Never having seen Venice up close, the sail-in was a must,
for Monica at least. She was up on deck with most of the rest of the guests at
7:00, when we started sailing along the shoreline toward the ferry pier, where
we would be docking.
Up until Sunday we had only had two days of not-so-good
weather - at Hvar with the rainstorm and Sibenik where it was cool and blustery
most of the day. So of course, we woke to an overcast morning with a forecast
of showers, but that didn't take away from the excitement of seeing the city
for the first time:
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| Our first view of Piazza San Marco and the Doge's Palace. If you look really closely at the right edge of the picture you can see the Bridge of Sighs going from the Palace to the prison. |
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| One of the many, many canals and 403 bridges in Venice. Is that tower in the background leaning?? |
We were not alone in port, with 2 small and 3 large ships in
at the same time. But as it was turnaround day for everyone, there would not be
multitudes of cruise ship tours everywhere. There is, by the way, something of
a protest against big cruise ships coming in to Venice, saying that they are
contaminating the atmosphere and generating (or dropping off) more waste that
the city needs to dispose of. While there is a legitimate concern, without the
tax and service revenues from these tourists, the city would be very much less
able to support all the regular services it has to provide. And it is easy to
see how much needs to be done with some of the older historical buildings and,
of course, protecting the city from the water.
So, we disembarked Crystal Esprit and were led to the Water
Taxi Dispatch counter where we made our arrangements to get to the hotel. Water
taxis in Venice are just like regular taxis everywhere else, except that there
is a common dispatch instead of a number of separate companies. Every boat has
its taxi number, and when you order one, dispatch tells you to go and wait for
that number. We did, standing at the loading pier under an ever-darkening and
lightly sprinkling sky. When the taxi arrived, we and our luggage were loaded
on and we were on our way through the narrow canals. It began to rain a little
harder, and then some more. By the time we got to the Grand Canal and our
hotel, we had to sit in the boat for 5 minutes before it let up enough for us
to take the few steps up to the hotel's waterfront porch and in the door.
The Hotel Canal Grande was recommended to us by some of
Larry's clients who have stayed in Venice more than once. It is outside of the
main tourist areas around Piazza San Marco, so that makes it fairly quiet, but
about a 20 minute walk (if you're not dawdling and don't run into tour groups
going the other way) to the square and all that it offers. The rooms had
numbers, but only the staff knew what they were - we were in the Suite dei Dogi,
the Doge's Suite. Recall from history that the Doge was the man who ruled over
Venice, so our room was on the top floor (3rd here, 2nd in Europe) with a
lovely view over the Canal from our 5 windows!
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| Our hotel on Monday when it was nicer outside. Our room spanned from the far end to over the hotel sign. |
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| The view from our room when we arrived |
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| Sitting on the tiny porch over the canal |
The rain did seem to let up so we decided to walk to San
Marco. Monica had her raincoat and the hotel had a good selection of umbrellas
to choose from. Even with a map, it is difficult to find your way around the
city as there is really nothing wide enough to be called a 'street' anywhere,
but there are signs pointing the way to the Rialto Bridge and P. San Marco at
many corners and in the squares, and, for those going the other way, to the
Ferrovia, the main train station. Since the hotel was near the train station,
we didn't have to worry about dropping a trail of breadcrumbs or anything to
get back!
If there's anything worse than large tour groups crowding a
narrow alleyway, it is large tour groups WITH UMBRELLAS crowding a narrow
alleyway, making it take twice as long to get anywhere. Following the signs and
the steady stream of people, it was easy to find the Rialto and then carry on
toward Piazza San Marco
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| The Basilica San Marco is more impressive than we thought |
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| And just so nobody thinks our streak is broken - scaffolding on the side of the Basilica!! |
And, of course, two of the more iconic shots of Venice:
Even with the on and off showers, the Piazza was quite busy,
with people lining up to get into the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and to take
the stairs to the top of the Campanile, the bell tower, for the best views of
Venice. We only had two full days and one would be partially taken up with a
complimentary tour to Murano from the hotel, so we had to put these off for
another visit. It is best to have a tour booked ahead as many of them have
'jump the line' pricing, so that is what we will do next time.
