Journey with Jeff and Deb

After eating breakfast, we ventured out, with our luggage in
tow, to find our hotel which happened to be across town. This was not an easy
task since this is a city with canals and water – no streets and no taxis.  We decided to take the vaporetto (waterbus)
to our hotel since we were told that the walk would be 40 minutes over bridges
and cobblestone streets.  Did I mention
that and we had 2 large pieces of luggage, 2 rolling carry-ons, a backpack,
plus another large bag –all packed full- to carry? We each had two pieces to
pull plus carry up escalators and on and off the vaporetta which was packed
with Venetians (all speaking Italian). Getting on and off was no easy task since there were steps in
which we had to take the luggage down into the vaporetto, and again to get
off.  The boat was packed with people
–standing room only. None were eager to help or even move out of the way as we
struggled to get us and our bags onboard. 
After about 25 minutes we reached our stop and started trying to haul
the bags past the people, up the steps, and off of the boat.  There was one very nice older Italian
gentleman that cleared the way, shouting in Italian, in order to get me off the
last stop! Otherwise I did not think that I would make it off before the boat
continued on its way! In Venice very few people speak English.

I took several pictures of Jeff asking directions along the
way, but will only share one of them here.

It was quite an interesting start of the day – finding our
way by waterbus when we really had no idea where we were going! It was an
adventure! But we did make it to our hotel! It also was very hot and Jeff’s
shirt (and really the rest of him, too) was completely soaked!  It was too early for us to check in and the
bellman allowed us to use a room for Jeff  to change clothes  (I think he did not want him in the lobby
looking the way he did).

We then took a free water taxi (where was this guy a few hours
earlier?) to the island of Murano, that is famous for its glass-making
factories.  The scenery again was
beautiful.  This particular factory
houses 12 “masters” of glass-blowing – men who have had the craft passed down
to them over many generations. Since 1291, the manufacturing of glass was moved
to the island to avoid the threat of fire in the city of Venice.  Some of the factories are still using the
original furnaces from that era. We watched a demonstration by a master glass
makers at work and then toured the showroom full of magnificent pieces of glass
– extravagant chandeliers, glasses, vases, and jewelry. We looked at the prices
on some of the pieces and were amazed.  A
6 piece set of drinking glasses that we liked were a mere 1200 euros (about
$1600.)  We did not purchase them.  We took the water taxi back to the hotel.

The rest of the day we explored the beautiful and romantic city
of Venice. The multi-colored houses are so pretty with their window boxes
filled with flowers. (You all know how I love flowers!) Every canal is so
picturesque. It was hard not to take a picture of every single one.

Scalzi Bridge (only 3 bridges cross the Grand Canal)

We walked to the Jewish Ghetto and had lunch alongside the
canal, by the bridge. As we ate our lunch
(a caprese salad and pizza), a group of several Jewish families sat at an
outdoor table across the canal, eating their Sabbath.  We enjoyed listening to them sing as we ate.  For the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed just
meandering through the cobblestone streets and peering down the canals, watching
people and taking in the sites of the city. With one brief stop to blog.

We also decided to tour Venice’s’ super highway, the S-
shaped Grand Canal. So we got on the vaporetto again and rode the Grand Canal,
which is 2 miles long, from one end to the other. This gave us a great overview of the entire
city, with fabulous views of 200 palazzos that date back to the 12th
century.

By then it was evening and we had dinner at a quaint restaurant,
where we were serenaded by an accordion player. (Perhaps this is where my accordion-playing
talent would be appreciated).   We topped off our last night with a romantic
gondola ride through the narrow canals. Our driver was Leonardo from Venice. He
told us that the rule is that you must kiss every time you go under a
bridge.  Remember, there are 350 bridges
in Venice! Perfecto!

View from the gondola

We thoroughly enjoyed Venice – its uniqueness, beauty, and charm
are like none other. We loved strolling through the city and just experiencing
the place and the people. The vaporetto was a unique experience. Jeff enjoyed
it more than I did, but I will always remember riding the Grand Canal and just
soaking in the city.  Although, if given
the choice, I would always choose the gondola.

Of course, since this was the last day, we had gelati twice.  Three scoops each time!

Buona notte!