VENICE
Day 1 – We found an Italian place to grab a bite before our flight. Paddy and I enjoyed our first Aperol Spritz of the trip – I’m thinking there will be many more of those to come. During conversation our first quote of the trip. Paddy was talking about someone we both know and said, “He’s a self made man who’s worships his creator.” That’s a keeper right there.
Flight left at 6:30pm on Air France. Since we had Priority seats we knew they would feed us dinner, but our expectations were just a wee bit more than what we were served. (Note to self: Don’t expect a real meal when flying Air France. What we were served barely qualified as food in our opinion.) The service, however, was wonderful! Landed in Paris around 1:30am east coast time which was 7:30am Paris time. We’ve been up pushing 20 hours at this point. Waiting in the lines to go through customs was not fun. Once we got through customs and security yet again we found some breakfast and had about an hour to wait before the short flight (1hr. 20min) to Venice. Once we boarded the plane, though, we had an hour delay due to a technical communication issue.
Once we landed in Venice and got our luggage (thank goodness it was all there), it was time to find the bus to take us to the city center where all the water buses are. From there we lugged everything to the water taxi taking us to the stop for our Air B&B. It was an experience!
Irene met us when we got off the water taxi to escort us to the apartment – 150 yards away. Doesn’t sound like much does it? Ha! Keep in mind we’re pushing 30 hours with no sleep at this point, lugging suitcases (about 45#) and backpacks, etc. I’m not saying it wasn’t 150 yards, but I will say it sure felt like more. We FINALLY made it to the apartment. She opened the door and guess what we’re met with? THREE flight of stairs (18 steps each – yes, I counted them). AND it was hot and humid with no a/c. We’re just tired and cranky. And hungry.
Our apartment is amazing. Plenty of room and comfortable. And we love the location – off the beaten path where it’s so much quieter than the main tourist spots.
After we took a break and unpacked a few things, we walked around to find some dinner. There are so many little outdoor cafes to choose from it’s overwhelming! We chose one very close, around the corner from us and shared a couple of pizzas and refreshments. Then came dessert. We chose three and passed them around. The limoncello one was my favorite, but the pistachio one was a close second.
Day 2 – We hit the local market first thing this morning. It was amazing!!! So much fresh produce! Since it was Monday there was no fish – tomorrow it’s also a fish market as well. We picked up all kinds of stuff to take back to the apartment – berries, apples, oranges, lemons and limes (for water). Yummy stuff!
We found an amazing breakfast place not far from the apartment, Dolce Vita. Amazing fresh made focaccias, bread and pastries. It was very small, not many places to sit and eat, and lots of locals coming in to grab theirs to go. It was quite busy!
Next stop was our gondola ride through the canals. When we found out we had a half hour wait Paddy and I decided it was a good time to enjoy an Aperol Spritz.
The gondola ride was very cool. For about 30 minutes our guide wound us through back canals where you could see laundry hanging on lines out of windows and under bridges where the boat would have to list to one side to keep it from hitting the underside because the tide was so high. It was quite the experience.
The Grand Canal is nearly 2.5 miles long and ranges from about 100’ – 295’ wide at different points, with an average depth of about 16’. It is lined with more than 170 buildings that most date from the 13th to the 18th century. Such an amazing and unique place to visit.
If you’re interested in the how and why of Venice here are some links with great information:
https://www.thetravel.com/how-was-venice-built-on-water/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/construction-venice-floating-city-001750
Some quick interesting facts about Venice:
118 islands make up Venice
There are 400 bridges
Population: 55,000
The Rialto Bridge was next on our list to see. It is the oldest of the four bridges that span the Grand Canal in Venice. It was first constructed in 1173 and has been rebuilt several times since then.
From the Rialto Bridge we continued to make our way across to the other side to “The Square” otherwise known as Piazza San Marco, which is where St. Mark’s Basilica resides. The current structure was built from 1063-1094. It continues to welcome visitors and worshippers daily.
We grabbed a quick snack and drink while waiting for our 3:30 entry to the church. It felt crowded but I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it could’ve been. The architecture is amazing. It’s not often you get the opportunity to see something so old.
It started raining while we were in the church. So our trek back to the apartment was a wet one. “The blue dot does not lie.” Uh huh. We went around our elbow to get to our thumb following said blue dot. We stopped at Dolce Vita to pick up some bread (it was amazing!) for breakfast. Paddy spied a dress shop the called her in and she walked away with two new dresses! We found a shop to pick up some to go with our bread. It was quite the “walk” back. Mike’s “little blue dot” (which “never lies”) had us going in circles at least at one point. Wanda’s little legs (mine) did nearly 15,000 steps and her dogs were barking!
Took a break for a little bit and headed to dinner at a place we passed earlier in the day. It did not disappoint. Paddy chose a ravioli special and the rest of us decided on the spaghetti and meatball special. Let me just say I cleaned my plate. I rarely clean my plate. It was amazing!
