Day 44, 45, 46 Italy Venice

After a long detour due to road closures because of floods, we made it to Venice. We are staying in Campalto which is on the mainland, as there are no cars etc in Venice. This is not so bad because it is only a short 10 minute bus trip on No. 19 or 5 bus. (Bus stop basically outside our hotel). We checked in, caught the bus and spent the afternoon walking around. 3 hours goes so quickly as you wander from a piazza, through narrow little streets, over gorgeous little bridges over side canals to another piazza and it starts again. Venice is just as I imagined it. It is beautiful and romantic. We decided to purchase a 36 hour travel card which gets us on the bus and unlimited travel on the canal and islands. I had read that it is quite expensive to go on a ferry up Grand Canal. The water taxi (vaporetto) is as big as a ferry and NO. 1. does the whole length of the Grand Canal; so a much better option – plus we can get on and off when we want. Indulged in a romantic seafood platter for two at a restaurant right on Grand Canal. Water lapping at the sides, mild night...it was lovely.
Woke to....beautiful sunshine. Yay. Arrived at the bus terminal and headed for the No.1 vaporetto. We went the whole way along the Grand Canal to St Marks Square. This was about a 30 minute ride and we passed under the famous Rialto Bridge. Standing on the side of the boat, gentle, warm breeze blowing it seemed unbelievable that Rick and I were on the Grand Canal in Venice. It was one of those moments when you think how lucky you are. Venice is such a romantic place and you can’t help but get caught up in it all. We arrived at St Marco Square and the site was quite breathtaking. It didn’t matter which way you turned, there was an amazing site to behold: the Campanile (clock tower), Museo (Museum), Doges Palace, Cathedral, Grand Canal, Cafes AND PIDGEONS .... EVERYWHERE. We went up the Clock Tower...Italians do not seem to want to want to exert themselves as much as in other places...there are lifts instead of using the stairs. The view at the top was lovely, but you could not really see the side canals weaving through h the whole area as the buildings/housing were too close together and too high. Spent some time in the square and went into the Cathedral. It was very different to others. Every space on every wall/ceiling was covered with faded gold leaf and art work painted on the walls. The outside facade of the cathedral was quite spectacular. In fact we initially thought it was the Palace. We didn’t go in Doges Palace, though I had been keen to cross the Bridge of Sighs, which you can only do so via the palace. I had read that the bridge (and it is tiny ) got its name because as the prisoners were being led too execution people on the street could hear them sigh through the windows. After we left St Marco Square we just wandered around for a few hours making our way to the Rialto Bridge (passing through quaint ‘streets’, little bridges crossing tiny canals, beautiful churches. Found a little place for lunch right near Rialto bridge and had amazing pizza. Refueled we continued to “wander aimlessly through the romantic streets, celebrating our deep and overwhelming love for each other” (Rick’s words...I think he is mocking my blog). Before dinner we decided to take Vaporetto NO.1 again for a twilight cruise up the Grand Canal to see it with the lights coming on. Very lovely, all the Gondolas were out...the postcard image you have of Venice as at every turn. (Even down to some Gondolas having older men singing opera...with great voices...that floated across the Canal). As a note...a gondola ride in the evening on the Grand Canal we were told can cost about $250.00 for 1 hour ride. It was dark when we headed back to the bus stop, tired, and satisfied.
Awoke to a somewhat cloudy day on Day 3 of our Venice escape. Today was islands day...Murano (Glass) and Burano (Lace and coloured houses). Both were reached by Vaporetto so our pass overed the fares. On the way to Murano the ferry stopped off at an island cemetery. It is only about 10 minutes to Murano from mainland Venice. I was glad I had done a little research about Murano glass because I assumed that it would all be genuine NO...Chinese imports are everywhere (“like Murano”). It is best to purchase from a “furnace” or factory and some are quite aggressive in getting you in for a “free demonstration” of glass blowing, then an aggressive sales pitch at the showroom. A genuine Murano piece starts at around 100E. I had read a review about a good factory to visit that did genuine free demonstrations with no pressure. Found it quite easily and it was interesting to see how they ‘blow’ the glass and make amazing shapes etc. Wandered around the streets of Murano for a couple hours...not as pretty as Venice, but you really only go there for the glass. Purchased some Murano glass earrings and a bracelet. Entered a few factory showrooms and eventually found the piece I wanted to buy. Am very happy. (Though it weighted a tonne and we had to carry it around for the rest of the day). Late in the afternoon, about 4 pm, we caught the ferry to another island called Burano. It was about 30 minutes further on. Really only had an hour to look around before it got dark and that was enough as it is quite small. The houses were fantastic, painted every colour you could imagine. It looked beautiful...as you can see by the photos of the coloured houses along the canal....A cute story...we entered was the main square and there were a few market stalls. We looked over and there was a 5 year old (ish) Greek boy with his jeans pulled down yelling at this dad to “look at me”. Mum and dad were more interested in the market so the next minute we noticed everyone pointing and smiling. This time he had pulled the undies down as well and was yelling “Dad look at me”, with his arms up in the air loving the attention from everyone else laughing at him. Quite funny. As a final note for today, I must mention Rick’s dinner. Rick indulged in the typical Venetian menu whilst I opted for the “tourist menu”. Rick began with spaghetti as did I. Mine was with seafood...very tasty. Rick’s was with cuttle fish BUT it was black (due to squid ink they add to the pasta...must say it looked awful...but Rick said it was nice (see photo above). Mains arrived, grilled sole fish for me and Rick had polenta, with Sardines sautéed in vinegar and onion.
Arrived home quite late...went to download our recently purchased Greek maps for Tom Tom and disaster. Would not work. Hours later (about 2.30am) we decided to cut our losses and buy it again (@ $75.00) and send Tom an annoyed email. We deleted the previous version sent. Opened Tom and there it was again...hit download and this time loaded correctly...no need to rebuy. Wish we had thought of that 4 hours ago. Now we know where we are going when we get off the ferry...I hope (a lot of roads seem unnamed in Greece)