Long time, no posts..... well, I'll be more than making up for that in the next couple of weeks... I have two and a half weeks of travels to write about now, and at the end of each blog I'll list any tips I had/wish I had while visiting. FYI, check for multiple posts, I'm hoping to write a bunch of entries at a time/
Our first stop on our wintery trip was to Venice. Flying into Venice is incredible, you can see the islands and lagoon as you descend into the airport. I could even see the cruise ships surrounding Venice. Once we got our luggage, we boarded the Alilaguna vaparetto to Venice itself, and enjoyed the 30 minute cruise across the lagoon. We landed at Fondamente Nove. At almost every other step, I wanted to take a picture. The pictures of Venice are realistic to what you would expect to see. The rustic buildings surrounded by canals are gorgeous, with the waterline lapping below windows, or up to steps leading into a building for canal access. Our hotel/ B&B was Apostoli Palace, which was close to Fondamente Nove, but in a quieter neighborhood from the other hotels, and in a location that made it easy to get to the islands and to the city.
The Grand Canal is constantly full of boats, rain or shine. The Rialto Bridge is full of tourist shops and a ton of people, and at the base is a marketplace with more stands, next to the fish market. We wandered over there the first night, and the fish market was still fishy smelling even after all was packed up and washed down. By the end of the Venetian leg of our trip, we had walked in just about every sestieri (district) of Venice. The first night we had dinner at Osteria Enoteca Giorgione (
http://www.osteriagiorgione.it/en). I had the most amazing Hours d'Oeuvre with broiler prawns, rocket, pears, and Parmesan cheese. Brie had spaghetti with cuddlefish in a black sauce, I had macaroni with scampi, aubergines, and fresh tomatoes. We split tiramisu. Needless to say it was an early evening, especially for my jet lagged sister.
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| Gondola cleaning |
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| One of many canals |
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| Lagooney green blue water |
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| Rialto Bridge |
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| Grand Canal (not as busy as it was 1 minute earlier) |
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| Rialto Bridge |
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| View from the fish market |
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| Church by Rialto Bridge |
Day 2 started with a nice breakfast at the hotel and afterwards we went to Piazza San Marco. By the time we arrived around 9ish, the flooding from the high tides started, and the platforms were being set out. Shortly thereafter, the flood sirens went off, and it started to drizzle a bit, so we bought cheap plastic galoshes, in case we had to wade through the high water. We went on the Secrets Itinerary tour of the Doges Palace, we walked through some of the recreated rooms (the place burned down multiple times), and it made me appreciative of my short stature. Walking through the old jail cells where there was no natural light gave a true impression of what life as a prisoner was like in those times, miserable at best, horrific at the worst. Most prisoners died at the hands of their fellow convicts, mostly from people going crazy. We were touring the palace at the right time because we were able to avoid the worst of the flooding. We walked through the city managers office (the original manager), who was in his position for life and was the highest paid position prior to Napoleon's take over. This was to prevent bribery from taking hold within Venice, and so state secrets would be kept. We also walked through Casanova's supposed cell, hearing about his supposed adventures and how he claimed to escape. We saw the torture room, and multiple judgement rooms, with high ceilings, with original paintings, with the canvases suspended from the roof. We also went through collections of armor and went to the attic area, and we were able to peek through small windows and see the Bridge of Sighs and the coastal area. After walking to the new jail area over the Bridge of Sighs, we walked out to see the front side of the Bridge, which was pretty, but it is a reminder that this was the last time many of the convicts saw outside, into Venice. The was a very large congressional room (ballroom size), which had paintings of all the Doges' except one. One Doges was a traitor, and his image was blacked out. We wandered around further, getting a quick sandwich for lunch, and pretty much ended up walking in a giant circle for an hour. We went back to Piazza San Marco and went to visit Museo Correr, we were talked into buying tickets to a tour of Torre de l'Orologio, Venice's clock tower. A newlywed couple from Texas Greg and Stacy, who was also on our Doges tour were also on this tour, and were waiting for more people to sign up for the tour (must have 4 people for it to occur). We had a charming tour climbing the clock tower given by Elena, who added a extra spark to all the details. Up until 1999 the clock was manually wound, and now is digital. The original Doges who commissioned it talked the clock maintenance guy from Bologna to move to Venice, but only after giving the apartment/building with the clock to him. For the 900 years since, a male in the family was in charge of maintaining the clock, which had to be wound every 12 hours. The lagoon side had a chart of the moons/tide, the date, in addition to the time. This was for all of the mariners on the lagoon. The Venetian lion was higher than the biblical figures who used to occupy the below it. The other side of the tower just had the time. On top of the tower are two males, one old and one young who hit the bell. We also went through Museo Archeologico, where we ran into Greg and Stacy again halfway through the museum. The layout was very odd and varied, but was a nice end to the day.... well almost.... We ended up deciding to check out the Festa della Salute that was going on while we were there that day. We were too late to cross the votive bridge, but we bought candles and had them lit in St. Maria of Salute Basilica. The church was built after the plague of 1630-31 in which the Doges prayed for the intervention by the Virgin Mary in stopping the plague and in return Venice would build the heaviest church they could in honor of her, and the plague stopped. So on November 21st, the festival occurs and people light candles for good health for the following year. To give an idea of how bad the plague was in Venice, the population went from approximately 150,000 people to 100,000 people. 50,000 people died, or approximately the entire population of the current Venice.
