The Other Side of Venice

It is best to soak Venice in rather than attempt to conquer it. No doubt, Piazza San Marco is a beautiful place. However, the rest of Venice, with its untrod paths, are just as beautiful. I highly recommend spending your days exploring the different sestieres of the city. Also, visit the islands as they offer a nice escape.

Quick Tips:

Get a Venice Card! It's a great discount card and if you're under 29, it also includes the Rolling Venice discounts. You have to reserve your card in advance, and then you pick it up at the airport or train station. I will have more details in a separate journal entry.

I also recommend taking a rolling suitcase to Venice, because you could be walking for a long time to get to your hotel. I only wish they made off-roading suitcases for those bumpy cobblestones.

That said, make sure you and your rolling suitcase avoid the offerings left by the Venetian's tiny dogs. The droppings are everywhere. Don't wear long skirts, pants, or anything that might drag on the ground.

Best Way To Get Around:

There are two ways to get around Venice: on foot or on water. We used foot most of the time, as the city is really small. Gondolas They are mainly a tourist attraction and cost lots of money. I just took pictures of people on gondolas. Vaporettos Okay, these are the way to go. These are waterbusses that trawl up and down the Grand Canal. They also sail from Venice to the outlying islands. They are regular, comfortable, and a great way to sightsee the Grand Canal on the cheap.

Buy a VeniceCard! With a Venice Card, you can have unlimited rides on the vaporettos. This really adds up if you plan to visit Murano, Burano, or the other outlying islands. It also means you don't have to worry about scrounging up change. The Venice Card is good for other things, like museum entrances and discounts. However, it's absolutely best for the public transportation.

Hotel Bernardi-Semenzato is great little hotel in the Cannareggio sestiere of Venice, about 10 to 15 minutes from San Marco walking, 10 to 15 from the train station, and five minutes from the Rialto bridge. We stayed in the annex, on a small street not far from the main hotel. Unlocking the door each day made us feel like we had our own apartment. The room was large, with a Murano chandelier and traditional Venetian furnishings. With the exception of church bells, our second-story room was very quiet.

Room amenities included hairdryer, shower, toilet and bidet. Soap and shampoo was provided. Our room had a telephone and a safe with a lock. The hotel offers an Italian breakfast for 5 euros per day.

This neighborhood felt very homey, with Campo S.S. Apostoli as a place to enjoy one's morning cappuccino. While I had to navigate many neighborhoods to get to the main tourist attractions, I saw a lot more of Venice in this way. The location takes you away from the hustle and bustle of Piazza San Marco, and lets you enjoy the real Venice. Getting There Coming from the airport, take the Alilaguna boat to San Marco. From San Marco, take the #1 vaporetto up the Grand Canal and disembark at the Ca D'Oro. Take a right on the first street after you come up the alleyway and continue on to Campo S.S. Apostoli. The Hotel Bernardi is on a street just off this square.

This highly rated trattoria serves up the best seafood in Murano. Tourists and Italians eat here alike, dining either inside the two dining rooms, or on the piazza.

Busa All Torre is ideally located near the campanile on Murano, on the main drag of glass shops. The mixed fried seafood dish is delightful. Our meal was accompanied with an espresso and a salad.

Italian-speakers even get better treats. An imposing bearded man in an apron comes out and describes the daily specials. Perhaps this is the Torre (Bull) of which the name speaks? He is the picture of the rotund and jolly chef.

The waitstaff here is very pleasant, and they made us feel at home even with our limited Italian. As always in Italy, my pleasantries and ordering vocab words were acknowledged rather than ridiculed. When I had to switch to English, they took that in stride as well.

It is worth noting that Busa Alla Torre, like all the restaurants on Murano, is only open for lunch.

For a delicious, fun, and inexpensive meal in Venice, you must walk along the waterfront past Piazza San Marco to Trattoria Alla Fonte. This non-pretentious pizzeria has a lovely waterfront location and plenty of visitors judging from the small space in the restaurant. It is so intimate, in fact, that we had a lovely chat with the Londoners with the table next to ours. I’ll also never forget our fun-loving waiter, with his little jokes and his enthusiasm about the food. Truthfully, the food was never gourmet, but it was homey and tasty, and we never found another Venetian restaurant to be so welcoming.

