First... I apologize that this post is VERY over due. We got back from Venice last Thursday, but between editing an army of pictures, running numerous errands between here, the Netherlands as well as Germany..and receiving some unsettling news, my attention span has been non-existent. I've finally managed to sit down and hammer this thing out since I know it's going to be rather lengthy despite our trip only being two days long. What can I say? I inherited my Dads gene that makes me very detailed with information. So, enjoy!
** Please note, if you click on any of the pictures..they will open up in another window in which you'll be able to zoom in to get a larger view. Tiny pictures drive me nuts, so by doing this, you'll be able to see these with better detail since the majority of the buildings in Venice were fantastic...leaving them tiny does them NO justice! **
** Please note, if you click on any of the pictures..they will open up in another window in which you'll be able to zoom in to get a larger view. Tiny pictures drive me nuts, so by doing this, you'll be able to see these with better detail since the majority of the buildings in Venice were fantastic...leaving them tiny does them NO justice! **
*MONDAY*
We actually got to the airport several hours early since Brussels traffic can be rather difficult..sometimes you can sit in it up to two hours even though Brussels is only an hour from here! So, we didn't wanna take any chances. I gotta say..our plane was very different from what I was used to flying in. Given, it had two wings, engines and landing wheels. This thing was pudgy looking and resembled something you'd fly in from FireFly.
Once we landed at Marco Polo Airport, we made our way over to our luggage claim area..which happened to look like a massive roulette table. Of course, I did the touristy thing and took a picture of it..cause frankly, I've never seen that before..even in Vegas. People looked at me like I was mental, lol
Since I did a ridiculous amount of research before we headed out for our vacation, I learned that you can either take a water bus or regular bus from the airport. Hell, you can even take a private water taxi so you don't have to deal with all hustle & bustle from other tourists, although, those are ridiculously expensive (100 one way). If you go to Venice Connected , you're able to actually buy tickets in advance for transportation from and to the airport as well as a tourist pass that'll allow you to hop on & off the water buses for an alloted amount of time...you can either buy 'em online (even for a discount) or you can buy them once you arrive. You get the option of Tell ya what, I'm SO glad I bought the tickets online verses waiting in line & doing it once we got there. There was a massive horde of people waiting to get helped by the service counter..we would've been there FOREVER! I went up to the Venice Connected kiosk, popped in my confirmation code and it spat out mine & Eric's tickets instantly. I managed to get our tickets before our baggage arrived on the carousel!
This video explains the process:
See? Easy!
From there, we scrambled to find where we needed to go in order to take the water bus from the airport over to our hotel that was over on Guidecca. Wellllll....Marco Polo wasn't very clear in terms of finding the water bus terminal. They tell you how to find things online, but when you're there in person..none of the signs make any sense. Think in terms of signs pointing to one another for the same location..made me think of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. We ended up taking one of the city buses since the bus driver used a variety of hand signals and grunts to confirm that he was actually driving to Venice which dropped us off at the Rialto, lol. From there, we hopped on a water bus that took us through the cruise port and over to the island where we needed to be. The first experience on a Venetian water bus was interesting, to say the least. When the boat driver was hitting "the brakes" in order to slow down for docking, it sounded like the boat was bottoming out on various rocks and metal services. Seriously, it sounded like it was going to sink, lol. Then whenever it docked at a stop, it slammed into it which made you feel like a floating weapon. Yea, fun stuff!
Side note..did you ever notice that Venice, in general, looks like a massive fish? I never noticed it, then again, I wasn't really looking. The area in red is the fish, and the pink area is the island we stayed on:
Made it to Giudecca (pronounced like Ju-Decca) in one piece and started the mini adventure for finding our hotel. Thankfully, I read reviews from people who had stayed there before and they gave very helpful hints to find the place since it's off the beaten path. Seems easy enough:
Thing is, all the alleys are tiny. When I say tiny, they're not even two suitcases wide. That's common for the majority of the small paths throughout Venice itself. So, if you're not paying attention, you can easy pass the "turn" you're supposed to make in order to get to your destination. Think I'm kidding? Here's a view of our alley to get to the hotel:
Once we made it to the Hotel Domina Giudecca, we got a fantastic greeting from the gal at the counter. She was SO SO nice! They knew we were coming there for our anniversary, so we got congratulated for the occasion, gave us a free bottle of sparkling cider since we're not wine drinkers, set us up with a nice room and were VERY attentive! Seriously, they were amazing and I can't tell you how nice it was to have fantastic service. Here's pictures of our hotel room...now keep in mind, most European rooms are very tiny, so to us, this was spacious!
They even have an entry way for people that took a private taxi to get there:
We got settled in and crashed for the night since we got there fairly late and we knew we were gonna be walking around A LOT the next day.
*TUESDAY*
We woke up about 8am since they started serving breakfast around 7:30..rolled out of bed and tossed on some clothes. My hair didn't look like a hot mess, so I was ok with just going out there to grab some breakfast since we'd be coming back shortly to get ready for the day. They have this beautiful atrium where the guests can eat their breakfasts, sip on an espresso or just relax for a bit before they begin their day (I dunno why this showed up all spaced out ..I rewrote it several times and blogger is being stupid):
Now...as Americans, we're used to having a menu where you're able to order some rather large meals like pancakes, waffles, omelets, etc. Europeans don't do that. If you manage to find a place that DOES offer something like that, that's a rarity. Seriously. Most places will have a buffet which consists of croissants, rolls, jams, fruits, yogurts, cereals and even some selected deli cuts. Doesn't seem like much (at first), but it actually becomes quite filling.
I think we were out of our room for MAYBE 20 minutes (at the most) and when we came back, the room had already been cleaned, sheets and towels had been replaced and the bed looked perfect. Honestly, we were impressed. I'm used to places waiting till noon to do it or they don't even do it at all. So, that was definitely a nice surprise :) Once we were all showered up and ready to start our adventure, we were greeted on the way out by the front desk clerk who wished a great day and headed out to the boat stop.
