All Over Italy: Stop 1, Venice

Our first impression of Venice was a kind of disney-esque quality. There are signs posting your way to all the major tourist stops, and the whole city seems to cater to tourists. But that impression starts to fade if you step just away from the major tourist attractions - off the route from the Ponte di Rialto to St. Marks' square. Down a quiet little calle, you find a beautiful, old city that's easy to love. The peace of a Sunday walk, the bustle of the market, turning a corner and finding a tiny bridge over a quiet canal.

That's not to say that the tourist spots aren't worth seeing. Quite to the contrary! St Mark's square, the Ponte di Rialto, a gondola ride down the Grand canal, these are the reasons you go to Venice!

Quick Tips:

Plan, baby, plan! We did... perhaps to the extreme. But you know what? It made the trip better. It gave us a chance to figure out all the "must see" spots, pick good restaurants, and choose good hotels. We took a couple guidebooks with us, but mostly we relied on our handy-dandy notebook of information - it held our list of where we wanted to go, what we wanted to see, how long it would take, when it was open, the quickest way to buy tickets, and the easiest way to get there.

Planning ahead gave us the chance to buy tickets for places like the Uffizi ahead of time - no wait once we got there. We drew up rough itineraries for each day, but because we knew the opening times of various museums and attractions, changes weren't a big deal on the fly.

By reading lots of reviews online ahead of time, we ended up in great hotels for less than we expected. We also knew about the good restaurants in various cities based on our research. And after all, who wants to suffer through a bad meal in Italy? Besides, we never would have found so many incredible gelato places just by walking around! Mmm... gelato...

Planning ahead also gave us a chance to take Italian lessons at our local community college. Sure, lots of Italians speak English. But it was a much better feeling knowing that we could ask for directions if we needed to!

I know some people love adventure in their travel, and see planning as stifling that. In my opinion, missing the last train, or arriving in town the day after that exhibit leaves, or not being able to find a good restaurant are not adventure; they're a pain. I think it always pays to be an educated consumer.

Best Way To Get Around:

Arriving in Venice's Marco Polo airport is convenient to the city, and the airport is easy to navigate. Outside security, you can purchase a ticket for a bus to Venice - about a 15 minute ride to Piazzale Roma. From this point there are only two options - go by water or go by foot.

The Vaporetti are sort of water-buses that travel up and down the Grand Canal, with well marked stops. This is a great option for trips along the canal, and a ride on the number 1 from the Piazzale Roma will give you a good orientation to the city.

Venice's Grand Canal doesn't have as many bridges as you might expect, and they certainly aren't everywhere you would like to cross. In between, you can cross on a traghetto, a gondola-like boat that shuttles riders back and forth across the canal. These is a convenient alternative to detouring to a bridge, and at about 5 euros per trip, it is very cost effective.

Gondolas, on the other hand, are NOT cost effective at all. They cost about 100 euros for less than an hour. But really, you cannot go to Venice and not ride in a gondola - accept the fact that you are going to pay through the nose, then sit back and relax. If you do a good job of picking your gondolier, you might even enjoy yourself!

Beyond that, walking is the best in Venice. No bikes, no cars, no scooters even. Bring a pair of sturdy shoes, and then get out there!

We spent two nights in this terrific little hotel. It is located just right in relation to the Ponte Rialto - close enough that we didn't have to lug our backpacks too far from the vaporetto stop, but far enough not to hear the noise.
Our room was on the second floor, had a big window that opened up over the calle, an air conditioning unit that did a pretty good job of cooling us down, and the biggest bathroom we've ever had in Europe! Not too bad a space - a queen bed, two nightstands, a freestanding closet, and a desk, with room to walk between them all. Our room was bright and the hotel was clean - including a little terrace on the roof that's open for guests to use.
Breakfast was brought to out room each morning, and wasn't bad. Coffee and a couple kinds of packaged pastries. I had never had pre-packaged toast before... interesting.

We had not made reservations, and the waiters seems concerned that they had no space on the patio. As an alternative, they seated us inside, but at a small table just inside the doorway - we thought it was perfect.

The portions were huge, and the antipasto should be shared. They brought out complimentary bruschetta as a starter, and we also had an insalata caprese and prosciutto. We shared a bottle of the house wine, which was fine.

Our waiter recommended a baked red snapper for two for dinner, stuffed with vegetables and shrimp. He brought the fish to our table for our approval before it went to the kitchen. Very spiny, ugly fellow (the fish, I mean). He was delicious, though! They removed the bones before serving, and presented it on a deep platter, swimming in a brothy sauce with potatoes, tomatoes, olives and shrimp. My mouth waters every time I think about that dinner...

After sitting with our wine, we decided to share a lemon cake for dessert. The waiter also brought by a bottle of orange liqueur. Wonderful. Although it cost 120 euros, this dinner alone would be worth going back to Venice!

It took us a few minutes to find this spot, down a small Calle from Campo San Bartolomeo. There is normally a crowd of youngish people out front, as well as inside. We stopped here for cichetti and a spritz. Chichetti is a venetian classic, much like tapas, consisting of small "bites" of items like fried fish patties, vegetables, cheeses, etc. A spritz is another venetian tradition - a cocktail made with Campari, an incredibly bitter liqueur. Delicious. The restaurant was fairly crowded, but the bartenders were friendly, and we grabbed a spot by the window and filled up for about 20 euros, including drinks.