The first night, we came here by chance. We had waited until just 7pm outside the restaurant we intended to eat at and were quite rudely turned away when the doors opened. This was the one place we intended to dine in Venice, and it was the second night in a row that we had been turned away due to capacity issues from a restaurant. We were near the waterfront at this point and ended up wandering down there. I knew the restaurants down there would be expensive and geared towards tourists since we were near Piazza San Marco. But something about Trattoria Alla Fonte spoke to me, and we made our way into its warm embrace.

Each time here, we ordered a pizza to share, which cost only 7€. However, we more than made up for that small part of our bill trying the different wines and drinks of Venice. We ordered a traditional Prosecco to begin our evening, then a red with dinner, and finally we finished our meal with Limoncello. I remember that the pizza was guiltily tasty, so good that we came back the next day. I say "guiltily" because Venice is famous for its seafood, not its pizza. Pizza is an American favorite and I didn’t come to Italy to eat it. That said, we did come here twice.

The Doge's Palace is one of those required Venetian tourist sites. Its imposing white-columned facade is the first thing you see when you step off of the Alilaguna onto the island. Under moonlight, it is stunning. Not to mention, if you bought the Venice Card, you have no excuse as it is free.

Don't miss the small museum on the ground floor, which displays the original colonnades and stonework. It is small, but quite empty of visitors. Barring this, most visitors arrive at the courtyard first. It is expansive and impressive, and you may use cameras here. In fact, you can use your camera in any of the technically "outdoor" parts of the palazzo. You can also use your camera if you point it through a window. Some people were using cameras indoors and it was unclear whether this was permitted or not. Certainly, nobody stopped them from doing so.

The interior of the palace features rooms of state as well as the private rooms of the doge. He worked at home, having only to walk down a flight of stairs. Take the impressive Golden Staircase to the Doge's Apartments. Actually, you won't have much choice in where you go. Velvet-roped barriers prevent visitors from taking their own path around the palace and you will be guided much like sheep throughout. Great works of arts adorn the walls throughout these halls. If you are as impatient as I, you will pass through quickly, only briefly stopping to consider each work of art.

To reach the prisons, you cross the famous Bridge of Sighs. Crossing the Bridge of Sighs is as claustrophobic as bridges get. From the inside, the covered bridge is small. Descending into the prisons is even more harrowing. You could imagine your own fear rising, had you been clad in chains and sentenced to life in the Doge's prisons. The prisons are similar to Alcatraz, showing that conditions do not change much over the centuries. You can even make out some graffiti on the walls. A tiny courtyard that breaks up the monotony of stone hallways shows that prisoners certainly didn't get much exercise.

If only I had known about the Secret Itinerary! I read later in my guidebook that this special tour covers the torture chambers and the interrogation rooms. That's my kind of tourism.

Piazza San Marco is the large square fronting Basilica di San Marco. It is the most popular place in Venice. It's popular for feeding pigeons. In particular, it is popular for putting pigeon feed all over your body in an attempt to get them to land all over you. I have always had a terrible fear of being pooed on by a pigeon, and as a result, I regarded all this activity with some horror. Besides, it seemed dumb to me to spend money on feeding the pigeons when I could barely afford to feed myself considering the exchange rate.

So, for every person covered in pigeons, there is a photographer or two capturing the moment. Also, people are wandering around with their cameras held up to their faces, stepping backwards vainly trying to get the whole Basilica in their viewfinder, and frequently bumping into other people. I can hardly imagine more chaos, but surely high season turns this square into a sea of people.