Doing some laundry and planning for tomorrow. Another busy day – Murano and Burano.
Day 3 – Burano/Murano – We all enjoyed a yummy breakfast of our fresh fruit, bread and jam this morning before heading out to the islands of Burano and Murano. Mikey wasn’t feeling great so he hung back to get some much needed rest.
Burano is the island known for its lace and brightly colored structures. It’s a beautiful, small island that had a much more laid back feel to it than Venice. Of course early in the morning it wasn’t crowded at all and that also was welcome. We found a wonderful little coffee shop to sit with a cappuccino and a pastry to start our morning off before we explored. It didn’t take long to walk the small island and we loved its quaint feel. Of course most of what we saw were shops and eateries.
We did find one little shop selling Murano glass jewelry that caught our eye. Paddy went in first but eventually Bob and I found ourselves inside as well. One of the owners was helping us and when he talked prices (reduced by 20%) he let us in on a little known secret. There were lots of tour groups – everywhere. Apparently there is an agreement that if a tour guide leads his/her group to your shop they (the tour guide) get a 20% cut of whatever is sold from that group. So the general prices reflect that. Truth or not, that’s what we were told. The prices were good. The glass was stamped with the Murano stamp and we were given a certificate of authenticity so that’s all we had to go on.
It was lunchtime after we shopped so we kind of just picked a spot that had plenty of seating. The sign said 4G Bar Ristorantino (I have come to learn it’s actually called Quarta Generazione Ristorantino). First off we were seated in a spot for six even though there were three of us. Within a few minutes the other three chairs were filled with another party of three. They actually asked to sit somewhere else because, obviously we were on top of each other and were told, “No, those tables are for parties of four.” It just got worse from there. The menu was not extensive, but it was a cafe so we just went with it – poor decision. We’d had the cappuccino and pastry earlier so really just wanted something light, so Paddy and I both ordered the caprese salad. Bob got gnocchi with meat sauce. I was afraid it was a bad omen when our server brought a dish to our table containing two packets (as in a ketchup or mayo packet) of olive oil and two packets of vinegar (white, not even balsamic). That omen proved to be accurate. What she sat in front of us was actually some slices of mozzarella, and slices of hard green tomatoes sprinkled with dry basil. Who on earth serves THIS and calls it a caprese salad? IN ITALY! Bob’s gnocchi tasted like it came out of a can of Chef Boy-ar-Dee. And if the food wasn’t bad enough, the service was no better. The group sitting beside us ordered pizzas that were no better they said. Then it came time to pay for this shitty meal. You had to go inside to pay. When Paddy went in she was informed at that time (and no other time during our visit) that it was cash only – their phone line was down. We were scrambling. I mean, we brought cash with us, but we’d already had a few unpredicted times to use it and we didn’t carry a lot with us. Between everyone, we got it together but in hindsight I think we should’ve handled it better and just refused – especially since the other businesses on either side were taking credit cards with no issues. (Our 20/20 hindsight left us feeling like we were totally scammed.) When we got back to our room and I looked up reviews on this place they all were just like the one I was gearing up to leave. Awful!
We tried not to let the bad taste from that experience keep us from enjoying the rest of the island as we walked around. It’s such a quiet, beautiful, quaint place. One of the things we all liked about it was the more relaxed, laid back feel on this island.
Next stop – Murano. We really didn’t expect to buy anything, especially glass on the island, but man there were a ton of shops displaying the glass in just about any kind of shape you could imagine. Much of it was incredibly beautiful. There were lots of pieces we would’ve loved to bring home, but it just wasn’t practical. Plus the price tags were high too (as we expected).
After observing the glass blowing demonstration (which was amazing!), we walked around most of the island – at least the main part – and killed the rest of the afternoon. I think it was between 5:00-6:00 by the time we got back to the apartment and very thankful Mikey was feeling better.
We stuck close to home for dinner and went to the spot right next to where we had dinner the first night. (Come to find out both places had the same owner. Different menus and chefs but dessert menu was the same.) The food was probably the best we’ve had since we got here. Bonus! We got to order the limoncello dessert we loved from the first night!
During dinner we introduced Mike and Paddy to an old Trigon commercial. I thought everyone had seen this thing. Apparently not. Now they have. And it’s been fun throwing “You know what he did?” and “he was injured, injured bad” around.
Packing up tonight, ready to move on Ortesei (pronounced or-tee-say) and the Dolomites tomorrow. Thankfully, Bob was able to line up a porter to cart our luggage to the water bus taking us to the train station in the morning!! We all breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing that!
Tomorrow we head to Ortesei (Dolomites)!
It's a Wonderful Life! 
Loved this!!Sent from my iPhoneP
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