Venice

Venice here we come!

I'm awoken by the most beautiful bird song. Not sure what kind of bird it is, but it has the most amazing and varied song. Even out-doing the resident blackbird in our courtyard in Paris. Eileen is still sleeping, so I just lie there listening for a while. Eventually I get up and sit on the step in the saloon, with the sliding door open onto the canal. There are rings spreading out all over the surface of the water, made by feeding fish. I hear a sploop and when I look up I see a fish completely out of the water, falling back in with a louder splash. 

A few moments later I hear a splish ... splish ... splish, then two men slide by on a gondola, one at each end, standing up facing forward and pushing their single oars ahead in synchronised strokes. We have seen lots of these around, one, two, and four person boats being rowed around in the early morning or sometimes in the evening. These are simple boats, not the usual black lacquered and velvet upholstered jobs. Practicing for an upcoming regatta? 

We want to fill up our water tank, so we take out the hose and stretch it fully towards the tap but it's too short. I thought we might have been blocking access to the tap, but nobody would be able to get water from here. It's too far. We decide to leave the water until tomorrow morning when we leave. We'll shift the boat back behind the sailing barge, fill up with water, then leave. 

The sailing barge doesn't look like it's moved for a while. Maybe they are here for the summer? There are two small barky dogs flopped on deck, but no sign of humans. There is also a dog that looks a bit like Josh in the field next to the path. Every once in a while the boat dogs bark at the field dog, or vice-versa, but they invariably co-operate to gang up on any dogs and their masters walking along the path. 

We have breakfast and start getting our gear together for a day out in Venice.  We check the vaporetto times and decide it's too late to make the 09:07 one so we'll aim for the 10:07. This is it, the big day! Everything has been building in a crescendo towards this day. We started in the far-off remote southern end of the lagoon, with its quiet fishing villages, wild beaches, and lack of tourism. We came to visit bigger and more urban islands, with increasing traffic, tourists, shops, restaurants, museums, and hustle-and-bustle. From Michelin one-star "worth visiting" to two-star "worth a detour" to three-star monuments that are "worth a voyage". Today is going to be the grande finale of sights, sounds, smells, crowds. La Serenissima! The forecast is for sunshine and a high of 25°C so it should be a great day!

Gondolas are poetry in motion

We arrive at the vaporetto stop a few minutes early, and it's right on time as usual. From Le Vignole, the 13 line goes directly to Murano Faro, then on to Venice Fondamente Nove. We only have one day to spend in Venice, so it's going to be difficult to see everything I want to see. 

In fact it would be impossible to see even a fraction of the sights in just one day. But I'm relaxed about it and just want to enjoy the day and whatever we end up seeing. Venice is the kind of place where you can just walk around and enjoy the atmosphere, with surprising and beautiful views around every corner. And these days I'm more into quality than quantity. Better to see a few of the sights and have taken some time to really enjoy the experience, than to run from place to place snapping pictures on the fly. The only "must do" item on my list is Saint Mark's Basilica. Everything else is a bonus.

We start off by visiting the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, better known as I Gesuiti. The interior of this church is notable especially for the green and white geometrical patterns on the walls, which appear to be of tapestry or fabric. Many of the decorative elements of the interior appear to be flowing velvety curtains or rugs or tapestry but on closer inspection turn out to be solid marble. We stroll slowly through the church, light some candles, and sit for a few minutes to rest and reflect. We are still a bit tired from our busy day yesterday. We leave the church and head out down towards the Grand Canal. The plan had been to visit Ca' d'Oro next, but we just don't have the energy so we'll head straight for the Rialto bridge and Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari on the other side of the Grand Canal. 

Traffic jam on a narrow rio

Actually it's impossible to head "straight to" anywhere in Venice. It's like a maze. The neighborhood we're in is not quite as touristy as the San Marco area, and it's very enjoyable to wind your way along the tiny streets, along the edges of winding canals (these small ones are known as rii, plural of rio), over bridges, across campi (squares), around churches. Everywhere you look there is something interesting, unusual, out of the ordinary. The sunlight filtering through adds to the pleasant atmosphere. At the same time it's hard work keeping track of where you are and where you are going, but I keep telling myself that getting lost is part of the fun. We've been walking a while and spot a café with tables on a small square so we decide to stop and have a coffee. Laura has a gelato (of course!). We sit for a while just relaxing and watching people go by while we rest our weary feet.

Time to get going again. Navigating is not easy because the maps in my guide book are not very detailed. They only show the names of the major calle so there is a fair bit of guesswork involved. We head off again in search of the Rialto Bridge. The decrepit state of many of the buildings is quite a contrast to the manicured perfection of old buildings in Paris. Much of Italy is like this, and I guess it's also part of the charm. A bit like an old well-worn piece of clothing or furniture that just feels so comfortable. But at the same time it makes me wonder if it's all just going to come crumbling down one day from a lack of maintenance! After a while we pass a nice looking little restaurant with an empty table on the street and three empty chairs. Surely this must be a sign! The temptation is just too great and after a quick look at the menu we stop for lunch. After a very nice lunch of panini-like things we are on the move again.

