Venice (Aug 30-Sept 2) - Euro Adventure 2023

Venice is fascinating, overcrowded and sinking. The city sits on more than 100 small islands created as eastern flowing rivers from the Alps deposited silt into the sea. More than 400 bridges, canals and open expanses of water complete this shallow lagoon of the Adriatic Sea. It has served as a major financial and naval power, a staging area for the Crusades, an important center of commerce and culture, multiple artistic movements and the birthplace of Baroque music. Venice has been ranked many times as the most beautiful city in the world. Some of the names used to describe its unique characteristics include: “Queen of the Adriatic,” “City of Water,” “City of Masks”, “City of Bridges” and “The Floating City” to name a few.

The historic center of Venice sits within the Rialto Inlet and is divided into six districts: Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Marco, San Polo and Santa Croce. San Marco is considered the heart of the city and location of the most famous sights: Saint Mark’s Square, Saint Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, plus many more palaces and churches. Vaporetto (water buses) and gondolas carry passengers along the Grand Canal, lined with palaces built in the Renaissance and Gothic traditions, as the main thoroughfare through the six districts.

SO MUCH HISTORY

In 1291, the Republic of Venice restricted all glass making furnaces to nearby Murano Island. It was here where we rented an Airbnb overlooking a canal, from an Italian family with limited English. Thanks to their relationships, we were able to visit master glass artisans in their studios, witnessing the behind-the-scenes art of glassblowing. The process is fascinating; beautiful does not begin to describe the many unique and stunning artwork, glasses, vases, dishes and chandeliers we viewed. Murano was one of the few places we purchased gifts – hand-blown glass necklaces and rings for ourselves and our children back home.

Other outer-lying islands, accessible by vaporetto are:

• San Giorgio -a mini-Venice across the lagoon where the domed, multi-level marble San Giorgio church rises above pedicured gardens and exhibition spaces featuring the history of glassblowing.
  

• Burano – a colorful fishing village, most notable for its brightly colored houses along picturesque canals and the generations of Italians who have been making lace by hand for eight centuries.
  

• San Michele - surrounded by a red brick wall enclosing tall cypress trees, and the Basilica of San Michele. It sits in the middle of an expanse of water between historic Venice and Murano Island. It has been the city’s official cemetery since Napoleon banished burials from Venice’s churchyards after he conquered Italy in 1797. One of the more interesting sights we saw was a boat funeral procession with the casket covered in flowers, sitting in the lead vessel.
  

• Lido - the largest island, provides a barrier against the encroaching Adriatic Sea and offers six miles of uninterrupted beach front.
  

CROWDED, CROWDED, CROWDED!

While I had always wanted to visit Venice, it’s architecture, culture, history and food, plus scenes from multiple iconic films, our timing wasn't great. Unfortunately, we had both been slightly under the weather the last few days of our cruise, and the crowds were oppressive. We did our best to wander the many alleys, canals and central squares of Venice:

• We popped into cafes and wine bars, a few shops, churches, and museums.
  

• We stumbled upon an amazing print shop and museum one afternoon where we chatted with Gianni Basso and his son, Stefano, who continue the traditional, hand-operated art of producing printed cards, personalized stationery and beautiful business cards.
  

• We ate gelato in Saint Mark’s Square watching as people walked through the rising water at high tide.
  

As noted (see WHAT WE WISH WE KNEW...Aug 30, 2023), without our preferred transportation out of Venice on September 2, we booked a late evening Ryan Air flight from Venice to Budapest a few days prior. While this sounds easy, it was not. Remember those heavy backpacks we’re lugging around. We checked out of our Italian Airbnb early, boarded a water taxi from Murano Island to San Marco - during which we learned the water taxi ticket must be valid from the point of departure all the way through the journey.

Luckily, at the time the taxi steward checked our tickets and learned they expired after boarding, he was kind enough to allow us to remain until we reached crossed back over to the back side of San Marco, not the stop we wanted, but at least we were on the correct island! This meant we hauled those backpacks through thousands of people in narrow alleys through the heat and humidity, trekking from one side of San Marco Island to the other, until we found a luggage facility (see WHAT WE WISH WE KNEW... Mar 17, 2024) near the bus station. We were grateful to deposit the bags for a few hours in search of a final meal. As our flight time grew closer, we boarded a bus from San Marco and traveled to Treviso, a northern suburb on the mainland, from which we flew to Budapest.

Santa Maria di Nazareth Church above Ferrovia water taxi stop. Our first views of Venice following our cruise.

Approaching Murano Island via water taxi, headed to our Airbnb.

View from our Airbnb during our stay in Venice.

Dock along Murano Island canal showcasing glass-blown art.

View of Murano from one of the bridges over the canal.

Outside the Moretti studio, where we purchased my hand-blown glass necklace our first night in Murano.

Murano Island Canal.

An interior alley on Murano Island.

All goods and services are delivered via boat in Murano, even packages.

Algae growing on steps along Venice's canals resulting from rising waters at high tide.

Children training to be gondoliers off Murano Island.

Gated entrance to Universita ca Foscari across a canal from St. Mark's Square.

Giardini di Ca' Rezzonico Garden, behind a palazzo along the Grand Canal in Venice.

Hotel Becher along Venice's canals.

Ca' Foscari Palace (home to Universita) preparing for annual Historical Regatta on the Grand Canal.

Londra Palace Hotel overlooking the marble King Victor Emmanuel II equestrian monument on the Grand Canal.

Ponte della Pieta or Bridge of Sighs, Church of Santa Maria della Pieta and San Giorgio dei Greci church's leaning tower in the background.

Cruising the Grand Canal past Ferrovia where we began our Venetian adventure.

Venice's Grand Canal.

Venice's Grand Canal.

The Riva dei Sette Martiri Bridge on San Marco Island from the Grand Canal.

History of Doge's Palace.

Approaching St. Mark's Square (home to St. Mark's Basilica, Bell Tower, Doge's Palace and the National Library).

St. Mark's Square.

History of St. Mark's Basilica.

St. Mark's Basilica at high tide.

Crowds waiting to enter St. Mark's Basilica.

Close up of entrance to St. Mark's Basilica.

More detail of St. Mark's Basilica.

Close up of the Horses on St. Mark's Basilica.

History of Sansovino's Library.

Sansovino's Library with St. Mark's Bell Tower in the background.

Sansovino's Library (part of the National Marciana Library).

Entrance to the Palazzo Malipiero, an exhibition center and VRBO, minutes from St. Mark's Square.

Flooding cafe near St. Mark's Square.

Gondoliers waiting for customers near Rialto Bridge.

Rialto Bridge crossing the Grand Canal.

Interior of the Rialto Bridge, lined with shops.

San Giorgio Maggiore Island.

St. Michele Island and Cemetery.

St. Michele Cemetery with the Italian Air Force in formation overhead.

Another view of the Italian Air Force flying past St. Michele Cemetery.

A funeral boat approaching St. Michele Cemetery.

A funeral boat approaching St. Michele Cemetery.

Church of St. Nicholas.

Riding under the Ponte della Constituzione - a controversial bridge blending traditional Istrian stone steps into a modern design.

Riding the Vaporetto.

Venice's Grand Canal.

Venice's Grand Canal.

An alley near the Palazzo Ducale.

Views of canals while walking through Venice's historic district.

Lido Island water taxi station.