Since we got in late the night before, we ended up taking some pics of the courtyard attached to the hotel:
The bridge next to the hotel:
View from the bridge:
Ok..you're probably thinking, "What's with the dog?". This guy was ridiculously cute because he wanted us to play with him. Thing is, he didn't want you touching his ball. He'd start to nudge it towards us and whimper, but the second you lean over to get it..he rushes, gobbles it up and scampered away. He reminded me SO much of Cole cause that's the kinda crap he pulls with us!
What a turd.
When you walk out of the alley, this is the first view you see:
Very cool! There's a lot of hustle & bustle going on with all the boat traffic even though it doesn't seem that way when you're looking at the pictures. But, you can definitely tell that part of the lagoon was their version of a large highway since you had massive ferries, various water buses, taxi's, garbage boats, transporters for massive machinery trolling up and down the way...I mean, it was BUSY!
A view from one of the bridges we have to walk over in order to get to our water bus stop:
So, we got to our water bus platform (below is an example of what they look like) and we figured we'd just hop on whichever one came back since..in all honesty, where ever they take you is gonna be somewhere on the island of Venice.
Our bus showed up and it was going towards San Marco Square, so we hopped on and found a spot to chill at since we wanted to watch all the other boats in action. In total, there were four stops before we reached our destination, but it was pretty cool to just chill towards the front of the boat in some seats and check things out.
Eric enjoying the ride:
A "Alilaguna" boat..one of the other transportation companies you can use to get around. They don't get as packed as the ACTV bus boats (the ones we used), but they also cost considerably more:
This boat was actually the Carabinieri flying past us with it's sirens blaring. Before coming to Italy, we were warned by several people that you do NOT antagonize those guys by any means. I mean, I normally don't make a habit of pissing off the law ( at least I try not to), but the Carabinieri are Italian military who police civilian and military populations. They don't take ANY shit. We saw them all over the place for the two days we were there..but they were mainly policing the larger bridges and dealing with drunken tourists who couldn't handle Grappa.
One of the stops on the way to San Marco is a little island called San Giorgio Maggiore, which has the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. It's a 16th century Benedictine church on the island, designed by Andrea Palladio and built between 1566 and 1610. The church is a basilica in the classical renaissance style and its brilliant white marble gleams above the blue water of the lagoon opposite the Piazzetta and forms the focal point of the view from every part of the Riva degli Schiavoni.
Once we finally reached one of the docks off of San Marco, we hit the ground running since I knew we wanted to hit up several various Venetian mask stores. Sure, I could've just bought a mask off one of the numerous vendor carts you'll find around Venice, but I really wanted something that didn't look mass produced.
These guys were EVERYWHERE! If you wanted a gondolier hat / shirt, mask, shot glasses..blah blah blah..there definitely wasn't a shortage on finding 'em! Oh, and notice how you can actually SEE the carts..later in the day, they're swarmed with all kinds of tourists.
Random gondola I thought looked cool with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in the background.
Ok, Eric & I learned our lesson when it comes to bridges in Venice. Whatever you do, if there's a "pocket" of open space, shoot for it and don't stop till you get to the other side. Why? The main irritation factor we had to deal with the majority of our time there was when other tourists stopped right smack in the middle of the damn thing to take pictures. Oblivious tourists were the main offenders of clogging up the flow of traffic.
Here's a picture of "light traffic" at 9am
Traffic at 4pm
YEAH. Throughout that whole mess that's pictured above, there was a thin line of people actually making their way through. The rest of the people were tourist groups doing informative tours, other tourists taking pictures, or people watching the gondola's float under them into the narrow city canals. Eric & I came up with a tactic of essentially plowing our way through regardless if people are taking pictures. Sorry, but be considerate of the people who need to actually get by rather than be a road block :)
So, we darted down a random alley to check out some places that were off the beaten path. This area had some really cool knick knack shops, Murano glass, old fashioned calligraphy stores as well as various cafes.
Yup, this alley was actually clear of tourists! By the time the afternoon rolled around, people were smushed in there like cattle:
Murano glass store:
At the end of the alley, we took a right and actually ran into one of the shops I was looking for. It's called "Magie di Carnevale". The gal that was working in there was SO nice, despite being very limited with her English. She let us look around, touch some of the masks and even take some pictures. After looking around for a bit, I managed to pick out a mask for Stefanie since she was wanting a black metal one, as well as a long nose mask for another friend of mine (he specifically asked for that type). Here's some pics from within the store:
Stef's mask:
Alex's mask:
We actually ended up coming back to them the next day since I really fell in love with a sun & moon mask. Sounds funny and rather sappy, but the mask is totally how Eric and I are:
The bridge to an immediate left of the shop:
We finished up there and made our way down the path a little further since, hey, it's fun to get lost sometimes. Not even two minutes away from the store, you come upon San Zaccaria. The present church was built in a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles between 1444 and 1515. Antonio Gambello was the original architect, who started the building in the Gothic style, but the upper part of the facade and the upper parts of the interior were completed by Mauro Codussi in early Renaissance style. The first church on the site was founded by Doge Giustiniano Participazio in the 9th century and eight doges are buried in the still existing crypt. The original Romanesque church was rebuilt in the 1170s (when the present campanile was built) and was replaced by a Gothic church in the 14th century. The church was attached to a Benedictine monastery, which was visited by the doge annually at Easter in a ceremony which included presentation of the cornu (ducal cap). This tradition was begun after the monks donated land for the extension of the Piazza San Marco in the 12th century.
If you're wondering why I didn't go inside and take pictures...well, I couldn't. The majority of the churches in Venice practice the art of modesty, which means that women can't have bare shoulders (which I had since I was wearing a tank top) and their knees can't be showing (in which I had a skirt)...and men need to be wearing a nice dress shirt and slacks...Eric was wearing a tshirt and shorts, LOL. Neither of us were dressed appropriately since it was really warm, oh wellllll. At least we admired the architecture :) I was LOVING the ironwork on the building that was adjacent to San Zaccaria:
These things are VERY cool. It might look like some random massive stump or something in the middle of the courtyard, but it's actually a homage to Venice's past. Venice was sinking into the lagoon. Built on wooden piles sunk into mud, the weight of an entire city was pushing the island down into the mud. As the centuries passed, tides rose higher. By the 20th Century, the city had sunk so far that St Mark's Square was flooded every spring tide, that is, every two weeks. In November 1966, storms washed six-foot waves against the outside of the Basilica. Numerous studies examined the problem. It was found that the wells in Venice were at least part of the problem. Every square in Venice has a well in the middle, which is drilled deep into the bedrock below the mud on which the city stands. But as water was drawn out of the well, seawater was percolating down to replace it, washing away the foundations of the city. The decision was made in the late 20th century to close all the wells and to pipe all water into the city from the mainland. Decades later, the city appears to have stopped sinking, but the damage has been done.