On the way out of the church there was a street lined with food vendors selling Sicilian canolli with candied orange, to candied nuts (hazelnut, almonds, etc), and all sorts of good foods. We ended up munching on roasted chestnuts (Caldarroste) and caramel strawberries (Fragole caramellate) for dinner.
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| Alley by the hotel |
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| Random street art |
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| Basilica di San Marco |
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| Palazzo Ducale (Doges Palace) |
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| Where the Doges and Basilica meet |
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| Before the tide got too high |
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| One of many gondola stations |
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| The piazza as it begins to flood |
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| Palazzo Ducale's inner square |
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| View from attic slats |
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| View from attic slats |
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| View from attic slats |
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| View from inside Bridge of Sighs |
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| And the flooding in full force |
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| The flooding was several inches deep |
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| Bridge of Sighs |
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| Random canal |
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| St. Maria of Salute Basilica |
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| Basilica di San Marco |
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| Basilica di San Marco |
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| From the top of the clock tower |
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| Top of the clock tower |
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| Top of the clock tower with the Basilica in the back |
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| View from the top of the tower |
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| View of Piazza San Marco |
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| The clock tower at night |
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| Palazzo Ducale at night |
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| In front of St. Maria of Salute Basilica |
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| Having our candles lit during the Feste della Salute |
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| St. Maria of Salute Basilica |
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| Jammed pack street with yummy stuff |
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| Candied treats |
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| Sicilian delights |
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| Candied nuts |
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| Cassata |
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| Candied Fruit |
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| Photo campaign outside Ferragamo |
Day 3- to the islands! To be written about in another post.
Day 4- Rainy day excursions. So this was our day to catch anything we missed. We headed back to Murano, since we had such a brief visit the day before. We then headed to the train station and got our tickets for the biggest legs of our trip. We took the vaparetto down the canal, so we finally had a tour of the Grand Canal. We walked along the Cannaregio district and I bought some touristic stuff. We ended up buying glass in 7 different shops that day. At one point we were trying to get to San Marco's Square, but the tide was much higher than the time before, so we kept walking in circles. Eventually we stopped for a quick lunch. I had a puff pastry with broccoli and Brie had an asparagus and ham tarte. By the time we got all the glass and came back from Murano, it was time to get a spritz (a typical Venetian after work drink) at El Sbarlefo . I'm ok if I never have one again. The spritz had aperol and an olive in it and it was considered one of the 'sweet' ones, but it was horribly bitter to me. After downing the spritz (hold my breath and just swallow fast), we walked around to try to find a restaurant for the night. We ended up getting a Baci meringue with chocolate and a coco powder dusting, with was light and fluffy. We had dinner at Osteria Al Bamba, and while you could tell it was family owned and they were trying, the food really wasn't the best. After that it was packing time and lights out.
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| The Grand Canal |
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| Clock tower on the city side |
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| Even higher flood waters |
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| Rialto Bridge |
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| Baci meringue |
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| Street by our hotel |
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| View from the Grand Canal |
Day 5 AM- We took the vaparetto to the train station where we had a ton of time to kill. What better way than to start the makeup addiction of my sister by stopping in an Italian make-up company store- also know as Kiko..... needless to say this was a dangerous place, as were most make-up shops in Italy ;) Our final destination- Bologna, and boy what a tale that one will be... for another day.
Tips:
- Figure out which Alilaguna vaparetto line you need before getting to Venice. This is the line that will take you from the airport to Venice itself.
- Consider getting a Vaparetto pass (for however many days you'll be there). You'll save a bunch of money if you do so. Make sure you validate it when you begin using it, and at every 'station' you board at. Not all 'stations' will have a booth to purchase them.
- Expect to pay a lot more for all meals in Venice. Try to find a hotel/B&B that offers breakfast. Avoid eating near Piazza San Marco, you'll pay more, especially for 'extras' you didn't necessarily want, such as music, or sitting.
- Expect there to be an extra charge of 2-4 Euros per person just for eating at a restaurant.
- Osteria/ Hosteria's and Enoteca's are cheaper than Trattoria's.
- Try seafood in Venice, you won't find it fresher than you will there.
- Don't be the annoying person blocking the platforms during high water. If you want the pictures, buy the galoshes and stand in the water.
- I don't suggest going to Italy in the summer, winter was crazy enough with people, I could only imagine what summer is like.
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