Venice
Our Hotel: We got to Venice late at night. We parked the van in a parking garage called Tronchetto and took a Vaporetto (public-transit bus-boat) from the garage to the Accademia Bridge dock. From there we pulled our suitcases through the streets up and over bridges following Chris like he knew exactly where he was going… and he did. We turned into a dark alley and went to the end of it where we found the Dimora Marciana, our hotel. The desk clerk let us in to a small lobby and then took us upstairs to show us our rooms. They were PERFECT. The pictures don’t quite do it justice, it was more red than it looks. Very fancy, very ornate, very Venetian. I especially loved my little mirror and desk alcove.
Below (left) is the view from my alcove into our alleyway. I got ready in the mornings with my windows wide open watching people walk past. I even watched the garbage man collect the garbage with his cart, get to the end of the street and then look back and wave. I guess he saw me staring out into the street daydreaming of my new Venetian life. It may not be an exactly breathtaking alley, but I was caught up in it’s authentic details nonetheless. It was a wonderful relaxing way to wake up and get ready.
The hotel served a great breakfast included in the price of our room. Chris loved the granola and fresh juice and I loved the ‘jammy’ croissants and fruit. After breakfast we walked down our alley and another two minutes to our first stop,
The Correr Museum… a good overview of Venetian history and art, Neoclassical sculpture, and paintings of the Venetian republic. No pictures allowed.
After Museum #1 we headed down into Piazza San Marco… or St. Mark’s Square.
It is a beautiful large square filled with major historic buildings and sights… St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, the Campanile Bell tower and the Correr Museum. St. Mark’s Square is the only square in Venice to merit the title “Piazza” and is nearly two football fields long. On the right side of the square are the “old offices” (16th century Renaissance). On the left side off the square are the “new offices” (17th century High Renaissance). “Napoleon called the piazza the most beautiful drawing room in Europe and added the final wing, opposite the basilica, that encloses the square.” (and which houses the Correr Museum).
Along both sides of the square at the foot of the old and new offices are perfectly aligned tables and chairs around dueling orchestras. In the center of the square, thousands of pigeons flocked around anyone who would give them anything to eat… landing on their hands, arms and head… which lots of tourists loved, but which I thought was a little disgusting.
St. Mark’s Basilica: I was happy just taking pictures of the Basilica… even with the crowds of people. It was quite a sight.
I know, the sign specifically says no cameras, but after wandering around for a couple minutes and seeing at least a HUNDRED cameras pointing in all directions with flashes going off left and right I figured my ‘no flash’ photography wouldn’t harm anything. This cathedral was just asking to be photographed, what with it’s seriously flashy gold mosaics and colored marble. Ya, way up there inside the domes… those are mosaics. It was decorated with treasures from returning sea captains as kind of an architectural Venetian trophy chest. Seriously, wow.
Lion Statues in Piazetta D. Leoncini: After touring St. Mark’s Basilica we turned the corner past all the Chinese tourists taking picture of the bells chiming in the Clock Tower and around the corner to a small Piazzetta D. Leoncini for some lion statue pictures. The entire square was swarming with tourists and locals so trying to get a picture showing the lions was quite something… we couldn’t stop laughing when trying to take picture of Lindsey with some old men standing right in front.
Walkways and Waterways of Venice: From here we started wandering through the walkways, over bridges, and past gondoliers, in search of some lunch. But unfortunately for Chris, these same little streets were lined with shops and traveling with four women seemed to be a little slow going. Naturally he was the leader of the group , knowing exactly where we were headed at all times. His long stride had him arriving at the next ‘piazza’, turning around and discovering that his four ladies had their eyes glued to a window or had stepped in somewhere to do some shopping. Luckily for us, he was pretty patient. Venice had beautiful and expensive shops. High priced children boutiques, glamorous shoe stores, lots of fabulous Italian leather purses, and fancy masks. Venice is also know for it’s blown glass so store after store had glass vases, glass dishes, and glass jewelry.
If I wasn’t already in love with Venice, then I certainly was after walking the streets for awhile. Every street was quaint and authentic. Every waterway was picturesque. There were NO cars in Venice. NO roads. Venetians don’t even own cars, they just rent them if they need them for a vacation. No bikes either. Every Venetian owns a boat… or two. But Venice is the perfect place to get around on foot. Walkways and bridges connect the islands so you can walk practically everywhere. Yes, Venice is touristy. Yes, Venice is crowded. (No, it didn’t smell.) But it’s so unique that I just found myself in awe at every turn. I love you, Venice!