Now there's 122 water fountains throughout Venice you're able to drink from (yes, really) that the locals say the water is actually funneled from the Swiss Alps. Truth be told, I didn't experiment with the water since I managed to fill up my own water bottle every morning before we ventured out, but I'll take their word for it!
After checking out the courtyard for a little bit, we turned back around and saw this doorway decor..I tried looking up any information, but I can't find anything on it! Pretty much, it's right outside the courtyard of San Zaccaria.
Anyway, we doubled back and went down a different alley. Honestly, the paths we took were pretty much dictated by how crowded they were, lol. We were wanting to avoid being crammed like sardines as much as possible since I'm rather funny about large groups in small spaces...call me claustrophobic, I suppose. By darting down the alley, we accidentally found another mask store. Sure, it's Venice and you're probably thinking they're everywhere, but, it's a matter of quality verses quantity ;)
The name of this store is Ca' del Sol..I wasn't able to get any pictures inside since it was literally crammed full of other people taking pictures and essentially bumping myself & Eric into the masks because they were being rather oblivious to their surroundings. *I* didn't appreciate that and neither did the store employees!
However, we did manage to pick up a few masks from there since they had some leaf style masks like we were looking for. Our house has a lot of nature themed stuff in it, mainly old tree's and darker woods..so we were wanting something that would tie in with that theme. The green mask is the one Eric picked for a Spring time leaf, while I picked the rust colored one since it seems fitting for Fall (my favorite season!)
And...I couldn't help myself. I had to get this one. I loved the colors and the scroll work with the gold..and, it's my old high school colors (white, gold and royal purple), lol.
We started making our way further down the sidewalk since it was a beautiful open area where some gondola's were floating through. One of 'em even had a violinist as well as an accordion player going to town mesmerizing the passengers on board. Honestly, as simple as this area was, it was very pretty!
There's an additional mask shop on this same street called Atelier Marega..in fact, they have TWO shops on this particular street and another two somewhere else in Venice, so, four shops in total. I gotta admit, their stores are absolutely gorgeous and very..very impressive. Not only that, but the staff was VERY very nice. Here's pic from the first shop we stopped at:
I really wish I got the name of the guy who helped us in there. He was giving us all sorts of information on Venice, how the lagoon is (he doesn't like how stinky it can be), different restaurants to try, etc etc...all while working on a gorgeous sun mask. Very very nice guy! We ended up walking down to the other store, which was just as impressive because it had more dainty masks that were made with etched metal. This is one of the masks they had in their front window:
I started at it forever! TONS of time and effort to make that thing!! Here's the rest of their store:
Here's the masks we ended up getting between the two stores:
After lots of looking, lots of "awe" and money spent, we made our way over to the Hard Rock since we were jonesing for some sort of American food. YES, I realize we were in VENICE, ITALY and we should've had Italian food, but cut us some slack. It's been well over a year since we had anything from the Hard Rock..besides, we had to go there anyway since I needed to get a bottle opener from them for my collection!
Our view from our seat:
Tons and tons of people were waiting for a gondola ride, it was kinda ridiculous! And, they'd come in waves..one minute there's no one there, then the next you see 50 people waiting in line. Kinda crazy! Sure, gondola's are "the thing" to do when you're in Venice..but Eric and I skipped doing that since they're rather expensive ( €80 at least = $116 for a 30 minute ride) and the majority of the gondoliers were smoking while floating along with people (so not romantic) or they were shouting on their cell phones. Sorry, but I would've been rather tweeked if we shelled out that kinda money and we had to deal with that.
Anyway, our meal was fantastic, our waitress whose name was Cheeksy (yes, really) was a total sweetheart and I was able to add another bottle opener to my collection :)
After running around, all the shopping, getting lost, more walking and the warm weather, we got a bit tuckered out and made our way back to the hotel to unwind for a little bit. Took a nap (don't laugh!) to recharge our batteries for a bit. When in Rome, do like the Romans..right? So, a nap was totally acceptable since some of the Italians closed their shops for a bit to take a nap themselves..no lie! Once we took a nap, it was actually time for dinner, lol. Hard life, right? Hopped back on the water boat, headed back over to San Zaccaria where we ended up eating at a place called Ristorante Trattoria Da Roberto. Got seated right away outside so we were still able to enjoy the weather (it was JUST right, even at 6pm)..little did I know, Eric would have full entertainment because he absolutely LOVES people watching. And boy, did he watch.
Eric amused with the view:
I ended up ordering tortellini with cream sauce..it was AMAZING!
Eric got himself some lasagna, which was equally delicious.
I think we were there for an hour, but not because the service was slow by any means. Eric was just having a ball by taking pictures of train wrecks that walked past us. Sure, I felt a lil guilty...then again, some of the people we saw where seriously "WTF were you thinking?!" status. Finished our meal and rolled back to the hotel since we were both tuckered out and figured out our plan of attack for the following day.
Here's a breakdown map of where everything was (if you click on the map, it'll pop up in a separate window with better detail). The orange is where we double-backed:
1. Magie di Carnevale
2. Campo San Zaccaria
3. Ca' del Sol
4. Atelier Marega
5. Hard Rock Cafe
6. Ristorante Trattoria Da Roberto
*WEDNESDAY*
After breakfast, we figured we'd attack San Marco Square first thing because that place was PACKED the day before. When we take our beloved water bus over to our usual drop off area (San Zaccaria), you can see San Marco's Square:
St Mark's Campanile is 323 ft tall, and stands alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a fluted brick square shaft, 39 ft wide on each side and 160 ft tall, above which is a loggia surrounding the belfry, housing five bells. The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show the Lion of St. Mark and the female representation of Venice (la Giustizia: Justice). The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weather vane in the form of the archangel Gabriel. The campanile reached its present form in 1514. The current tower was reconstructed in its present form in 1912 after the collapse of 1902.