While in the square, a man presented me with his digicam and asked me to take a picture of him. I took a picture of him in the square, showed it to him, and he complained "no bird." Okay, I said. I told him to put his back to the Basilica so as to make a pretty picture and I'd try again. I shoot him with the lovely background and he tells me "no bird - I want bird on head." I'm not sure if this is going to work without feeding the pigeons, considering his competition. I tell him my girlfriend is a pro photographer and will give it a try. She carefully frames him in the picture, putting him at the lower left with the beautiful Basilica behind him. He see the picture and says "No bird. Also, I do not know if you know this simple rule of photography. Person should always be at center of picture." Okay, we are sorry, we tell him. We both give up at creating that perfect photograph.

Basilica di San Marco is free to enter, but it contains several small museums that do cost money. The nave is beautiful, but it is not the main reason to enter. Nor, I'm afraid, is the treasury. If you're me, then your girlfriend is talking loudly about how this artifact and that were looted from Constantinople, and as an avid Byzantinist, she is still holding a grudge. The treasury also costs a few Euros to enter.

So why wait in the long line, you ask? It is so that you can climb the narrow staircase to the balconies. Here there are several informative exhibits, the original four horses (also stolen from Constantinople!), and the exit to the balcony overlooking Piazza San Marco. Step aside, take a deep breath, and soak in the gorgeous view! You can hang out up here for as long as you like, and it's very romantic! I spotted many couples kissing passionately in broad daylight. We snuck around to the side to sneak a quiet kiss, not being exhibitionists.

Note: Filming and photography are prohibited. Also, visitors are required to dress respectfully and talk quietly while within this place of worship.

Free guided tours are offered throughout the day.

Murano is famous for its glassware. So, it did not surprise me that its main drag was lined with glass shops, the docks consisted of glass warehouses, or that there is a glass museum and a glassblowing school on this island. What did surprise me was that I enjoyed the glass!

We stopped at Murano to get a quick lunch before proceeding on to Torcello. For this reason, we got off at the second stop. Because of this, we did not meet any 'glass touts' offering free factory tours. Instead, we wandered through this quiet island village, through the courtyard of its church, to a little restaurant near the campanile. Afterwards, we decided to stroll through town.

Many of the glass shops sold the same sorts of things, little glass animals, pens, jewelry. Others sold large artworks, beautiful structures of light and color encapsulated in glass. We stopped briefly in one of the ubiquitous shops to purchase inexpensive souvenirs for our families.

Down the canal, we decided we had time for one more store before boarding the vaporetto. We stopped into a upscale establishment and browsed. In their second showroom, we found enchanting liqueur sets. Soon, a sales clerk came in to talk to us about the glassware. We had no plans to purchase anything. But the more I heard about this traditional art form, the painstaking hand-made details, and the more I looked at these pieces of glass, I definitely wanted to take it home with us. It is not like me to make an extravagant purchase, but I realized that unlike many souvenirs, we would be able to use this set to entertain our friends for years to come, and always remember our trip to Italy.

He told us that he had the best prices for us, and while I didn’t believe it for a second, I did think the price was fair considering the workmanship. We purchased a green liqueur set, painted over in gold with tiny hand-molded flowers. Green, he informed us, was the traditional color. Red and purple, though beautiful, cost 10% more. These pieces represented one of the original designs of Venetian glassware, and these pieces came from one of the old artisan families that had lived on Murano for centuries. The shop offered to ship it to us for 30 Euro, including insurance, and it arrived shortly after we returned. Now we use it all the time!

Back on Venice, we started seeing very similar sets in the shops around San Marco. Curious, we entered one shop and inquired about it. The price was twice as much. We did get the best price! In summary, Murano’s famous glassware is cheaper at the source. Talking to some friends who had also visited Murano, we also determined that we had been quoted better prices than those who had gone on those "free" factory tours.

Cenedese & Gasparini Glass
Fondamente Daniele Manin, 1/A

As I read about Venice in guidebooks, Torcello intrigued me more than any other historic site. As a lover of all things abandoned and left to decay, this "abandoned" former Venice intrigued me. I imagined crumbling stone buildings, a windswept landscape, the occasional feral cat. Well, Torcello is not that place. Torcello is a oft-visited tourist attraction with a museum, a church, and a few homes and drink stands. Everyone gets off at the same dock with the vaporetto and walks down the same winding road along the canal to reach the center. There's definitely no thrill of discovery, and I think my hopes were dashed. I was most excited about seeing the famous Attila's Throne, now used more by families for group photos.

