Venice: Home of the Merchant

From One Side Of Italy to Another – We left Milan in the morning and arrived in Venice before lunch time. Upon arriving, always by train, you exit the station and the grand canal is there to greet you. It’s neat to be on the train and head from the mainland to the island, but a much cooler experience once you see the canals.

We were staying on Murano island, the glass blowing island, for our few days in town. We had to quickly learn about the vaporettos, especially if we were ever gonna get anywhere. We didn’t make any mistakes and quickly made our way to our airbnb on Murano.

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

Commute to our apartment

It was as awesome as the pictures had made it out to be. It was on a canal without feeling cramped and had an incredible view of the church across the way. Staying in Venice is incredibly expensive, so we were fortunate to find this place at a more reasonable price.

Back on Venice island, we walked around the city, taking it all in and trying to find a respite from the tourists. This was more difficult than any place we had traveled thus far. The main tourist attractions were slammed with people.

The views around Piazza San Marco

The views around Piazza San Marco

The views around Piazza San Marco

Luckily, I found a place just a few turns off the Rialto bridge where tourists were not congregating. We enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine and some small sandwiches for only a couple of bucks a piece. 

We began our tour of the Doge’s Palace not long after lunch. It’s a very impressive building typifying the greatness of the former Venetian Empire. While the tour itself was lacking in substance, the architecture and paintings made up for it. A marvelous building to go with a long running empire.

We left there to walk around the city and figure out if we wanted to do anything else in the city. We couldn’t get enough of the streets and canals. All you want to do in Venice is explore. It’s a wonderful, magical place.

We closed the night with dinner back on Murano. It was lovely and quiet, away from the hoards of tourists. Staying on Murano was a great idea, even if it took a bit to get back into Venice each day. We knew by 4-5 each day, Murano would be given back to the locals and people living there. The streets would be empty again. And we could stroll along them for hours.

Besides a walking tour, we had nothing else do to the next day. Sadly the walking tour was terrible (the only free walking tour to ever not be fantastic). The tour provided little information about Venice’s past and focused more on what typifies  modern Venice. Nevertheless, we carried on.

During the day we wandered around the street, piddling here and there, ate gelato, went to an old rundown bookstore, and found the famous Venetian mask shop. Suffice to say the mask shop was much smaller than we expected and difficult to find. Upon arriving, we were met with a small selection of handmade masks, the most beautiful out of our price range. We chose not to purchase any and left a bit sad that it didn’t work out.

Enjoying a treat on the walking tour.

Elizabeth was begging to have her picture where Indiana Jones once stood.

We learned that Venice has its own dialect that does not use the double constant. Vandals have taken to the street to remove the doubles in these non Venetian-Italian signs.

Remnants of older architecture can be seen inbetween the current windows.

This was common to see on nearly every corner.

Gelato challenge.

We knew where we wanted to eat dinner, but it was still early so to kill some time before dinner we headed to a cichetti place. It’s the Italian, specifically Venetian, version of tapas. I had read some great things about this spot and we endeavored to find it. Elizabeth wanted to use a paper map (stone age) instead of google maps. Granted google maps isn’t great in Venice as the streets are narrow, but the idea of us walking around actually looking like tourists was too much for me to bear.

Nevertheless, she got us there (with discreet glances at her map). Even if the doorway looked to lead to certain death, inside was another story. It was a nice open space with a dozen or so different cichetti and a nice little bar area. The food was cheap and getting a cocktail (Aperol spritz) and a glass of prosecco for only $2.50 each felt like stealing. Sure the places to stay in Venice are outrageous, but you can find plenty of great places to eat and drink in the city that will keep the pocketbook in decent shape.

As we enjoyed our much needed beverages, we realized the deals were only the second best thing at the bar. The music selection was finally not terrible. Not only was it not terrible, it was excellent. We had been suffering through top 40 every where we went, except Morocco (which only seemed to play late 80’s/early 90’s pop rock or Adele).  The music here was Motown, the big hits too. Nothing obscure, just hit after hit you could sing along too.

We left Bacarando on a high note and headed to dinner to close out another beautiful day in Italy.

The next morning we decided to visit Burano and pick up a souvenir or two. Before Burano though, we needed to experience Murano and the glass blowing.

We were up a little too early to catch most places putting in work and the place’s that were open felt the need to charge to watch a guy breath into a long tube. We left the area disappointed, but determined to find a place making glass. We found two that were free to watch. It was impressive and hot.

America

The first group we watched were making larger shapes so they were consonantly working the glass without us ever getting to see a final product. The second we visited was making medium to large animal figures. Within 20-30 seconds of pulling the “glass” out of the furnace, the craftsman began pulling, tugging, and adjusting the malleable goop to turn it into a horse or tiger or whatever was being produced that day.

It was quite impressive. It also took a sad turn. The same gentleman went to place one of his works into the final fire to set the shape and his hook got caught, allowing the figurine to come plummeting to the ground, fracturing into many pieces. He looked a bit dejected, but everyone who had watched was even more sad. The piece was no more though, and he began to replicate what he had just lost.

Catching a vaporetto to Burano, we hoped the clouds would hold off so we could enjoy the colorful island. The weather did not cooperate. We walked a bit and visited the shops on the main drag. We grabbed lunch and watched the rain fall on the cruise ship crowd who had mere minutes on the island before having to head straight back on their boats.

We did buy some small lace items on Burano, dropped them at our place on Murano, and headed back out for one last afternoon in Venice.

We made it to the cathedral, St. Marco, and enjoyed the free entry. The terrace of St. Marco provided great views of the mass of humanity constantly crowding the piazza nearby. The church itself is amazing. The mosaics are incredible. The craftsmanship is astounding. They just don’t make things like the used to.

To commemorate our time in Venice we bought some art, haggling the entire time for a good deal. How I can haggle over art without crumbling is weird considering my inability to do the same in Morocco. I think it’s because it starts at a reasonable price everywhere else but in Morocco where they start by asking for your first born.

Sadly we had to leave to get back to dinner on Murano.  The meal was ok, but the impending thunderstorm pushed us inside earlier than planned. We Bologna was up next, a city not near as many people visit, although they should.