Venice

 

A travel day is no fun.  We are going to try to limit flights as they take far too much of our valuable vacationing time.  We had to repack everything while guessing the weight of each bag to remain within the airline maximums.  This is no easy exercise for us as we are carrying a lot of cargo….by Calvin’s standards.  Everything was packed and ready by the door the night before our departure.  The alarms went off at 6:30am – it’s been a long time sense we’ve seen 6:30am.  We packed the car and said goodbye to Rocallaura.  The trip to Barcelona was not without a bit of excitement – we decided to try to outwit the GPS again, by following the street signs to Barcelona airport vs. the recommended route provided by our GPS.  GPS 3, MacInnis 0.  We spent an extra 25 minutes getting to the airport but we still had time to properly return the rental car (in a dark garage where no ’new’ scratches or dents could be identified) and headed for the gate.   Welcome to flying with Spanair – after some nervous moments on the road and at the terminal, we were welcomed to our gate with the following announcement: “due to operational issues, flight blah blah blah to Venice is delayed indefinitely”.   Indefinitely was just short of 90 minutes – just enough time to grab a bite of lunch and travel back in time to witness a scene from an 18 century Catholic household.  The unexpected and free entertainment during our delay was a mom and her NINE children….yup, reread it and it’s still the same….nine children all under the age of 12 were running circles around two sections of seats.  The people watching the family were almost as entertaining to watch as the prolific mother.  Every woman within viewing distance of the family was glued to the mayhem with their jaws on their chins and eyes bulged – two parts amazement and one part shock, no doubt. 

Mom seemed to randomly yelp at kids as they ran by and if they mistakenly ran within reach, they usually received a twist of their earlobe.  Most were deserving of the twist while others seemed to be guilty of nothing more than bad depth perception by running too close to mom.  Perhaps she was handing out preventive medicine as the twisting did seem to deter the bad behaviour – I’ll have to try that on our boys if they act up.  Calvin and most of the dads watching the action were most impressed and I think a bit envious of the father who showed up after browsing in one of the DUTY FREE shops or EVERYTHING UNDER $20 store, no doubt. He flopped into a seat in the middle of the circus, pulled up his hoodie, popped in his iPod and slipped on a pair of mirrored sunglasses for a few zzzs while mom managed the offspring.   This is a man in control of his household (Calvin’s perception) or a man who needs a good ear twisting himself (Deanna’s). We heard the announcement for our flight and I’m not going to lie to you , I was praying that the family was not going to Venice.  They were not and we finally boarded the plane and had a smooth flight for just less than 2 hours.   

Getting from the Venice airport to the old island (tourist area) of Venice is chaotic because there are so many different modes of transportation (helicopter, auto taxi, private or public water taxi {vaporretta}, shuttle bus, public bus, etc.) and unless you take the water taxi from the airport, you are going to take 2 to 3 different modes to get to your ultimate destination. Since we really didn’t have a good handle on where our apartment was located, we decided to splurge and take the private boat into Venice.  

This is by far the most expensive way to enter Venice but I’m telling you, if this is your first trip to Venice (which it was for Calvin and the boys) the water taxi from the airport is the way to go.  When we entered the Grand Canal, we stood up and watched the sights pass by.  There were gondolas paddling by, ancient bridges to float under and palaces of Italy’s wealthy, lining the water’s edge.  We were in awe as we really had never seen anything like this before. 

The boys were snapping pictures in every direction. It was my 2^nd time in Venice but many years ago and on a tighter budget but I didn’t see it from this angle.  It was magical.

The boat dropped us at a smaller canal only two blocks from our apartment.  Calvin had phoned the owner, Sebastiano, when we left the airport and we waited for him to come and collect us. The apartment is in the eastern district of San Polo and was only about a 3 minute walk from our boat stop - thank goodness because these backpacks are HEAVY!