Even at 8:45am..that place was a madhouse! Yikes! As much as I wanted to go into St. Mark's Basilica, Eric and I wanted to use our time to check out other stuff rather than stand in a long long...long line.If you click on the pic, it'll become larger so you can get an idea as to how insanely large the line was. Yes, I was ghetto fabulous and pasted together all the pictures :)
So, we managed to appreciate the architecture from the outside of the church...seriously, it was absolutely stunning. The more you looked at it, the more you realized that it consisted of various types of marble, not just one particular type. The mosaics were amazing, gorgeous carving throughout the entire exterior..just...gorgeous! And....wanna know something pretty spiffy? There's a fantastic website if you're wanting to get a virtual tour of the Basilica..here you go. Also, there's LOADS of information about the building itself in which Wikipedia will be able to explain much MUCH better than myself. Here's a direct link for information..it's really worth the time to read it since you'll appreciate the architecture even further when you know some history: Wiki info
Sorry about the scaffolding...seems like the majority of Europe decides summer is the best time to start working on building reconstruction which could take anywhere from six months, to ten years. What can I say? Europeans are laid back about deadlines...
All the mosaics throughout the building contained gold, bronze, and the greatest variety of stones. They are VERY vibrant and STUNNING! I kept staring because I couldn't believe the amount of detail that were in the scenes!
Right next to St. Mark's Basilica (practically connected), is Palazzo Ducale. Again, we didn't go inside because it was so busy, but at least I was able to appreciate the exterior of the building! While looking up information on the place, I'm kinda kicking myself for not going inside because of how beautiful some of the pictures are of the place. Oh well, lesson learned.
Exterior of the building:
Stunning entrance to the courtyard:
Beautiful carvings on all the pillars around the building...the majority of them were birds, angels and plants as part of the design:
The two Byzantine columns in the Piazzetta were set up soon after 1172. The eastern column bears a strange animal representing the winged lion of St Mark. A statue representing St Theodore was placed on the western column in 1372, but this was not the statue now to be seen there, which is a composite of several fragments, some antique, including a crocodile to represent a dragon, and was placed there in the second half of the 15th century.
OH...and my favorite clock of all time:
On a terrace at the top of the tower are two great bronze figures, hinged at the waist, which strike the hours on a bell. One is old and the other young, to show the passing of time and, although said to represent shepherds (they are wearing sheepskins) or giants (they are huge figures of great mass, necessary so that their form can be recognized at a distance) they are always known as "the Moors" because of the dark patina acquired by the bronze. The bell is also original and is signed by one Simeone who cast it at the Arsenal in 1497.
Below this level is the winged lion of Venice with the open book, before a blue background with gold stars. There was originally a statue of the Doge Agostino Barbarigo (Doge 1486-1501) kneeling before the lion, but in 1797, after the city had surrendered to Napoleon, this was removed by the French, who were purging the city of all symbols of the old regime.
Below again, is a semi-circular gallery with statues of the Virgin and Child seated, in gilt beaten copper. On either side are two large blue panels showing the time: the hour on the left in Roman numerals and the minutes (at 5 minute intervals) on the right in Arabic numerals. Twice a year, at Epiphany (6 January) and on Ascension Day (the Thursday 40 days after Easter, counting both days) the three Magi, led by an angel with a trumpet, emerge from one of the doorways normally taken up by these numbers and pass in procession round the gallery, bowing to the Virgin and child, before disappearing through the other door.
Below this is the great clock face in blue and gold inside a fixed circle of marble engraved with the 24 hours of the day in Roman numerals. A golden pointer with an image of the sun moves round this circle and indicates the hour of the day. Within the marble circle beneath the sun pointer are the signs of the zodiac in gold (these are original and date from the 1490s), which revolve slightly more slowly than the pointer to show the position of the sun in the zodiac. In the middle of the clock face is the earth (in the centre) and the moon, which revolves to show its phases, surrounded by stars which are fixed in position. The background is of blue enamel. The smaller blue circles in the four corners are not now used.
Oh..you'll find the Venetian lion EVERYWHERE! I really loved this lil guy that was a part of a street light. He was so pudgy!
Once we were done being tourists, we made our way over to one of the water bus stops since we were wanting to take a ride down the Grand Canal to check out the Rialto Bridge. The ride was SO nice because you were able to actually enjoy the scenery, take even more pictures (ha) and unwind just a lil bit. As pretty as San Marco Square is, it's very packed with people hustling and bustling, bumping into you or cutting you off when you're walking. So, it was nice to just "chill" till we reached our destination.
The following pictures were taken from the water bus by sticking my beloved camera out the window:
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of St Mary of Health):
In 1630 Venice experienced an unusually devastating outbreak of the plague. As a votive offering for the city's deliverance from the pestilence, the Republic of Venice vowed to build and dedicate a church to Our Lady of Health. The church was designed in the then fashionable baroque style by Baldassare Longhena, a pupil of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, and construction began in 1631. Most of the objects of art housed in the church bear references to the Black Death.
Various buildings had beautiful mosaics on 'em while we were floating along. I tried to find some kind of information on them, but Wikipedia (and Google) failed me.
LOVED some of the architecture!
After floating along for about 20 minutes, we finally reached the Rialto Bridge:
The development and importance of the Rialto market on the eastern bank increased traffic on the floating bridge, so it was replaced in 1255 by a wooden bridge. This structure had two inclined ramps meeting at a movable central section, that could be raised to allow the passage of tall ships. The connection with the market eventually led to a change of name for the bridge. During the first half of the 15th century two rows of shop were built along the sides of the bridge. The rents brought an income to the State Treasury, which helped maintain the bridge.
