rich, I just want to keep that little self-esteem.Occupational self-esteem, artistic self-esteem, personality self-esteem. Go to a store, push the door open and an old man sits inside. After looking at a few items, you carefully ask: Can it be cheaper?His answer was to raise his hand and say: The door is there. Of course, this kind of business is not big, and this kind of attitude is too outrageous. Of course, not all Italian businesses are like this, but in any case, here is a typical one. Desolate and deserted, this is the price they paid, and some people say it is also the tragedy of their personality. In a city like Venice, where tourists come and go from all over the world, it is not difficult to try to make a lot of money, but they don't want to.The store is handed down from the ancestors, and the door is half closed. I don't want too many customers to come in, because this is the scale that has been set long ago. It will not be poor or rich. It is just right. If you are poor or rich, it is a burden. .Therefore, they are not making money, but sticking to an ecology. The peace, grandeur, and serenity of European life are partly related to this. If it is a tragedy, I have a little respect for this kind of tragedy. We've seen enough of that shiny farce.