There are a few sights that you have to see in your life; a few things you must experience. Venice’s Piazza San Marco is one of these. Napoleon was not wrong when he called this square Europe’s most beautiful drawing room.

Visit during the day to experience the crowds of people and the famous flocks of pigeons. See the beautiful Torre dell’Orologio, with its blue face and zodiac signs. Visit at night and enjoy an espresso at Cafe Florian, the oldest coffee house in Europe. Kiss your lover while couples nearby dance to the music of the various cafe orchestras.

Beyond the beauty of the square itself, three of Venice’s significant tourist stops cluster around the Piazza San Marco: The Duomo San Marco, the Doge’s Palace, and the Campinile.

Ascending the square's Campinile will afford will afford you a bird's eye view of the red rooftops of La Serinissima, the serene one. Claim a spot at one of the windows on the first Sunday in September and watch the start of the historic regatta on the grand canal.

Descend and join the tourists in St Mark’s basilica. The mosaics of tiny gold squares are incredible, and the treasury of relics interesting.

The Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s palace) was the seat of secular power in Venice, where each elected leader of the city state lived and ruled. Tour the elaborate but empty residential portion, then cross the Ponte di Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) and descend into the prisons before returning to the square.

On Sunday, we planned a visit to Murano, an island to the north of Venice that is known for its glass production.

We woke up early, and walked north to the Fondamente Nuovo in order to catch the number 42 Vaporetto. This walk turned out to be the best experience we had in Venice. It was too early for most tourists, and we had our route mostly to ourselves. The bridges were deserted and the canals were quiet. The people we did see appeared to belong; they weren't tourists like us. We walked through areas that felt more like neighborhoods, and less like tourist destinations. Here, we thought, was the Venice that people fell in love with. This was not crowded, showy St. Mark's square, but rather a picturesque window into "real life," framed by peaceful canals, and curtained with laundry airing on lines above us.

Our day continued pleasantly as we bought our tickets and boarded the vaporetto. The first stop on the way to Murano was the cemetery island of San Zaccharia, where everyone disembarking carried bouquets of flowers. We arrived at Murano, and walked for a bit to get our bearings. Unlike Venice proper, where rising property costs and water levels have contributed to the rising average age of residents, Murano seemed vibrant and young. Parents chatting while pushing strollers or working in their yards, a young boy fishing in the canal, neighbors shouting greetings to friends and shopkeepers.

Having determined that yes, we liked Murano, we set off for the important task of finding a piece of glasswork as a souvenir of our trip. Passing a side street, we saw a family with a video camera, and correctly guessed that they had found a glass making demonstration. We enjoyed watching from the doorway, but we were glad that we weren’t the couple that seemed trapped inside by the salesman. We walked through a couple of the large factory stores, and saw some beautiful pieces. In one store, we tried to ask a salesman about how delicate the glass was, because we had heard that Murano glass was extremely strong. He walked off in a huff. We were confused for a while, then realized he must have thought we were trying to purchase broken pieces? How funny. Sorry sir, if we offended you, it was completely unintended!

Eventually we found a small shop called neropaco, where we bought the glass display piece that is now on our bookshelves. We originally walked in because of a sign in the window that said “We do not sell Chinese glass in this shop, and those that do are killing Murano.” Andrea was very helpful, encouraged our attempts at Italian, and even answered our earlier question – he told us that if it fell, the glass would more likely damage the floor instead of the reverse! We had him ship our purchase home for us, where it arrived a few days after we did.

We lunched on Murano, at the Busa alle Torre, in the Campo San Stefano. Our meal was delicious, our waiter was friendly, and the restaurant’s owner was a large, gruff, bearded fellow. Our impression was that he was quite a character, and sat at his table all day, shouting at the waitstaff, chatting with friends who walked through the square, and drinking prosecco. When our coffee arrived, we found that the sugar packets were personalized to include a caricature of him, laughing on one side, scowling on the other: our impression, it appears, had been correct!

Sipping our coffee, the bells in the tower across the canal began to ding-dong, and we realized we had been sitting there for an hour and a half. Ah, il dolce far niente! These are the moments we hope for every time we travel.

The day we headed out of town, we got up early to visit the Rialto market. We decided to pick up supplies for a picnic on the road. Most of the shops and stands were just opening and setting up. What a great time to do your shopping. I got to shop in Italian... what a fun way to practice!

Our first stop was the bakery (which smelled absolutely heavenly), where we purchased some rolls. Then we stopped at the salumi e formaggi stand, where we had them slice us some meats and cheese. You order by weight, and 2 "etti" made us several sandwiches. We ordered: 2 etti formaggio (a swiss), 1 etto cotto (a cooked ham), and 1 etto of a bologna-like loaf that was about a foot across and 2 feet long. Had no idea what it was, but it sure did taste good! We then went to a fruit stand and had them choose some peaches and rasberries (lamponi) for our lunch.