Maintenance was vital for the timber bridge. It was partly burnt in the revolt led by Bajamonte Tiepolo in 1310. In 1444 it collapsed under the weight of a crowd watching a boat parade and it collapsed again in 1524.
The idea of rebuilding the bridge in stone was first proposed in 1503. Several projects were considered over the following decades. In 1551 the authorities requested proposals for the renewal of the Rialto Bridge, among other things. Plans were offered by famous architects such as Jacopo Sansovino, Palladio and Vignola, but all involved a Classical approach with several arches, which was judged inappropriate to the situation. Even the great Meichaelangelo was considered as designer of the bridge.
The present stone bridge, a single span designed by Antonio da Ponte, was finally completed in 1591. It is remarkably similar to the wooden bridge it succeeded. Two inclined ramps lead up to a central portico. On either side of the portico the covered ramps carry rows of shops. The engineering of the bridge was considered so audacious that architect Vincenzo Scamozzi predicted future ruin. The bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice.
So, what all that information instilled upon you...when you see the bridge, it's actually very pretty. Well, at least from the front.
Lots of stairs on the exterior and main walkway of the bridge, so we made our way up those to check out the view.
Then, I made my way down the other side to check out the back of it. I gotta say, I was disappointed and rather..uhhhrmmm...disgusted..that people had defaced something as old as this particular bridge:
You can tell that this particular side is overlooked since it's not seen first (for the most part) when people take a trip down the Grand Canal. They come from the direction where Eric and I came from, so you'd see it from the front (the first picture) and then pass through it without noticing since you'd be looking at the rest of the buildings. Just sad. Also, the bridge smelled like pee. Great way to take care of something historical!
Anyway, we made our way back to the center of the bridge where there's tons of shops you can check out. Yup, more mask stores (the cheapy knock off type), fancy tie stores, even Murano glass shops!
Here's an example of one of the glass shops:
I totally wanted to get one of these penguins for John (he loves 'em), but they were 110 euro ( $159) a piece...and they were the size an index finger. Just a tid bit over priced. Yeah.
These little guys were cute! They made me think of Happy Feet cause it looks like they're break dancing. Didn't get any of these either since they were smaller than my thumb (and for those who know me, I have little...stubby thumbs)..
Since we had walked around for a while, it was time to grab some lunch. So, we stopped into a cafe that was to the side of the Rialto. It was literally a hole in the wall joint, but SO good! And reasonably priced!
Eric was deciding what he wanted to get:
We both ended up getting a "fungi" calzone, which was cheese, mushrooms and salami. SO good!
Then we ended up trying a "mini lobster tail" and baby canoli...OH MY GOSH. I wish I had bought more to take home with me! They were filled with this creamy white chocolate center. VERY decadent, but amazing!
We worked off some calories by making our way back over the Rialto to check out a variety of different stores. After a while, everything starts to blur together since every one is basically selling the same thing: masks, hats, purses, more masks, shot glasses..etc etc. Then, I took a random alley (in all honesty, I couldn't even map it out for you if I tried) and came across another mask store.
OH. My. Gosh.
The guys store was amazing! I mean...really, really amazing! His masks were a completely different style than what we saw at all the other stores. He was VERY nice and informative about the masks he has made for the past THIRTY years! The stores name is: Alberto Sarria
He even makes marionettes!
Leather masks:
In the midst of us talking to him, he was actually finishing up a mask that Eric & I really took an interest in. Once the gold filigree paint had dried around the face, he actually signed the inside of the mask for us then packed it up so we can take it home.
After walking around a little longer, we decided to start making the migration back to our hotel since it was starting to get REALLY busy. Not only was it getting busy, but the heat was starting to kick in. Hopped back on the water bus, which got EXTREMELY crowded (note to self, never board a water bus at the Rialto).. after lots of elbowing and claustrophobia kicking in, we managed to get back over by San Marco. Ever since we had gotten into Venice, I really didn't pay attention to some of the cart vendors since they all really looked the same, but one of 'em not only caught my eye, but Eric's as well. The guy made these really cool "deconstructed" looking masks. His are made out of resign in addition to the paper mache'. Tell ya what, thank God these artists put stickers on the inside of their masks with their business name..otherwise, I'd be so screwed when it comes to citing them. This particular guys cart was called Stella Souvenir...I went to check out his website, but it looks like it hasn't been updated since December of 2010.
Eric picked through all the different masks the guy had and decided that this one needed to come home with us:
I ended getting this one since I really liked the Venetian lion in the center :)
Then, on our way back to our water bus stop to get back to Giudecca, we stopped off at another vendor to get some prints that Eric had wanted to pick up the day before. Every trip we've gone on, we've picked up a couple of paintings or images as a souvenir to remind us of what we experienced. I think I'll be taking 'em back with me to California in addition to some other pictures I have and get them framed since I can't find anywhere around here that's reasonably priced.
Oh...and I picked up two Italian leather purses from a store I darted into while Eric was getting himself some Gelato...he was under the impression I bought one, but I couldn't decide between the two..opppsss...
Over the last two days when we rode the water buses, we saw a couple occasions where some of the other boats caused "traffic jams" in which they stayed at the bus stop too long and jammed up the other boats. Well, we happened to run into one on our way back to our hotel. The guy at the dock was taking his sweet time, the boat behind him was blowing his horn A LOT in addition to our boat blowing the horn. Lots of horns, flailing hands and animated expressions when the driver passed us on the way out. Pretty much, every Italian stereo type showed it's face, lol
Believe it or not, this is actually a hotel you can stay on! Ya know, if you're willing to give up your first born :)
We took a nap for a while till the weather cooled off a bit, made our way back over to San Marco to get dinner (same restaurant we went to the night before), came back to the hotel and packed up everything since we wanted to make sure none of the masks we bought would get damaged on the way home. I'd be SERIOUSLY upset if any of them broke! I'm sure we'll sound like old farts for saying this, but we went to bed early (7pm) since we had to get up at 4 to start making our way towards the airport.