Our location is ideal.  In the day it is busy with people visiting the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.  The Santa Maria is the church within the square that the apartment backs on to and it rings its bells every fifteen minutes and on the hour.  At first, it seemed a bit much – can’t they just buy watches and stop the 15 minute bell ringing … geez!  But after a few hours we failed to notice it…perhaps that’s why Italians work at a slower, more comfortable and civilized pace – they’ve learned to ignore the church clock.  At night, our location is very quiet, with only a few people looking for late night gelato.  Luckily, or not, one of the best gelato joints is at our doorstep…..damn, that stuff is good.  The apartment itself has everything we need but is smaller than we have grown accustomed to in Spain.  Sebastiano highlighted the key areas on a city map including a few of the favourite pizza joints, restaurants, tourist sites, grocery stores, etc. We dropped our bags and ventured out into the twisted and very convoluted city. 

We were all pretty hungry and so we went on a mission to find “the best place for a slice in Venice” according to Trip Advisor – our new traveller’s bible.  It wasn’t much of a place on the outside but you knew you were at the right place when you saw the line ups.  It did have some really great prices and combinations.  The boys choose the following: Devin – the ever adventurous cheese; Noah and Aidan went for ham; Calvin went for spicy vegetarian, and; my mouth watered for a feta and spinach number. We found a great spot on the steps of the Grand Canal to eat our pizzas and watched the gondoliers try to get as much money as possible from the tourists hoping for a ride.  

They clearly profile their victims (tourists) as the prices varied significantly depending on where they presumed the couple to be from – anywhere from 70 euro to 140 euro for an hour.  After the pizza, we walked around for hours looking at the sights, sounds and shops of Venice.  I didn’t remember the shopping being this great. Expensive items but very unique. The boys must have gone into a dozen Venetian Mask shops. We stopped for groceries and called it a night.

We wake up to the church bells every morning and it has become a nice sound to wake up to…..   Around 9:00am, in the square that our apartment backs onto, an incredible opera singer starts his day and adds, significantly, to his bankroll.  We have been unable to upload video for some reason but here is a pick of the handsome gentlemen that stops both tourists and locals in their tracks for a song or two or three before they return to their day.  We’ve made numerous donations to his hat or can during our stay and he has earned every cent – to our untrained ear, he belongs on Broadway.   In the evening, around 9:00pm, another gentleman sits in the same square playing violin until midnight and never repeats the same song.  We’ve ended more than a few nights with gelato and a bit of Paganini. 

On our first full day in Venice we visited many more mask shops and walked to the Rialto Bridge. This particular bridge is one of Venice’s most famous sights and offers great views of the Grand Canal and all the boats and gondolas passing under. Apparently many ladies have been proposed to on the bridge, under a full moon. It was one of the first areas in Venice to be inhabited.

The boys finally decided that they were going to spend some of their souvenir money on a Venetian mask.  Not the easiest to carry around for the rest of our travels but good keepsakes to remind them of Venice.  

They negotiated the price for 3 and got a pretty good deal.  The masks seem to be the most sold tourist souvenirs just slightly ahead of the locally made and beautiful, but expensive, Murano glass.

We are having a blast getting lost on the streets of Venice.  It’s the best route to discovery.  On one of our winding street maze adventures, we followed some great music to a piazza with an outdoor restaurant that was selling a mixed plate of seafood (calamari, anchovies, sardines, octopus and bream) and a glass of cold chardonnay for 8 euros.  There were small outdoor tables set under umbrellas in the square and it was a really pretty setting. We bought 2 plates and shared the fish. The boys did not like the fried sardines and anchovies so I got to eat all of those. Actually I ate most of the fish off of the two plates so all the boys were still hungry so we stopped at another spot and the boys had some lasagna. Not a great meal but they were full. It has been hard to get good value for the money we spend on food here, other than a slice of pizza.  The pizza is so nice and thin just the way we like it. The kids have decided they like the Italian pizza much better than what we get at home.  We have been taking out pizza from our local pizzeria for 7 euro and adding a great homemade salad at home for a great dinner most nights.  

 

We found our way to San Marco square and it was a busy place full of lots of tour groups. We took the elevator to the top of the Campanile to get the most amazing 360 degree view of Venice. This is where Galileo demonstrated his telescope in 1609.  We spent quite a bit of time up there taking pictures and relaxing. Calvin spotted a wedding coming out of the basilica. The men wear typical white straw hats and the women very fancy dresses and hats.  