However, Torcello did offer one thrill. Its campanile towers above the landscape and costs only a few Euro to climb. It's all stairs here, not like the elevator for the San Marco campanile. As we neared the top, the bell began to ring and the tower began to shake, swaying from side to side with the tones of the bell. It was so loud that I had to put my fingers in my ear and retreat to a lower part of the staircase. We waited out the ringing of the bells and proceeded to the top. There is a narrow rim around the bells where visitors can look out onto the desolate landscape of Torcello, marshy and barren of population.

One of the oldest Byzantine churches, Santa Maria Assunta, is also located on the island. Its best feature are the dome frescoes, featuring the dark scenes of Hell and the Apocalypse in the crepuscular dimness. No photographs were allowed within the church, but so I bought postcards from the church store. My scrapbook now features much apocalyptic art from throughout Venice and Florence.

Getting to Torcello

You must plan your visit to Torcello well, because it is not easy to get there. The easiest way to come to Torcello is to take the LN (sometimes called the 12) vaporetto to Burano, and take the "T" line across to Torcello. Guidebooks mention a direct route, but we didn't see it advertised.

Unfortunately, we were not able to try any of the great restaurants in Venice, as they all required reservations. I have heard wonderful things about Alla Zucca and Al Covo, but both were full up soon after opening.

Restaurants in Venice open after 7pm, contrary to the rumor that Venice closes early. Many restaurants line the lagoonside, near Piazza San Marco. There are also trattorias scattered around all of the sestieres and on some of the islands. We did enjoy Alle Bucco on Murano, open only for lunch. Venice is famous for fish and seafood, but most restaurants offer pizza. Pizza is often cheaper than ordering a full meal, which generally includes an antipasto, primo, and secondo. Also traditional is following the meal with a coffee or digestive, usually expresso (the small black one) or grappa (a grape-based liqueur). I really enjoyed a small glass of Limoncello after my meal. That combined with the traditional sparkling Prosecco led to a few wobbly walks back to the hotel.

Other options for food include standup and takeaway. Both of these options are more traditional and cheaper than taking a seat. For breakfast, you can order the traditional cappuccino and pastry at a cafe. For lunch, there are sandwich shops that will heat up your sandwich. This is much cheaper than going to a restaurant, especially in the vicinity of San Marco. One of the best sandwiches we tried contained prosciutto crudo and thick squares of brie.

After a few days in Venice, you may wish to take off and see other parts of Italy. I personally felt three days was perfect and shot down to Florence for a few days.

The Venice train station is both an easy walk from most places in the city and a stop on the Grand Canal vaporetto. It has an expansive staircase, where we found ourselves sitting, basking in the sunlight, rather than waiting indoors.

To buy a ticket, it is best to go first to the Information Booth where you can request a schedule. Explain where you would like to go and that you would like to see a schedule of trains. I did that in Italian, thanks to my "Speak Italian in 7 Days" book. The info booth worker will circle a few possible trains and perhaps explain the difference between one and another. Take the horario up to the ticket counter and use it to help you buy your tickets. After all, while many of us can express that we want to buy a train ticket, the vocabulary to specify which kind is quite challenging.

You have purchased your ticket, but now you have to get it validated. The price differential between first class and second-class is small, but the luxury is apparent. On our trip to Florence, we took first-class. We were the only people in our compartment and we closed the shade to the hallway. Then we relaxed in our comfortable chairs, looking out the large windows. There was a little table for eating and lots of luggage storage space. It was almost bearable when the train had to stop for an hour at a small town, which was not on the schedule.

On the way back, we purchased first-class but we didn't get first-class seats. The train was already packed when it pulled into Florence. We boarded in first class and walked down the entire way without finding seats. When we did try to sit down, we were told that the seats were reserved. Note to self - reserve seats next time! There was only one first-class car and we walked through quite a few second-class cars before we found a seat. Technical, first-class passengers are not supposed to sit in second-class, but it was our only option. Many people had put their suitcases in the aisles, meaning that we were unable to pass without lifting up our heavy rolling suitcases to get by. I was also carrying two duffle bags and a purse on top of this. I am not ashamed to say that when we could not find a seat, I actually started to cry. Luckily, a nice Italian man came to my rescue and found us some empty seats at last.