Shop 'til you drop!

After some dead-ends and backtracking we're nearly there. We emerge onto a tiny street and I can see the Grand Canal up ahead and the Rialto Bridge should be just off to the left. But before we get any farther I'm sidetracked into a small Venetian glass and jewelry shop by Eileen and Laura. It's packed with glass dishes, ashtrays, lamps, picture frames, and vases. They also have a lot of glass-bead jewelry including earrings and bracelets. 

Many of the glass shops don't have any silver or gold jewelry and we want silver earrings for Laura so they won't bother her ears. This shop has silver, but the earrings are too big and heavy for Laura. Eileen finds a silver and bead bracelet she likes, and spends a lot of time with the shop assistant choosing the colour of beads that will make up the bracelet. You can custom-make your own bracelet by threading coloured doughnut-shaped Murano beads and Swarovski crystal onto a silver chain. The beads can also be threaded onto earrings. Quite a neat system really. Laura decides she'd like one too, and the shop assistant shows us a version suitable for young girls. Soon the whole counter is covered with coloured glass beads.

Rialto Bridge

I finally manage to drag them away from the shop, up to the end of the street and there it is, the Rialto Bridge! Right where it's supposed to be! We head towards it, but not so fast. Before I can even step onto the bridge Eileen and Laura have spotted another shop, this one only has jewelry, a very large selection of glass necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Laura finds a suitable pair of earrings at last! Eileen manages to find herself a nice pair too. Well, that's a couple of birthday presents sorted for this year! Yeah right, I'll never get away with that...

Now we climb the steps up the side of the bridge and admire the views over the Grand Canal. But wait, Laura wants to put her earrings on, now! Okay, put them on then... We continue down the other side of the bridge and as we pass a shop I notice a display case with various pieces of glass sculpture. Then I spot three small glass squids, wow, too cool! Hmm, €350 each, not so cool. I'm still loitering by the squids, but the girls have gone on ahead and are calling me to come on.

Now we've been walking a while and I'm not sure where we are anymore. It's not that we're lost, I'm just not sure where we are! There are signs for the train station, but we shouldn't be anywhere near the station. I see a workman standing near an open trench. I go over and ask him how to get to I Frari. He speaks quickly in Italian, and I'm struggling to keep up. "Ah, how to get to I Frari from here. Easy to do but not easy to explain! To start with, you're in the wrong neighborhood!" He tells us to head over there, then go left then right at the corner of the church then follow the calle straight over two bridges then you will come to I Frari. I keep repeating this to myself as we walk along, "left, right at church, straight, two bridges". We pass a gelateria and just have to stop. "Left, right at -lick- church, straight, -lick- two -lick- bridges".

View of the Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge

We find it at last. The directions were spot on! We find the entrance and pay the €3 each (children are free) entrance fee. This is a massive church, with many extraordinary paintings, tombs and monuments, including the pyramidal tomb of the sculptor Canova, monuments of Doge Giovanni Pesaro, the composer Montiverdi, and Paolo Savelli on a horse! The row of chapels is also quite unusual. We sit for a while to contemplate. And rest our weary feet! We visit the sacristy which has a sign at the entrance saying "No photography" and a number of interesting art works. There's a woman walking around taking pictures of everything. The painting above the door of a freshly beheaded John the Baptist freaks out Laura.

After I Frari I had been planning on visiting Ca' Rezzonico, a magnificent Palazzo completed in the 1750s and now a museum that houses a collection of art, furniture, and glass recuperated from other Venetian Palazzi. But I can tell we are too tired and scratch it off the list. We'll just head straight (ha!) for Piazza San Marco instead. To get there, we need to cross the Grand Canal again and that means finding the Accademia Bridge. Would have been nice to visit the Accademia too, maybe next time...

Like the Rialto Bridge, the Accademia Bridge also opens up magnificent views over the Grand Canal. We linger a while watching boats pass by and marveling at the Palazzi lining the canal. Down the other side, and by now my feet feel like pieces of squid. There are signs for Piazza San Marco, which is a good thing because I'm too tired to read a map. Streams of people are flowing towards San Marco. We join the flow. By now we're starting to suffer from visual overload. Lethargy is starting to set in. Maybe the heat is getting to me? Buck up, we're not finished yet! The best is still to come.

