Lorne and Sandy's Italian Adventure: Blog #22

We arrived in Venice by train and learned very quickly that Venice was unique. The train station is beside the Grand Canal and it is as busy as any city street except that the traffic is all boats - vaporettos (water bus), water taxis and gondolas. Tourists were everywhere; in fact we rarely met a Venetian the whole time we were there! The buildings are charming and sad at the same time as many are crumbling into the sea!

The "Partial Canal" view from our Venice hotel. We had the best room in the hotel on the top floor at the front of the hotel. This shot was taken, leaning out of the window and looking up the street.

The TV in our hotel room was built into the mirror. Here you can see a reflection of Lorne taking a picture of the Italian weather channel.

St. Marco Square was also a bustling place with lots of restaurants, museums and stores. The Doge's palace was a highlight - you could almost imagine the time when the Doge was in power - the beautiful artwork, the hand carved throne seats and the amazing marble statues were all to impress - and it works! We were impressed.

There were many shops selling masks in Venice. We brought back a cat mask for Kristin.

The Grand Canal in Venice

The small cobblestone streets and small bridges that cross the canal were windy but once we walked around the town we started to know landmarks and how to get from our B and B to St. Marco Square. We ate a true Venetian family restaurant and had a wonderful meal. One thing that surprised me was the bread in Italy. Your would think that the bread would be fresh, crusty and doughy in the centre. Not so... the bread was crusty but not fresh tasting. When buying bread you can buy as much of a load as you want and it is sold by the weight!

The Rialto Bridge

The Rialto bridge is a very famous bridge and always busy. It is a beautiful bridge built in 1588 and spans over the Grand Canal. The gondola rides were busy and it was almost like a Disney ride as they were all backed up. The black gondolas gliding along the canals with the gondoliers in their black and white striped t shirts were interesting to see. We did not go on a gondola ride - very expensive for a Disney like ride and the canal was so busy it was everything but romantic!

One of the cruise ships in the harbour at Venice with a water bus (vaporetto) passing by.

We did take a vaporetto to Murano. The water bus was a great option to ride through the canals, across the open ocean and visit Murano the island of Murano glass. It was a "little Venice" where glass is sold everywhere! We exited from the water bus and there was a man directing us to his glass factory. We went and saw a short glass blowing demo and then was directed into store. Lorne found some beautiful handmade wine glasses with a platinum design around the rim. We had been looking for a gift with silver to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with money received from Lorne's mom. This was perfect! We knew there was more to Murano than this as we could see the church domo. We kept walking the other way and ta da there was a small canal, bridges and what looked like a mini Venice. The seawater was so high that the sidewalk was half underwater. Stores selling Murano glass lined both sides of the canal.

Gondolas in one of the side canals in Venice.

A Murano glass worker.

Worker by the glass furnaces.

Leaving Venice was quite an adventure. They had closed the shortcut by the train terminal so the only way to go was through several cobbled streets and over 4 bridges to get to the car rental place to pick up the car we ordered. We were pulling all of our luggage with us and it was quite a hike! One thing is for sure Venice may be for lovers but they have to be in really good shape to get around! It is an interesting city and very unique. I am so glad we experienced it when we were young enough to enjoy it!