The second-class compartments are smaller, with three seats abreast instead of two. There is no under-seat luggage storage, only a smaller area overhead. Also, there are many children in second-class and it is their greatest joy to run screaming down the aisle, tripping over suitcases all the while.

In summary, I highly suggest buying first class, reserving your seats, and don't travel during Easter Week. I am marking this entry as 'athletic' as it required some athleticism to lift my suitcase numerous times over other people's suitcases. Plus running down the aisle looking for empty seats before the train departed counted as my cardio for the day!

The Venice Card is the smartest purchase you will make before visiting Italy. The Venice Card combines transportation, toilets, and museum entrance fees into one handy card. Not only is it a good deal, it is also much more convenient than fumbling for Euros.

There are two different levels of the Venice Card. Blue cards offers access to public toilets and museum visits. Orange cards add unlimited transportation on any vaporetto line. Either one can be enhanced with Alilaguna transportation to/from the airport.

The Venice Card can be bought for one day, three days, or seven days. It comes with a little booklet and a map. Actually, we didn't get those, but that was because I screwed up our cards (see Tips, below).

We did not use the public toilets, but we did use our Venice Cards to avoid the lines at the Doge's palace. The other museums included are: The Museums of Eighteenth-Century Venice, and the Island Museums on Murano and Burano.

Extras

The Venice Card also comes with some extras. For one, anyone under 29 gets the Venice Card Junior, which includes all of the Rolling Venice benefits.

Senior members (anyone over 30, sorry!) will get free access to the casinos on the Lido and in Mestre.

The card also includes discounts at shops, hotels, and restaurants. See this document for more details. It actually included a discount for my Hotel, the Bernardi-Semenzato, but I was not aware of this at booking time. Any place with a Venice Card logo will give you a discount. Also, you get a discount on the Chorus pass, which is like a Venice Card for churches. Finally, the Venice Card entitles you to some discounts in the old Jewish ghetto, at the museum and its shops.

Costs

You may choose to buy online or merely reserve online. Either way, your cards will be waiting for you either at the airport or at the train station, depending on your mode of arrival. Buying online represents a slight discount.

Check the Venice Card site for updated prices. When we visited, the three-day Orange cards cost 47 for a senior and 35 for a junior, not including the Aliguna transportation. It doesn't actually cost less to purchase the Alilaguna transportation separately, so that's what we did.

Important Tip

Be very careful when purchasing the card online. If you select the wrong dates, as I did, your card will not be valid. Fortunately, the website had been broken and they had lost my reservation, so after a long conversation in mixed Italian and English, I was able to get a new card. It was, however, quite a hassle and I had to go to Tourist Services because the Venice Card people wouldn't help me at first. So, don't make my mistake. Get the dates right the first time. I had reloaded the page, which reset the dates, and hadn't noticed it when filling out the form again.

From Venice's Fondamente Nuove, you have a clear view of the city's own necropolis, San Michele. It is but a short vaporetto ride across the lagoon to the walled cemetery island. Those who disembark here include not only camera-laden tourists, but black-clad widows bearing flowers for their loved ones. I always endeavor to visit the cemeteries wherever I go, as how a culture deals with death says much about their beliefs about life. San Michele is a worthwhile visit, to a quiet place in a garden setting, with a wide variety of memorials.

People are still buried here today, and the Venetians do not go for the plain tombstones so often seen in New England. Little statues are set up on the tombs, along with candles and flowers. Some tombstones feature pictures or engravings of their occupants. Other ones are the best of funeral statuary, winged angels, sobbing women, and sad little cherubs.

It is entirely possible to get lost here, and I feared I would not see it all. I didn't see any of the famous-name graves.

The cemetery island also has a small church and a cloister, with views out to the sea.