Piazza San Marco

We arrive at a narrow street that leads suddenly to the huge square that opens out onto Saint Mark's Basilica in the distance, its towering campanile to the right, the clock tower to the left, both sides flanked by the long arcades of the Procuratie Vecchie and Procuratie Nuove. In the right corner you can just make out the end of the Doge's Palace. We stroll through the square, taking it all in. Saint Mark's is drawing us forward like a magnet. We arrive at the door and for some reason it's closed. Where's the entrance? Did they change it? Then the immense deception hits as we read the opening hours on the sign. Closed. We're too late! I'm stunned, crushed, gutted...

We console ourselves by admiring the clock tower, the Byzantine facade of the Cathedral, the four bronze horses that were such a strong symbol of the independence and power of the Venetian Republic. We sit on a bench in the arcade of the Doge's Palace. Across from us, the campanile is still open and there's a long queue at the entrance. We're tempted, but the idea of having to stand in a queue plus the possibility of there not being a lift and having to climb steps puts us off. We just sit and rest and take it all in. I'm a bit disappointed that the grande finale is ending with a fizzle, but like so many things in life this has really been about the journey and not the destination. And it's been a fabulous journey. And it's not finished yet. We still have tomorrow when we are planning to take the boat up the Giudecca Canal past San Giorgio Maggiore and the Piazzetta di San Marco. Right past the Doge's Palace!

Looking out across the Bacino San Marco

We wander over to the edge of the water and look out across the Bacino San Marco to San Giorgio. I clearly remember standing here maybe 30 years ago and thinking how great it would be to be able to get on a boat and head off and explore the canals and islands beyond Venice. It's getting late now and we have to think about dinner and getting the vaporetto back home. We decide to head in the direction of the vaporetto stop and try to find a restaurant over there, as it is a bit less touristy than San Marco. We pass the Bridge of Sighs, which gave convicts their last glimpse of Venice before being lead to their prison cells. If I'm sighing, it's only because of my murdered feet!

We continue in the general direction of Fondamente Nove. A quick check of the Michelin Guide shows the two-star Church of San Giovanni and San Paolo somewhere between here and there. We try to find it but have to backtrack a few times. Eileen wants to find a grocery store to get some bread for tomorrow's breakfast. The only shop we see that doesn't sell either carnival masks or Murano glass is a health-food store. Eileen comes out with a bag of gluten-free buns. Yuck. Shortly after that we start seeing loads of people with Co-op bags full of groceries. We head in the opposite direction of one person, but don't find the Co-op. We see more people coming up another street and I head down that one to check while Eileen and Laura wait on the steps of a bridge. Pass an Irish pub, and then find the source of the Co-op bagged shoppers. Eileen agrees to go get a few groceries while Laura and I wait on the bridge steps. 

Laura spots a tiny take-away pizza joint next to the bridge. It's doing a steady trade, and Laura likes the look of the pizzas in the window. Eileen returns with the grocs, and we agree that if there is a place to sit we'll eat there. There is and we do. They sell pizza slices and charge by the size of the slice, however big you want. It's very good. Eileen is feeling a bit homesick and goes for the spud pizza. I can imagine that one being quite popular at pub closing time! We wash it down with Italian beers. Feeling slightly refreshed, we head off in search of San Giovanni e Paolo. But first things first, we can't pass that gelateria! We eventually find the church but guess what, it is closed! Another one on the list for next time. Boy, next time is going to be awfully busy... 

Bridge of Sighs

We come to Fondamente Nove and we've half an hour to kill before our boat. We verify the stop and the time of the boat, then sit at a café/bar by the water's edge. After waiting for a while, a waiter comes and tells us the place is closing, we're too late! There's definitely a pattern here. Only problem is that Laura is dying to use the toilet. Eileen asks and they refuse! A bit of heated discussion follows but they don't give in. Shame on you. We walk over to another place, a bar/restaurant that looks lovely, and quite posh. We sit at a table outside and I tell Eileen to just go and take Laura to the loo. I'll order us a drink. They head for the loo, pretending to be customers. Meanwhile waiters rush in and rush out, and back and forth past the table, but they never slow down enough to realize that we are there. In any case it's nearly time to catch our boat so we just get up and leave. Next time we'll come for dinner, I promise.

We catch our vaporetto home in the dark. There is a lone driver who also acts as conductor and also handles his own mooring lines! We cross the little bridge on Le Vignole and there are more late-night fishermen with flashlights. Again we feel our way along the path back to the boat. Forgot the flashlight again. We have a cookie and a drink before turning in. Glad to be home. What a day! An unlit boat passes in the dark. Those Marines again? Fishermen? Bed. Sleep.


Log Entry for Thursday 9 May 2013:
In Port (Le Vignole)

Tides
▲ 1145 0.8m
▼ 1700 0.3m
▲ 2300 1.0m
▼ 0550 0.0m

Baro: 1015.1 hPa
Wind: 3 kn gusting to 9 kn
Temps: Low 14° High 25°
Forecast sunny, dry

Engine hours: 554.5
Water: 1/2
Battery (12V): 12.5
Battery (24V): 25