More adventures...Venice, Burano, and Torcello
The next leg in the tale of my adventures…
Day 7 - Wednesday. I arrived in sunny and breezy Venice a little after 2pm. Upon exiting the train, I was greeted to the lovely site of many boats upon the water - vaporettos, water taxis, and gondolas. I cried; it felt like I had come home. (As many of you know, this trip was in part a spiritual journey, but I’ll write more about that later.) I purchased a 72-hour vaporetto pass and hopped on the boat going towards my hotel. Since I was one of the last people on the boat, I got to stand up on deck (there are seating areas below deck) with my hair tangling in the wind and drops of water splashing against me. I didn’t mind; in fact, it felt quite wonderful.
My hotel, Ca’Formenta, was situated between the Arsenale and Giardini stops, right on the boardwalk and facing the water. The location was great - a 10-minute casual walk to St. Mark’s Square, and a 2-minute walk to the vaporetto stops. The staff was fabulous - extremely helpful and courteous, and the room was great - I would absolutely recommend this hotel to anyone. After checking in, I went to the rooftop terrace and wrote in my journal for a bit.
Time to meander the streets, which is where the true charm of Venice lies. I explored the area around St. Mark’s Square. I was disappointed that I did not see any of the famed pigeons (although I did the next day; it must have been too late in the day for them.) The square was in fact quite empty except for a few vendors hawking their wares. The architecture is simply marvelous here; a combination of many cultural influences that come together with amazing detail. One of my favorite things was the window decorations of the Doges Palace - they are filled with iron grids of small circles which hold pastel-coloured glass.
I now knew why my attempts to shop in Florence were thwarted - so many lovely things to buy here - fanciful glass jewelry, plates, and figurines; handcrafted lace handkerchiefs and tablecloths; decorative paper; and the list goes on. Although some travelers say that it all begins to look alike after awhile, I never felt that way; each store had its own selection and style.
I had pre-booked the Ghost Tour of Venice for the evening, which seemed very fitting since it was Halloween. Venice was much more navigable that I had anticipated, and I arrived at the Rialto Bridge (the meeting spot) an hour before. This was no hardship; I grabbed some pizza and a cup of sliced fruit at one of the many food vendors in the area and stood on the bridge, soaking up the atmosphere and watching the gondolas pass underneath. Venice has an amazing subtle vibrancy to it that contributes to its charm. The lack of cars and bikes and the casual pace here seems to make time slow down and even revert sometimes.
The tour was quite fun, even though it was a large group (I think there were 18 of us.) Our guide’s name was Telia (not sure how it’s spelled, but it sounds like that.) It twisted and turned down the back alleys and campos of San Marco Sestiere (St. Mark’s district.) The stories were amusing, not scary. It also painted a picture of the lifestyle during various times in Venice.
Day 8 - Thursday. I ate breakfast at my hotel, since it is included in the price. A nice buffet of croissants and hard rolls, accompanied by a selection of jams, soft cheeses, and butter; fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juices; a variety of granola and toppings; and sliced meat and cheese. I saw this small stack of containers labeled Crème Alla Pera - loving most things made from pears, I had to find out what it was. Pearsauce - like applesauce, but better! Yum! Also, the croissants had a thin spread of orange marmalade in them, which was delicious.
I had pre-booked my Secret Itinerary Tour for the morning, and I must say this was one of the highlights of my trip. I highly recommend it. Our guide’s name was Rebecca. It involved touring the areas where trials were held after hours, including working areas like scribing rooms, secret meeting rooms, the torture chamber, the jail cells (including where Casanova was imprisoned), and a walk in the rafters to see the original construction of the building. Afterwards, I explored the rest of the Doges Palace. My knees were killing me after that from climbing so many sets of stairs, and I went back to my hotel for a nap.
I woke up just before sunset (which was around 5pm each day) and sat on one of the benches near the water to watch it. It was so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. I cried a lot in Venice.
After the sunset, I wandered the neighborhoods behind my hotel. This area is residential and not touristy; it gave a nice glimpse of what life here is really like, with laundry strung on lines out the windows and whatnot. I then headed over to St. Mark’s to do some shopping. I purchased a black silk scarf with orange paisley velvet burnouts. I also bought a pair of multi-colored striped tights. But best of all - I found my Carnivale mask, which was my prized purchase in Venice. There is a large variety of subjects and styles of masks available in the shops, and I ended up with a seahorse face, hand-painted in a mottled combination of dark oranges and bronzes and coppers! I did not come across any others like it in other shops in Venice. The lady at the store packaged it in tissue and bubble wrap for the journey home. (And it did make it home undamaged; although in hindsight, I wish I had shipped it, since it took up so much room in my luggage.) It cost €35.
Day 9 - Friday. Another sunny and beautiful day, albeit windy and a bit nippy. Today was my adventure to Burano! I took the boat to Punta Sabbioni, where they make you get off and catch another boat to Burano. Much to my misfortune, the boat to Burano that was waiting for us was filled, and I was left behind on the dock with an elderly couple. It was quite chilly on the water, and nobody told me it was going to be an hour for another boat. There is nothing to explore around this area, just FYI. I had serious misgivings as time passed and my head and hands became frozen. I wished I had a hat and gloves with me (I did have on my jacket and scarf.) I almost caught the boat back to Venice, which came every 15 minutes. However, I toughed it out, and was later glad that I did so.
