Venice - Day 3

Monday - Basically, a free day today. Nothing planned except Bridget’s trip to an Italian yarn shop. We then crossed on the Rialto Bridge to the less touristy part of Venice and gradually worked our way back. 

Lots of bell towers, and most of them had a lean to them unless they were attached to another building. One of the surprises was discovering Eduroam WiFi access points. This is a widespread WiFi access utilizing credentials from your “home” institution. In my case, the University of Alaska. Pretty cool (imho)!

The views down the canals are still not getting old. These are all water taxis as the gondolas are more common in the tourist areas. At least that’s what we were told by the extremely helpful hotel reception desk. 

We stopped for a snack, double espresso and lemon gelato, and had a great view of all the boat traffic. 

Near the University, we passed a gondola repair shop. Along this walk, we also passed hardware stores, grocery shops, and electronics stores. In the tourist areas, it’s all high end fashion brands and souvenir shops. 

We crossed the Grand Canal at the Ponte dell'Accademia, a wooden bridge near the university, and headed back towards the hotel. Over 9,000 steps. We are getting our exercise in around here. 

Would I return to Venice or is it a one and done? It’s a beautiful city though very expensive. I think the property and rent prices drive up the cost for everything. Dinner ranges from €60 to €100 and the breakfast buffet at the hotel was €30. Bridget decided to pass on the ultra-tourist gondola ride. For me, it’s between a one and done and I’ll return. We’ll see at the end of the trip as this is the only part of Italy I’ve seen…

Italy - Day 2 - Murano & Burano

Sunday - We met this morning for a 25 minute boat ride to Murano, where decorative glass is made. It was another of the older speedboats with a spectacular wooden interior. 

There are around a hundred artisans on the island and, we were told, that most of the Murano glass sold to tourists is imported from elsewhere. Why am I not surprised by that.

We were given a demo of a vase and a horse. One blown and the other solid. The ovens are 1200°C, with pools of molten glass at the bottom. After picking up a blob (technical term from me as I wasn’t paying attention), he proceeded to gradually blow it then reheat before creating the vase. The colors are created by rolling the blob in pieces of colored glass then reheating. 

The horse starts out the same but no blowing into the blob of glass. A lot of skill was demonstrated even creating these throw-away demonstration pieces. The vase shattered after about three minutes as it wasn’t put into a 600°C oven to cool. After ~8 hours, the ovens are shut off and the pieces cool overnight. 

We then took the boat to Burano, another island specializing in lace and cookies. 

Here are some of the lace made here. Up to seven individuals are involved with each piece as each artisan specializes in one stitch. 

Burano is also known for its colorful buildings. These were shops mixed with homes. The bell tower in the background is leaning due to the unstable soil. The tower next to St Marks basilica does not lean as it was recently rebuilt after being it collapsed in the early 1900s. 

Here is a better view of the bell tower showing the lean. It’s quite pronounced. 

On the boat trip back, we passed an island with a rocket. I don’t know what that was about. 

Venice - Day 1

Saturday - After breakfast at the hotel, we took off to see Rialto Bridge. A famous landmark that I wanted to see. I guess we rode under it yesterday while on the water taxi, but I missed it. The streets were crowded with tourists wandering aimlessly gawking in the shop windows. 

The view from the bridge was nice. Here is the shot that must be on every camera that’s been to Venice. 

High tide was at 11:15am and water was part way up the doors in some lower areas. And water was backing up from the storm drains in the middle of St Marks square where we are headed later today. 

The area we walked through was the “touristy” part of town, according to the wonderful receptionists at the hotel. One even sat down with us when we checked in with a map explaining how to get around, what to see, where the less crowded areas were, and food recommendations. 

Last night, we went to St Marks Square, aka Piazza San Marco, and it was empty. We went through there today and it was packed. 

Just to mix something else in, my Apple Watch said that today was World Mental Health Day. Is Apple just making these things up? Anyway, it told me to relax for ten minutes. Who am I to argue with technology? Especially after dealing with crowds of tourists all morning. 

After lunch, we had a guided tour of Basilica de San Marcos. It was very crowded inside but the guide did a fantastic job explaining things. I’d recommend a guide. We also walked through the Doge’s Palace next door. The Doge was royalty for Venice. It wasn’t my cup of tea but Bridget thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of huge paintings, government meeting rooms, and huge reception rooms. Plus jail cells and the armory.

Oh yeah, ended the afternoon with pistachio and lemon gelato. Fantastic! Especially the lemon…

Venice, IT - Day 0.5

Friday - The second leg of the flight was long and tiring. It’s hard to sleep on an airplane. Not as long as other international flights I’ve taken, but I’m feeling my age. We left JFK at around 10:30pm and we should arrive around noon local time.

In this picture, we are over the Alps. We will be in Venice, IT, for about four days before taking a train to Florence on Tuesday morning. Another adventure. 

Just getting to the hotel from the airport was a challenge. A water taxi which was an old school speedboat complete with a teak interior and a V8 engine. I asked some other passengers for help with the nap they gave us. The hotel had us walking through many streets and alleys before we found it. The hotel “sign” was on the ground in front of a very narrow alley. We walked past it several times. 

We had a small lunch at a small place near the hotel I just had a pizza slice and a Diet Coke though it had different labeling here. We were told not to eat the pizza in Venice because it pales compared to the pizza in Naples. I thought it was good with a very thin crust, as is my favorite.