Sebastiano mentioned that if we were interested in a boat tour that there was a stop quite close to us that would take us to Murano , Burano and Torcello islands around the lagoon of Venice. This is the way to go as there are many tour companies offering outrageous prices to take you on the same route as the public boat taxis.  We decided to spend the next day taking the tour. Calvin managed the streets and got us to the vaporetta stop and we found the boat to Murano. Venice is full of Murano glass shops. I had read that if you want to buy any you should go directly to the island of Murano which makes sense. It turned out that Murano Island’s designs are more traditional styles than in Venice.

As soon as we stepped off the boat in Murano there were guys directing us to the glass factories, likely for a commission on our purchases.  I did also read that you shouldn’t be turned off by the aggressive manner in which they “direct” you as there is no condition that you have to buy something and that you will most likely get to see the glass blowers at work.  So we followed the crowd in to the first factory. The glass blower did do a 5 minute demonstration and then we were ushered into the showroom to buy. The chandeliers were really ornate and quite magnificent but really not our taste.  Perhaps more suited for a grand ballroom than our house.  The boys picked a huge blue glass piece that would barely fit through our front door.  We looked around and really admired the work but didn’t buy anything.  

The boys had to visit the bathroom and we experienced our first pay to pee washroom. We paid 1.50 euro for each of them. We continued on to the next factory that wanted to charge us 3 euro each to watch their demonstration so we kept on walking finally reaching a factory that put on a demonstration for about 15 minutes and was free so we stayed and watched. The kids were pretty impressed to see how the glass was blown. He made a vase and an ornamental fish while we watched – some serious skill.

After the factories, we followed the path into the small town where the locals live. The tiny row houses are all painted a variety of bright colours and all look freshly painted - orange, bright yellow, turquoise and fuchsia. I loved it. We visited a few shops and peeked in a gallery that had the most beautiful Murano glass mosaics. If it wouldn’t have cost a busload of money to get these home, I would have bought one. 

We stopped at a restaurant that was recommended in a book from our apartment. They put us in a room and basically forgot about us for a while. When we did finally eat, the pasta was great but the rest of the food was pretty meager. We were not impressed with the food overall or the service, which would not warrant much of a tip back home, but in Italy most places charge a service fee automatically.  Got us again! We have yet to feel satisfied with the value or quality for food in Italy….it’s only been a few days but come on!  Calvin has planned some level of revenge by ensuring both the good and the bad are recognized via tripadvisor.com.   

After lunch we boarded the vaporetta for Burano which is famous for lace making. Very similar to Murano but much prettier and less ‘in your face’ salesmen. More vibrantly painted houses and quaint little lace shops. Burano also has a leaning tower in the center of town which is off by about 5degrees.

We walked in to the town and couldn’t notice the lean until we were right beside it. Not as much as the Pisa tower but still kind of cool. The boys hypothesized why the towers were leaning, including sneezes while building and other loud noises that would cause this.

We found the right boat back and enjoyed the ride back to Venice sitting at the front of the boat with the early evening sun in our faces.  In fact, we enjoyed it so much and felt so confident managing the vaporetta schedules that after dinner we hopped on one of the boats and went up one side of the Grand Canal and then back down the other which probably took 1 ½ hours. We sat at the back of the boat and just took in the night lights over Venice. We had some midnight gelato in front of our apartment and called it a night.

You may have noticed that I am sporting holiday hair. That is naturally curly and I am enjoying the freedom but the colour needed some touching up. You know what I mean ladies!! So I booked an appointment a few days ago at the hair salon that is close to the apartment. Monday was hair day! I got there at 9am and left at noon. I managed to explain “highlights” to the hairdresser but after that nobody spoke to me but I sat there watching the 9 or so ladies come in for appointments. These hairdressers were true professionals. My highlights turned out amazing and they gave me a blowout that rocked!  I left a happy camper and it didn’t break the bank. The boys all said I looked so different but who knows what that really means.