Day 5: The Path to VeniceHotel: Hotel Serenissima
Phrase of the Day: Dove San Marcos? (Where is San Marcos? - a phrase often needed to get re-oriented when walking around the confusing streets) |
Miles
Scarves Purchased
High Temperature for the Day
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Did you know?
There are 118 islands and over 400 foot bridges in the Venetian Lagoon
An unplanned stop in Vicenza
On our way to Venice, we stopped in the charming town of Vicenza, home of the architect, Andrea Palladio. His buildings can be seen throughout the town, including the Basilica Palladiana with its arched loggia, built as a community center rather than a church. It was market day here, so we wandered around looking at the clothing and accessories (not really much food!) and found some wonderful scarves to wear. The town is lovely with lots of nooks and crannies to explore and photograph!.
Introducing Venice
Back on the bus and heading to Venice, we next board the crowded vaporetto (water bus) to Venice! It is so exciting as Venice feels like quintessential Italy to me. Wandering through the narrow streets, our twisting and turning ends at our hotel near the Piazza San Marco. A quick walk to the piazza to get a glimpse of the San Marcos Cathedral before we head out for a gondola ride. If you had asked me if we would do a gondola ride, I would have said it seemed too touristy, too cliche, but Stephanie arranged for the ride for those interested (almost our entire group) and talked about how gondolas were, for many years, how Venetians transported goods around the city. One of the couples in our group was celebrating their wedding anniversary, so we added a musician to the last gondola in our group and gave them that gondola to themselves! Turns out a gondola ride is an amazing way to view Venice, to reflect on the history of the city and how not just people, but trade goods, would have traveled these same canals for centuries. It was an experience to remember!
Our group dinner tonight was classic Venice cuisine. Known for its fresh seafood, we started with a primi of shrimp pasta, followed with a secundo of sea bass, and the Venetian classic, tiramisu, for dessert. Walking back to the hotel we strolled to Piazza San Marcos to see it at night; musicians were playing and we watched the moving statues of the bell tower strike the bell; the atmosphere was nothing short of magical.
Our group dinner tonight was classic Venice cuisine. Known for its fresh seafood, we started with a primi of shrimp pasta, followed with a secundo of sea bass, and the Venetian classic, tiramisu, for dessert. Walking back to the hotel we strolled to Piazza San Marcos to see it at night; musicians were playing and we watched the moving statues of the bell tower strike the bell; the atmosphere was nothing short of magical.
Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. - Truman Capote
HELPFUL HINT: Don't be afraid to ask your tour guide for suggestions on places to see, shop, or eat, wherever you are. They are a font of information on each place you stop! Our tour guide found that many people were interested in glass blowing, but it would be hard to get to Murano in our free time, so she arranged for a local family who still does glasswork to do a demonstration for our group...something that would not have even been considered if our tour guide hadn't found out we were all interested in this.
Exploring the sights of Venice
Venice is not to be explored, but really to be experienced! It is the city itself that draws people from all around the world, from its famous canals to the Basilica San Marcos, to the shops of the Rialto Bridge. We started our appreciation of the city with early morning walk to the Piazza San Marcos, finding fewer than a dozen other people there at sunrise. The oblique angle of the sun caught the gold in the mosiacs making for a beautiful view of the church. From there we met up with the whole group for a locally guided tour of Venice. From the history of the buildings to a discussion of the fresh Adriatic seafood we saw at the fresh food market, we learned much about this celebrated city. Strange to hear the history of Venice being invaded by Napoleon and its later ownership by Austria, and to think that Italy as we know it today is younger than the United States! We stopped at a shop where the artist craftsman still makes the hand-carved forcola (rowlock) used on gondolas and which are unique to each gondolier. We ended our tour at the Piazza San Marcos where our tour group scattered to explore on our own.
We toured the spectacular awe-inspiring interior of San Marcos with its amazing mosaics, jeweled alterpiece, and bronze horses. From the upper roof area of the museum, we looked out over the college graduation ceremony going on in the Piazza below, where the graduates wore laurel wreathes on their heads and their friends sang them a rather raunchy traditional song in celebration (it took some persuading for our local guide to explain the song to us earlier that morning). We wandered the Rialto Bridge and were able to watch an artisan making torchwork glass beads, another traditional Venetian craft (and bought some jewelry). At the end of the day, we went up into the bell tower, startled as it started ringing at 7:45 pm for some random number of chimes while we were at the top admiring the view overlooking Venice. It was loud enough to have us all covering our ears, but also gave us all a good laugh at the end of the day!
We toured the spectacular awe-inspiring interior of San Marcos with its amazing mosaics, jeweled alterpiece, and bronze horses. From the upper roof area of the museum, we looked out over the college graduation ceremony going on in the Piazza below, where the graduates wore laurel wreathes on their heads and their friends sang them a rather raunchy traditional song in celebration (it took some persuading for our local guide to explain the song to us earlier that morning). We wandered the Rialto Bridge and were able to watch an artisan making torchwork glass beads, another traditional Venetian craft (and bought some jewelry). At the end of the day, we went up into the bell tower, startled as it started ringing at 7:45 pm for some random number of chimes while we were at the top admiring the view overlooking Venice. It was loud enough to have us all covering our ears, but also gave us all a good laugh at the end of the day!