Venice, Italy

Buone Feste

Whilst Carla was here, we took a trippy-dippy to Venice - we left on Wednesday, December 12 and stayed until late Friday the 14th. WOO HOO! It was AWESOME! We did TONS of walking and walking and walking ... there are no vehicles in Venice (bikes, motor scooters, cars, etc.) and the only transportation is by gondola, water boat or walking.
WEDNESDAY - after arriving in the mid-afternoon, we took a bus to Venice. We eventually found our hotel, the Hotel Abbazia, and checked in. In the picture with Melissa and Austin, our hotel is on the other side of the big church you see, which is called the Chiesa degli Scalzi). We didn't sit still for long because I wanted to go to the Piazza San Marco and see it at night. We walked over the Rialto Bridge on our way and we took a look at a lot of the shops along the way ... there was a lot of food and carnivale masks. The masks were amazingly beautiful and sometimes very expensive! We did stop for a bite to eat - Austin had pizza and Melissa had fettuccine alfredo.


We finally arrived at Piazza San Marco (or St. Mark's) and saw the Dodges Palace (the home and offices of the Dodges of Venice). It was nice and dark and you could see the lights all around. It was really beautiful! Oh, symbol for the city of Veniceis a winged lion of St. Mark.


We then walked back to the hotel so Austin and Melissa could take their bathy-poo's. Fun was ensued by Austin whose mother put in a little too much bubble bath! OOPSIE!


THURSDAY - the children were ever so thrilled to hear that we were walking back to San Marco's square (not really) so we started off early and enjoyed the local talent and shopkeepers. There was a stand with seafood ... alive and flopping around! EW! Shrimp, crabs, fish ... all flippy-floppy and breathing air, not water.


One of the places I really wanted to look at and walk through was the Jewish Ghetto. I amaze myself, sometimes ... I saw the scroll cases on the doors and said "Hey, I thinks some Jews must live there!" duh - it's the Jewish Ghetto! This is where thousands of persecuted Jews were driven before the 17th-century fall of Venice. The neglected cement and brick tenements still line the streets where 5,000 people used to live. Today, the community is almost empty - only about 650 people live in the area. We went to a pet store and bought Gabby a toy - a candy cane squeaky toy. There is a new ghetto (Ghetto Nuovo) and an old ghetto (Ghetto Vecchio), fyi.

Well, as we walked (with a purpose - we were following a walking tour I found online), we came across the statues of the three Moors on the building walls by the Campo dei Mori. Near the moors was the Casa di Tintoretto where the painter lived and had his workshop until his death in 1594. Throughout the day, we did see many paintings by Tintoretto - they were amazing!



Next stop - the Madonna dell'Orto which happens to be where Tintoretto is buried and displays many of his works. The church was erected in the mid-14th century!


Well, all of this walking made us hungry, so off to an authentic Italian restaurant ... McDonald's, of course! Oh, and check out the pic with Melissa in it ... our friends, the purse sellers, are in the background! :)

Okay, so on to San Marco! Now, the thing you must remember is that the basilica at San Marco square is free - yes FREE - to get in. Did we know that? No. Did we even ask? No. I found out two weeks ago, for crying out loud! On the way to the square, we saw shops and shops and more shops! And then we saw (and ate) gelato ... yum! The street system in Venice can be confusing - very around-and-around and through this alleyway. Again, may I state that the graffiti was ridiculous and an eyesore? Judge for yourself ...

Arrival at the square! woo hoo! It looks lovely during the day, by the way. Okay, I guess I should call it by it's Italian name ... Basiliac di San Marco a Venezia. Well, the basilica (or cathedral) is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It likes on St. Mark's Square adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally, it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers, and not the city's cathedral. Since 1807, it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. (whew, that was a mouthful!)


So, as we are clicking the pictures, the pigeons decide to start landing on people. Geesh! Such vermin! Austin and Melissa freaked out (there was screaming from both) but Austin soon got into the thick of it - we couldn't get Melissa to even have one fly on here ... we'll get her next time! I'm surprised that noone was pooped on.

Much feeding of the birds ensued. After, what seemed like an hour, we decided it was time for a gondola ride. We spent some moolah (90 euro for all four of us) - we just couldn't get them lower! - but it was worth it.
We toured the Grand Canal. Bad news, though. The gondolier didn't sing and really didn't tell us much about what we were seeing (he got a lousy tip, thank you very much). Oh, under Venetian law, gondoliers must be born in Venice in order to practice this profession.




Our little gondola tour went under the Bridge of Sighs. Of course, the gondolier mentioned nothing of this - a quick fyi on the importance of it ...
- it connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.
- it was built between 1600 and 1603
- it was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment
- Lord Byron gave the bridge it's name (due to the sighing prisoners)
- legend has it that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge

By the time the ride was over, it was getting dark and a bit on the chilly side - someone (mentioning no names) convinced the children to forgo bringing their winter coats ("It doesn't get that cold there!") so they were shivering by the time we got to the restaurant.

After supper (pizzeria), we headed very wearily to our room. Guess what!? The door wouldn't open! So, we had to cop a squat and wait for someone to unjam the jam. That was some fun and I wouldn't want to repeat that!

FRIDAY - our hotel arranged for us to take a water taxi (gratis, of course) to the island of Murano, which is famous for it's glass and was a port as early as the 7th century. (the history in this area is amazing) The glass chandeliers were amazing (so were the prices) and we watched glassblowers making beautiful challises.


I ended up buy a little blue glass gondola (we needed change to go to the loo) and within 2 minutes, it was broken. Smashed to bits. Poor me. No glassy for Krissy. :(

On our way back to Venice, we passed an island that had a brick wall all around. Turns out it is the Isola di San Michele, or Island of the Dead. It's where the people of Venice are buried. Igor Stravinsky, the famous Russian composer, is buried there. I would have loved to have gone there and looked around, but alas, more churches and famous paintings to look at!

Interesting Fact: Due to shortage of space, after a few years the dead are exhumed and stored in compact concrete ossuary boxes in another part of the cemetery.

Okay, another church to go to ... next we saw the Santa Maria dei Miracoli, also known as the marble church. Marbles, anyone? Holy moley, there was marble! Lots of different colors - green, white, black, red ... it was beautiful. Some of the churches asked for no photographs while others did. I have no idea what the difference is and so I may have snuck (sp?) in a photo or two (with the flash off) to remind us all of the beautiful paintings and sculptures. I'm so naughty! :)
One of the more memorable churches was the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. WOW! In this basilica, we were allowed to take photos without flash so I did just that! You'll have to excuse the fuzzy photos indoors - I just purchased this camera and was still figuring out how to work it (I still am).

Oh, I forgot to mention (or did I?) about the Rialto Bridge or the Ponte di Rialto. How could I forget the most famous bridge in Venice? I'm losing it, I guess. It's the oldest bridge and spans over the Grand Canal. This picture of the bridge is one of my favorite!
The rest of the day consisted of (and not in this order) McDonald's, shopping, a protest (which we did not join), relaxing and my winning another free trip from RyanAir! I guess that's the only thing I'm lucky in ... ha! just kidding!

Anyhoo, that was our wonderful trip to Venice. Boy howdy I would love to go there again! Looking at all the pictures again brings back many fond memories! Ciao!