Burano is just lovely. I use that word too much to describe Venice, but it’s true. I loved the brightly colored buildings with simply architecture, and spent some time wandering the residential areas on the island just looking at them. The boring white female underwear and black male underwear hanging on the clotheslines seemed a rather stark contrast to the vibrancy of the buildings.
I ate lunch at Leon Coronado, a pizzeria. When I went to get up after my meal, I tripped on the table leg and made a loud crash. Nothing was hurt but my pride, but the lady in charge made me sit down and brought me a glass of water and a packet of sugar. I thought that was very sweet of her. I did end up developing a nasty deep bruise on my hip later, and had to keep my daypack on the other hip for the rest of my trip.
The lace was amazing. I’m not into lace, but I was very impressed and had to buy a few items. Several of the shops I walked into had little old ladies sitting off to one side, crafting it. I purchased several bookmarks, a table runner, a jacket and evening bag, and a small rectangular piece that I have no idea what I will do with, but had to get it. I would have loved to get one of the multi-toned skirts or bodices, but they were out of my price range. I also bought several glass pendants here, since I found several more unusual and unique pieces here than in Venice. Just a FYI, the pieces come with little Murano certificates of authenticity, so you can make sure you are not getting China-made ripoffs, which is evidently a problem there. Also, the merchants have stickers in their windows that show they are an authorized dealer. Another side note - the public restrooms cost €1 to use, but they are immaculately clean. (This was true on Burano and Torcello.)
After I spent a bunch of money, it was time to leave Burano. A boat was pulling up as I neared the dock, with a man yelling, “Torcello!” This sounded better than that place I was stuck waiting for an hour, so I took the boat even though I did not know anything about Torcello. It appears to be a working land - very green, with crops and animals. I also saw several tabby cats, which I had not seen at all in Venice. Everyone there has dogs, it seems.
I followed the path to the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta. I purchased a combo ticket for the Basilica and il Campanile di Torc (bell tower.) I climbed the bell tower first. Up and up and up I went - and just when I thought I could not take another step, I was at the top. Magnificent views of the land and water all around. The neat thing about this tower is that it has ramps, with stairs only at the corners. My knees appreciated that. However, the ramps are narrow (1 person wide only) and the footing is rough stone, so it can be tricky. The Basilica is a lovely building. The half dome above the altar has nice artwork that is not overdone. The floors are beautiful mosaics of polished stone - multi-coloured agate it looked like, alternating with light grey slabs of marble. The tops of the columns enclosing the area with the pews have an amazingly delicate filigree lace type of design.
I then headed back to the boat stop, and back to Venice. I spent the evening exploring the far northern area of San Marco Sestiere. I hopped the vaporetto to the Fondamente Nuove stop and wandered over to the Ca’ D’Oro stop. This area is mostly residential and quite a bit more rundown than the others I had visited thus far. I then took the slow boat (the #1 vaporetto makes almost every stop in the canal) back to my hotel, enjoying the water and night scenes passing by.
Day 10 - Saturday. This morning I headed out to the Dorsoduro Sestiere, to do my iPod walking tour from Campo Angelo Raffaele to Zattere. This walking tour covers Tintoretto masterpieces and guides you through several churches. Afterwards, I wandered the streets and purchased 2 lovely pendants. The shopkeeper struck up a conversation with me, asking me how I liked Venice and whatnot. I was telling him of my various plans for the day, and he asked me, “Have you been to Frari? You must see Frari!” After showing it to me on a map, I saw that it was in the direction I was heading anyway. It was closed when I arrived, but would be re-opening in a half hour. So I wandered the streets some more and came back.
It was definitely worth the wait. I rarely feel any “holy” energy in churches, but this was the exception. And the decorations - just Wow! Statuary, mosaics, paintings, magnificent carved seating, etc. Absolutely worth the €2.50 entrance fee, and another highlight of my trip. And don’t forget to look at the stained glass behind the main altar too, it’s beautiful.
After visiting other chiesta (churches) in the area, I hopped a boat back St. Mark’s Square. Since this was my last day in Venice, I had to…feed the birds! I paid my €1 euro for birdseed, and I don’t think I’ve giggled that much in a very long time. It was so much fun! A word to the wise though - wear long sleeves. I had on short sleeves and they scratched up my arms a bit. I then headed back to my hotel for a nap.
I woke up half an hour before sunset, and headed back to St. Mark’s Square to do some final shopping. Watching the sun set against the water while I walked was beautiful. I was so blessed to have all sunny days and clear, starry nights while here. I grabbed some pizza and gelato for dinner. After returning to my room to drop off my purchases, I headed back to St. Mark’s Square yet again, this time to attend a Vivaldi concert that I had purchased a ticket for through my hotel.
I was quite impressed to see a performance of the “Four Seasons” with only 7 musicians. The performance was held in a small concert hall on the back side of the square. There were maybe 10 rows of 12 seats, so it was very intimate. On the way back to my hotel, I stopped to listen to a guitar player that had gathered quite a crowd. It was very lovely, and a fitting end to my time in Venice.