Lunch: We ordered some paninis and sat on the edge of the dock to enjoy the view.
After lunch we continued to wander through the city in search of gelato. We crossed over the Grand Canal on the Accademia Bridge and over to our new favorite gelateria, GROM. Chris loved the ‘egg cream’ and I loved the ‘chocolate’.
Doge’s Palace… The Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) sits right next to St. Mark’s Cathedral in St. Mark’s Square. It was the seat of the Venetian government and home of its ruling duke, (or doge) and was the most powerful half-acre in Europe for 400 years. The Doge’s Palace was built to show off the power and wealth of the Republic. The inside of the building was impressive… the Senate Hall, cool courtyard, military armory, and giant Hall of the Grand Council. The art work was equally impressive. In the Hall of the Grand Council was the largest oil painting in the world… ‘Paradise’ by Tintoretto. It featured Christ and Mary surrounded by a heavenly host of 500 saints. It was gigantic.
The Doge’s prison… just a floor or two beneath the grand ballroom and such.
The prison courtyard…
Frari Church… This church was better than any of the museums we saw in Venice. I just love viewing art in the setting for which it was designed. The three main pieces were Donatello’s ‘Wood carving of St. John the Baptist’, Titian’s ‘Assumption of Mary’ (amazing – Titian’s pieces became our very favorite) and Gio. Bellini’s ‘Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels’ (BELOW… it is amazing but a little hard to see here. The artists painted their pieces with architecture found in the Frari Church to give extension to the room). I loved this church!
Gondola ride… After the Frari church we came across some gondoliers waiting for riders and decided it was the perfect time for a gondola ride. We boarded the gondola while in a narrow waterway and drifted in absolute peace and quiet for the first half of our ride. We didn’t even pass other gondolas… just took in the sights. It was fantastic.
See how Chris and I are out of focus and our Gondolier is in perfect focus? Well, that’s perfectly alright with me. Nikole, Ashlyn, Lindsey and I quickly became infatuated with our Gondolier. Is he dreamy or what?
The gondola ride afforded us an up close and personal view of everyday Venice… crumbling bricks, old boats, hanging laundry, flowerboxes with colorful flowers, archways, doorways right from the water, wrought iron balconies… Like I said, it was fantastic. After the quiet narrow waterways Giovanni (we named him that because we didn’t know his name and this sounded like a pretty sexy name) took us out into the Grand Canal… a wider and busier ‘main street’. He then started telling us about some of the major buildings and bridges along the way. It was so much fun.
‘Giovanni’ with the Rialto Bridge behind. He bend down because he thought I wanted a picture of the bridge. (Side note: see that banner of the Pope hanging from the Rialto Bridge? That’s because the Pope had visited Venice the day before. We got in late at night so we didn’t witness any of the commotion but apparently EVERYTHING was closed and crowds of Italians lined the grand canal’s walkways and waterways to catch a glimpse of him. The Pope hadn’t been in Venice for something like 60 years so it was a big deal.)
So, after our gondola ride sadly came to an end, we got off and started on our way. A minute later, Giovanni chased us down. An eyeliner had fallen out of my jacket pocket. He handed it to Chris and then whispered ‘Women!’ as he chuckled. We were now even more in love with him. We asked for a picture with him and he ran to the gondola to fetch his hat.
Dinner: We took a recommendation from Rick Steves and headed to Trattoria Pizzeria Nono Risorto… “unpretentious, inexpensive, youthful, and famous for some of the best pizza in town.” We sat down in a gravelly garden under a leafy canopy and all ordered pizza. I ordered a ‘black olive’ pizza and they came sitting on top round and whole… and they were delicious!!! Chris had a salame, pomodoro, and mozzarella pizza and was equally satisfied.
The outside of our restaurant… Trattoria Pizzeria Nono Risorto…
We grabbed another gelato and made our way back to the Rialto Bridge for a couple of nights shots. The bridge was full of tourists and locals. We took some pictures by the bridge, got the giggles about something and then walked towards St. Mark’s Square. St. Mark’s was lit up and full of ambiance. The three dueling orchestras took turns playing music for those sitting in tables and chairs on the cobblestone square and those of us standing behind. The first orchestra played lively Italian music that made us dance and clap our hands (we’ve got it on video). The second was slower and quite romantic… the perfect ending to a wonderful Venetian day.