Of course, this wouldn't be a blog without more photos of
food! On the way back to the hotel, we had to stop for the first pizza:
They may be out of order, but we had to show you some of the
other meals, too. The hotel recommended a couple of restaurants within about a
10 minute walk, and we tried them out. Venice, like most other cities in the
Adriatic, has a fish-based cuisine, but that doesn't mean you can't get a good
piece of meat anywhere.
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| Lunch at a restaurant across the Grand Canal from the hotel |
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| Caprese Salad with caper berries and olives |
Main courses: Monica's fish and seafood platter and Larry's beef strip
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| This is a traditional Venetian dessert for kids: Ricotta cheese cream studded with butter cookies, drizzled over with chocolate sauce. Yummy! |
Antika Besseta:
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| The restaurant is in a small 'street', right around the corner from the narrowest alleyway in Venice (see below) |
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| Larry had the 'salami' platter of meats; in front is Monica's burrata. Burrata is a very soft fresh cheese that is usually like really soft boconcini, but this was like whipped cream it was so light! |
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| Main courses - Frito Misto, a combination of flour-dredged veggies and seafood - calamari, small fish and shrimp, served in a paper cone with a polenta cake on the side |
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| And of course, dessert. Tiramisu for Monica and a Venetian boiled cake for Larry |
When we arrived at the hotel, we booked a private walking tour
of the parts of Venice that tourists don't usually see - areas nearer the hotel
with just as much history and interesting stories. Our guide was a young man
named Luca who was just opening his own tour company after doing his studies in
travel and working for an agency. The tour was great; very interesting, and
Luca was able to put a personal spin on some of the places we visited, as his
family was from the area around the hotel and had lived there for at least 4
generations. He showed us the church where his parents were married and he was
baptised; he told us about one of the larger churches where the second floor was
used as a basketball arena since it was the only place big enough, and how the
floor actually waved up and down with the running and dribbling of the balls;
and he explained how it wasn't until he went to Madrid to study that he ever
saw a traffic light, and that his friends would have to keep pulling him back
off the street to keep him from being run over! Things we don't even think of
here...but then again, we don't all have boat licences at age 14.
Some photos from the tour:
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| Courtyard of the home of a rich Venetian merchant |
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| One of the tiny canals |
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| On the Rialto Bridge |
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| Waiting for customers |
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| The square in the Jewish Ghetto |
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| Cicheti is a Venetian form of small bites like tapas that are served in bacari, small restaurants. Luca and his friends come to this one where the old boat is used for extra seating. Get your cicheti and some wine, hop aboard and sit down with your friends! |
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| Another canal |
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| At one time, none of the bridges in Venice had railings or balustrades. Then for safety reasons they were put in. This is a private bridge to the house across, and is the only one with no railings in the whole city. |
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| In this town square in one of the sections, the mayor used to climb these steps to this podium every day and read out the news (mostly about the citizens) to the citizens when they were generally illiterate. |
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| Outside the fish market is this old sign stating what kinds of fish could be sold in the market and their minimum size. This guideline is still in use today. |
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| The narrowest alleyway in Venice! Just wide enough for Larry to get through without scraping his shoulders. |
On Tuesday we went to see Murano and Burano Islands. The
tour to Murano was complimentary from the hotel and went to one of the nicer
studios. This one has been around for over 100 years and only the most highly
skilled glassblowers do their work here. Glassblowing is done on Murano Island
for one very good reason - high heat and wood don't go well together! Venice
was, and still is, a city built on wood. The high heat needed to melt the sand
to create glass could have caused the whole city to go up in flames, so all the
furnaces were moved to Murano hundreds of years ago; by the time Galileo had
the lens for his groundbreaking telescope made there in 1609, they had already
been on the island for quite some time.
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| The church on Isola de San Michele |
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| In the glassworks on Murano, a master blower working on a vase. He was just finishing up that horse in front when we arrived. |
Burano is the home of the fishermen and lacemakers. Burano
lacemaking is unfortunately dying out as there are less than 50 women still doing
this craft, and no young ones wanting to learn it to make sure it continues.
Burano is also most well-known for the colourful houses. Each one is painted a
different, bright colour. After all the stone walls and tiny alleyways of
Venice, Burano is like a ray of sunshine.
Venice is certainly an interesting city, and one that
requires many days to explore properly. We had a
wonderful introduction to it, and are hoping to come back
soon - and maybe get that gondola ride!