*THURSDAY*
Eric had checked us out the night before so we didn't have to worry about it when it was time for us to take off. I absolutely LOVED our say with the Hotel Domina! The whole time, the staff was great and very welcoming..and here's the real kicker: since we were leaving so early (before they normally serve breakfast), they actually arranged it so they had some stuff for us to eat before we left. HOW NICE IS THAT?! They gave us some juice, fruits and something that resembled pound cake (but heavier) as well as some espresso so would could start our day right. Aweeeeesome! Had our breakfast, said our goodbyes and made our way out to our usual bus platform to catch the night bus towards the airport.
Here's what Giudecca looks like at 4:30a
Forty five minutes and one actual bus ride later, we made it safe & sound to Marco Polo airport, got all checked in (their airport security was a breeze!) and relaxed till it was time to board for Brussels. The flight was a grand total of an hour and twenty minutes..and we knew we were back in Belgium when we looked out the airplane window and saw this:
Yes, the blurry thing you see is the wing of the plane, lol.
All in all, we had a fabulous trip, met lots of nice / helpful Italians along the way, got to experience some once in a life time opportunities and got to spend our four year wedding anniversary in Venice :) I HIGHLY recommend visiting there, but when it's really not the peak season for tourism. AND, it's not exactly little kid friendly (strollers go there to die) and older citizens have a hard time with all the stairs on the bridges.
CIAO!
We started making our way further down the sidewalk since it was a beautiful open area where some gondola's were floating through. One of 'em even had a violinist as well as an accordion player going to town mesmerizing the passengers on board. Honestly, as simple as this area was, it was very pretty!
There's an additional mask shop on this same street called Atelier Marega..in fact, they have TWO shops on this particular street and another two somewhere else in Venice, so, four shops in total. I gotta admit, their stores are absolutely gorgeous and very..very impressive. Not only that, but the staff was VERY very nice. Here's pic from the first shop we stopped at:
I really wish I got the name of the guy who helped us in there. He was giving us all sorts of information on Venice, how the lagoon is (he doesn't like how stinky it can be), different restaurants to try, etc etc...all while working on a gorgeous sun mask. Very very nice guy! We ended up walking down to the other store, which was just as impressive because it had more dainty masks that were made with etched metal. This is one of the masks they had in their front window:
I started at it forever! TONS of time and effort to make that thing!! Here's the rest of their store:
Here's the masks we ended up getting between the two stores:
After lots of looking, lots of "awe" and money spent, we made our way over to the Hard Rock since we were jonesing for some sort of American food. YES, I realize we were in VENICE, ITALY and we should've had Italian food, but cut us some slack. It's been well over a year since we had anything from the Hard Rock..besides, we had to go there anyway since I needed to get a bottle opener from them for my collection!
Our view from our seat:
Tons and tons of people were waiting for a gondola ride, it was kinda ridiculous! And, they'd come in waves..one minute there's no one there, then the next you see 50 people waiting in line. Kinda crazy! Sure, gondola's are "the thing" to do when you're in Venice..but Eric and I skipped doing that since they're rather expensive ( €80 at least = $116 for a 30 minute ride) and the majority of the gondoliers were smoking while floating along with people (so not romantic) or they were shouting on their cell phones. Sorry, but I would've been rather tweeked if we shelled out that kinda money and we had to deal with that.
Anyway, our meal was fantastic, our waitress whose name was Cheeksy (yes, really) was a total sweetheart and I was able to add another bottle opener to my collection :)
After running around, all the shopping, getting lost, more walking and the warm weather, we got a bit tuckered out and made our way back to the hotel to unwind for a little bit. Took a nap (don't laugh!) to recharge our batteries for a bit. When in Rome, do like the Romans..right? So, a nap was totally acceptable since some of the Italians closed their shops for a bit to take a nap themselves..no lie! Once we took a nap, it was actually time for dinner, lol. Hard life, right? Hopped back on the water boat, headed back over to San Zaccaria where we ended up eating at a place called Ristorante Trattoria Da Roberto. Got seated right away outside so we were still able to enjoy the weather (it was JUST right, even at 6pm)..little did I know, Eric would have full entertainment because he absolutely LOVES people watching. And boy, did he watch.
Eric amused with the view:
I ended up ordering tortellini with cream sauce..it was AMAZING!
Eric got himself some lasagna, which was equally delicious.
I think we were there for an hour, but not because the service was slow by any means. Eric was just having a ball by taking pictures of train wrecks that walked past us. Sure, I felt a lil guilty...then again, some of the people we saw where seriously "WTF were you thinking?!" status. Finished our meal and rolled back to the hotel since we were both tuckered out and figured out our plan of attack for the following day.
Here's a breakdown map of where everything was (if you click on the map, it'll pop up in a separate window with better detail). The orange is where we double-backed:
1. Magie di Carnevale
2. Campo San Zaccaria
3. Ca' del Sol
4. Atelier Marega
5. Hard Rock Cafe
6. Ristorante Trattoria Da Roberto
*WEDNESDAY*
After breakfast, we figured we'd attack San Marco Square first thing because that place was PACKED the day before. When we take our beloved water bus over to our usual drop off area (San Zaccaria), you can see San Marco's Square:
Even at 8:45am..that place was a madhouse! Yikes! As much as I wanted to go into St. Mark's Basilica, Eric and I wanted to use our time to check out other stuff rather than stand in a long long...long line.If you click on the pic, it'll become larger so you can get an idea as to how insanely large the line was. Yes, I was ghetto fabulous and pasted together all the pictures :)
So, we managed to appreciate the architecture from the outside of the church...seriously, it was absolutely stunning. The more you looked at it, the more you realized that it consisted of various types of marble, not just one particular type. The mosaics were amazing, gorgeous carving throughout the entire exterior..just...gorgeous! And....wanna know something pretty spiffy? There's a fantastic website if you're wanting to get a virtual tour of the Basilica..here you go. Also, there's LOADS of information about the building itself in which Wikipedia will be able to explain much MUCH better than myself. Here's a direct link for information..it's really worth the time to read it since you'll appreciate the architecture even further when you know some history: Wiki info
Sorry about the scaffolding...seems like the majority of Europe decides summer is the best time to start working on building reconstruction which could take anywhere from six months, to ten years. What can I say? Europeans are laid back about deadlines...
