Venice. Wow…just, wow. I expected to like the place, but I really, really liked it! The fact that we were there in late March probably assisted in the enjoyment – no mosquitoes, no heat, no humidity and manageable crowds. We had four days there, but you could easily spend a week or two to really explore. If you don’t go broke that is. Venice is not cheap.
Let’s start with the most important piece: gelato. Duh! Did you think I meant art or architecture? Which are definitely cool, and I will get to those. However, there are priorities here. Some rules of thumb for gelato: if the gelato is piled high in the tub – skip that place. Gelato is too soft to be kept that way so piled high means it has preservatives or other yucky stuff in it. If the gelato is vividly colored it’s a no. Gelato should be the colors of nature – pistachios are not luridly green, they are kind of a muddy brownish green, right? The busiest shops might have the gelato in pans and that’s okay, but most artisanal gelato is in closed cans. Did I mention I am a gelato snob? Yeah…which means I get to try a lot of gelato! Our definite favorite in Venice was Gelato Suso. The flavors!! The line at this shop is often long, but does move fast.
Oh yeah…sites of Venice (get gelato out of my head now!)!!! When I thought of Venice and the canals, I didn’t fully appreciate just how many canals there are. Five steps, up and over a canal. Five more steps, up and over a canal. Some canals were very busy, some were incredibly peaceful. The Grand Canal is like a crazy freeway without lanes, but somehow it all works. And riding the vaparetto is a truly Venetian experience – it’s the city bus – and it pays zero attention to how many people are crammed onto it! Again, somehow it all works. And as touristy as a gondola ride is, it is a must! We lucked out as it was our gondolier’s final trip of the day and where we were eventually headed was the direction he wanted to go. So we got an extra long, very leisurely ride through the quietest of the canals. Dreamy.
During our time in Venice we did three different tours – each was very different from the others. The first night we did an after-dark Dark Legends and Ghosts tour, a perfect mix of storytelling and sights. The following morning we took an electric boat tour – this was probably our favorite of the three tours! We were the only passengers and our captain/guide was a wonderful man who gave us the perfect balance of story telling and just letting us absorb the beauty of Venice. Our final tour was right before we left and focused on architecture from a historical perspective. It was pretty fabulous to learn how fresh water was obtained and stored! And…Venice still sends raw sewage out into the water. It has to do with the salinity of the Adriatic Sea quickly breaking down biological material. No, Venice is not stinky – maybe it is in the summer? Just another reason to not go in the water in the canals! Other than the huge fine that is. We are often asked how we find the tours we go on. At risk of giving them a plug (because there’s a lot about this company that really bugs me), we often use AirBnb Experiences.
The Cathedral of St Mark completely blew me away! Like, really, really. Gob smacked. Jaw dropped. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful churches, and I’ve seen a lot of big churches. This might be my favorite. I loved the Byzantine mosaics, the gorgeous altar screen, the very Moorish influence on the exterior – I loved everything about it. We had the ticket that allowed access all the way to the roof which was pretty awesome – seeing the beautiful bronze horses up close and personal was a thrill! And looking out over the square and the lagoon from up there was thrilling. We loved being there so much we considered buying tickets to go again, but seeing as we ran out of time and didn’t get to everything on my list, I guess we just have to go back again!
Another thing we did was climb to the top of the clock tower in the Square. Heights don’t really bother me but I don’t like feeling insecure – the roof of the clock tower is at a slight slant, not quite level – I kept a firm grip on the railing! Not that the railing was going to stop a fallš¤Seeing the clock mechanism from the inside was quite something though – the mechanism has only been significantly re-done once since the original installation in the late 1500s!
One of my goals was to get out to Burano and Murano, two of the main islands off the coast of Venice proper, although still located within the lagoon. Another oh – so – interesting Vaparetto ride later we were at Burano. Of the two islands Burano is definitely cuter. The buildings were brightly colored, with a couple of canals running through it. We took our time and really looked through the shops. The island is known for the production of silks, linen and lace – there are some really beautiful items!
Next we went to Murano, where the specialty is glass. Venetian glass makers had secret processes for making unique glass products and very clear glass – something unheard of in the Middle Ages. There has been glass making in Venice since the 8th century – it was (wisely) moved out to Murano in the 12th century to reduce the chances of burning Venice down due to the intense heat!
Something I had wondered about, because my brain thinks that way, is how are emergency services handled somewhere like Venice? There are, seriously, no vehicles. Boats. Yep, fire truck boats (which I did not get a photo of. Bummer), police boats, and ambulance boats. Sirens and all! We saw an ambulance boat when it was in a big hurry – that thing was flying over the water!
And, my final bit…Somebody Feed Phil, an outstanding food travel show on Netflix (if you’re one of the five people who haven’t watched it yet), did an episode on Venice. One of the items he had, which he later stated as one of his favorite things of all time, was a pork chop. Yep! Venice was our first SFP stop ever! Vini da Arturo is a TINY place – maybe 8 tables – and the staff has worked together for over 30 years. If I remember correctly, the restaurant has been open for about 50 years. But this pork chop was unlike anything I have ever had – delicious! And massive. We finished it, but that was maybe not a brilliant idea. Go hungry.
Venice. Everything I had hoped for and more. Grazie.