All the mosaics throughout the building contained gold, bronze, and the greatest variety of stones. They are VERY vibrant and STUNNING! I kept staring because I couldn't believe the amount of detail that were in the scenes!
Right next to St. Mark's Basilica (practically connected), is Palazzo Ducale. Again, we didn't go inside because it was so busy, but at least I was able to appreciate the exterior of the building! While looking up information on the place, I'm kinda kicking myself for not going inside because of how beautiful some of the pictures are of the place. Oh well, lesson learned.
Exterior of the building:
Stunning entrance to the courtyard:
Beautiful carvings on all the pillars around the building...the majority of them were birds, angels and plants as part of the design:
The two Byzantine columns in the Piazzetta were set up soon after 1172. The eastern column bears a strange animal representing the winged lion of St Mark. A statue representing St Theodore was placed on the western column in 1372, but this was not the statue now to be seen there, which is a composite of several fragments, some antique, including a crocodile to represent a dragon, and was placed there in the second half of the 15th century.
OH...and my favorite clock of all time:
On a terrace at the top of the tower are two great bronze figures, hinged at the waist, which strike the hours on a bell. One is old and the other young, to show the passing of time and, although said to represent shepherds (they are wearing sheepskins) or giants (they are huge figures of great mass, necessary so that their form can be recognized at a distance) they are always known as "the Moors" because of the dark patina acquired by the bronze. The bell is also original and is signed by one Simeone who cast it at the Arsenal in 1497.
Below this level is the winged lion of Venice with the open book, before a blue background with gold stars. There was originally a statue of the Doge Agostino Barbarigo (Doge 1486-1501) kneeling before the lion, but in 1797, after the city had surrendered to Napoleon, this was removed by the French, who were purging the city of all symbols of the old regime.
Below again, is a semi-circular gallery with statues of the Virgin and Child seated, in gilt beaten copper. On either side are two large blue panels showing the time: the hour on the left in Roman numerals and the minutes (at 5 minute intervals) on the right in Arabic numerals. Twice a year, at Epiphany (6 January) and on Ascension Day (the Thursday 40 days after Easter, counting both days) the three Magi, led by an angel with a trumpet, emerge from one of the doorways normally taken up by these numbers and pass in procession round the gallery, bowing to the Virgin and child, before disappearing through the other door.
Below this is the great clock face in blue and gold inside a fixed circle of marble engraved with the 24 hours of the day in Roman numerals. A golden pointer with an image of the sun moves round this circle and indicates the hour of the day. Within the marble circle beneath the sun pointer are the signs of the zodiac in gold (these are original and date from the 1490s), which revolve slightly more slowly than the pointer to show the position of the sun in the zodiac. In the middle of the clock face is the earth (in the centre) and the moon, which revolves to show its phases, surrounded by stars which are fixed in position. The background is of blue enamel. The smaller blue circles in the four corners are not now used.
Oh..you'll find the Venetian lion EVERYWHERE! I really loved this lil guy that was a part of a street light. He was so pudgy!
Once we were done being tourists, we made our way over to one of the water bus stops since we were wanting to take a ride down the Grand Canal to check out the Rialto Bridge. The ride was SO nice because you were able to actually enjoy the scenery, take even more pictures (ha) and unwind just a lil bit. As pretty as San Marco Square is, it's very packed with people hustling and bustling, bumping into you or cutting you off when you're walking. So, it was nice to just "chill" till we reached our destination.
The following pictures were taken from the water bus by sticking my beloved camera out the window:
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of St Mary of Health):
In 1630 Venice experienced an unusually devastating outbreak of the plague. As a votive offering for the city's deliverance from the pestilence, the Republic of Venice vowed to build and dedicate a church to Our Lady of Health. The church was designed in the then fashionable baroque style by Baldassare Longhena, a pupil of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, and construction began in 1631. Most of the objects of art housed in the church bear references to the Black Death.
Various buildings had beautiful mosaics on 'em while we were floating along. I tried to find some kind of information on them, but Wikipedia (and Google) failed me.
LOVED some of the architecture!
After floating along for about 20 minutes, we finally reached the Rialto Bridge:
The development and importance of the Rialto market on the eastern bank increased traffic on the floating bridge, so it was replaced in 1255 by a wooden bridge. This structure had two inclined ramps meeting at a movable central section, that could be raised to allow the passage of tall ships. The connection with the market eventually led to a change of name for the bridge. During the first half of the 15th century two rows of shop were built along the sides of the bridge. The rents brought an income to the State Treasury, which helped maintain the bridge.
Maintenance was vital for the timber bridge. It was partly burnt in the revolt led by Bajamonte Tiepolo in 1310. In 1444 it collapsed under the weight of a crowd watching a boat parade and it collapsed again in 1524.
The idea of rebuilding the bridge in stone was first proposed in 1503. Several projects were considered over the following decades. In 1551 the authorities requested proposals for the renewal of the Rialto Bridge, among other things. Plans were offered by famous architects such as Jacopo Sansovino, Palladio and Vignola, but all involved a Classical approach with several arches, which was judged inappropriate to the situation. Even the great Meichaelangelo was considered as designer of the bridge.
The present stone bridge, a single span designed by Antonio da Ponte, was finally completed in 1591. It is remarkably similar to the wooden bridge it succeeded. Two inclined ramps lead up to a central portico. On either side of the portico the covered ramps carry rows of shops. The engineering of the bridge was considered so audacious that architect Vincenzo Scamozzi predicted future ruin. The bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice.
So, what all that information instilled upon you...when you see the bridge, it's actually very pretty. Well, at least from the front.
Lots of stairs on the exterior and main walkway of the bridge, so we made our way up those to check out the view.
Then, I made my way down the other side to check out the back of it. I gotta say, I was disappointed and rather..uhhhrmmm...disgusted..that people had defaced something as old as this particular bridge:
You can tell that this particular side is overlooked since it's not seen first (for the most part) when people take a trip down the Grand Canal. They come from the direction where Eric and I came from, so you'd see it from the front (the first picture) and then pass through it without noticing since you'd be looking at the rest of the buildings. Just sad. Also, the bridge smelled like pee. Great way to take care of something historical!
Anyway, we made our way back to the center of the bridge where there's tons of shops you can check out. Yup, more mask stores (the cheapy knock off type), fancy tie stores, even Murano glass shops!
Here's an example of one of the glass shops:
I totally wanted to get one of these penguins for John (he loves 'em), but they were 110 euro ( $159) a piece...and they were the size an index finger. Just a tid bit over priced. Yeah.
These little guys were cute! They made me think of Happy Feet cause it looks like they're break dancing. Didn't get any of these either since they were smaller than my thumb (and for those who know me, I have little...stubby thumbs)..
Since we had walked around for a while, it was time to grab some lunch. So, we stopped into a cafe that was to the side of the Rialto. It was literally a hole in the wall joint, but SO good! And reasonably priced!
Eric was deciding what he wanted to get:
We both ended up getting a "fungi" calzone, which was cheese, mushrooms and salami. SO good!
Then we ended up trying a "mini lobster tail" and baby canoli...OH MY GOSH. I wish I had bought more to take home with me! They were filled with this creamy white chocolate center. VERY decadent, but amazing!
We worked off some calories by making our way back over the Rialto to check out a variety of different stores. After a while, everything starts to blur together since every one is basically selling the same thing: masks, hats, purses, more masks, shot glasses..etc etc. Then, I took a random alley (in all honesty, I couldn't even map it out for you if I tried) and came across another mask store.
OH. My. Gosh.
The guys store was amazing! I mean...really, really amazing! His masks were a completely different style than what we saw at all the other stores. He was VERY nice and informative about the masks he has made for the past THIRTY years! The stores name is: Alberto Sarria
He even makes marionettes!
Leather masks:
In the midst of us talking to him, he was actually finishing up a mask that Eric & I really took an interest in. Once the gold filigree paint had dried around the face, he actually signed the inside of the mask for us then packed it up so we can take it home.
After walking around a little longer, we decided to start making the migration back to our hotel since it was starting to get REALLY busy. Not only was it getting busy, but the heat was starting to kick in. Hopped back on the water bus, which got EXTREMELY crowded (note to self, never board a water bus at the Rialto).. after lots of elbowing and claustrophobia kicking in, we managed to get back over by San Marco. Ever since we had gotten into Venice, I really didn't pay attention to some of the cart vendors since they all really looked the same, but one of 'em not only caught my eye, but Eric's as well. The guy made these really cool "deconstructed" looking masks. His are made out of resign in addition to the paper mache'. Tell ya what, thank God these artists put stickers on the inside of their masks with their business name..otherwise, I'd be so screwed when it comes to citing them. This particular guys cart was called Stella Souvenir...I went to check out his website, but it looks like it hasn't been updated since December of 2010.
Eric picked through all the different masks the guy had and decided that this one needed to come home with us:
I ended getting this one since I really liked the Venetian lion in the center :)
Then, on our way back to our water bus stop to get back to Giudecca, we stopped off at another vendor to get some prints that Eric had wanted to pick up the day before. Every trip we've gone on, we've picked up a couple of paintings or images as a souvenir to remind us of what we experienced. I think I'll be taking 'em back with me to California in addition to some other pictures I have and get them framed since I can't find anywhere around here that's reasonably priced.
Oh...and I picked up two Italian leather purses from a store I darted into while Eric was getting himself some Gelato...he was under the impression I bought one, but I couldn't decide between the two..opppsss...
Over the last two days when we rode the water buses, we saw a couple occasions where some of the other boats caused "traffic jams" in which they stayed at the bus stop too long and jammed up the other boats. Well, we happened to run into one on our way back to our hotel. The guy at the dock was taking his sweet time, the boat behind him was blowing his horn A LOT in addition to our boat blowing the horn. Lots of horns, flailing hands and animated expressions when the driver passed us on the way out. Pretty much, every Italian stereo type showed it's face, lol
Believe it or not, this is actually a hotel you can stay on! Ya know, if you're willing to give up your first born :)
We took a nap for a while till the weather cooled off a bit, made our way back over to San Marco to get dinner (same restaurant we went to the night before), came back to the hotel and packed up everything since we wanted to make sure none of the masks we bought would get damaged on the way home. I'd be SERIOUSLY upset if any of them broke! I'm sure we'll sound like old farts for saying this, but we went to bed early (7pm) since we had to get up at 4 to start making our way towards the airport.
*THURSDAY*
Eric had checked us out the night before so we didn't have to worry about it when it was time for us to take off. I absolutely LOVED our say with the Hotel Domina! The whole time, the staff was great and very welcoming..and here's the real kicker: since we were leaving so early (before they normally serve breakfast), they actually arranged it so they had some stuff for us to eat before we left. HOW NICE IS THAT?! They gave us some juice, fruits and something that resembled pound cake (but heavier) as well as some espresso so would could start our day right. Aweeeeesome! Had our breakfast, said our goodbyes and made our way out to our usual bus platform to catch the night bus towards the airport.
Here's what Giudecca looks like at 4:30a
Forty five minutes and one actual bus ride later, we made it safe & sound to Marco Polo airport, got all checked in (their airport security was a breeze!) and relaxed till it was time to board for Brussels. The flight was a grand total of an hour and twenty minutes..and we knew we were back in Belgium when we looked out the airplane window and saw this:
Yes, the blurry thing you see is the wing of the plane, lol.
All in all, we had a fabulous trip, met lots of nice / helpful Italians along the way, got to experience some once in a life time opportunities and got to spend our four year wedding anniversary in Venice :) I HIGHLY recommend visiting there, but when it's really not the peak season for tourism. AND, it's not exactly little kid friendly (strollers go there to die) and older citizens have a hard time with all the stairs on the bridges.
CIAO!
1 comments:
Love that you received such great hospitality! That is what I love about Europe. If you find the right people, they will treat you like family! :) Sounds like you had a fantastic trip and now I am completely envious! Also, I am so glad to see you taking advantage of being stationed in such a convenient traveling place. So many people miss out because they don't take the time.
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