Venice (A little late.)
About three weeks ago I left my husband at home for six weeks to fend for himself. Granted I tried my best to give him a good start. I made some meals to freeze, hoping that it might last him for a few weeks. I hope that he doesn't resort to punch size bowls of Cap'n Crunch, now that they are gone. He assures me that he can in fact cook, but it's a matter of actually getting in the kitchen to cook. I suppose that he is a 'grown' man and will be able to take car of himself.
Well, I digress, before leaving for Emily's 2011 tour of the US, Patrick and I made a weekend trip to Venice. It was a wonderful trip. We enjoyed getting lost in the city and winding our way through the small alleyways. Most towns in Italy haven't changed much in the last few hundred years. They are charming and lovely, and when you return the memories come flooding back. I've so loved returning to these towns to relive old memories and make new ones with my incredible husband.
We flew up early on Friday morning and stayed until Monday morning. When we arrived we took the water ferry to San Marco square. Before leaving for Venice I asked the travel agent for directions to our hotel, and she printed off the directions from the Hotel's website. We made our way to the hotel and at the front desk we gave the man our name. After a few moments of looking for our name, I showed him our print out, and discovered that we were at the wrong hotel. We were staying at the Hotel Cavelleto and had arrived at the Hotel Canelleto. After having a quick laugh we went to our 'new' hotel and checked in. We would find that perhaps to amuse the locals and confuse the tourists the one letter difference in spellings occur quite often through the city of Venice.
On our first day after checking into the smallest hotel room that I've ever seen (but who cares, it was right off San Marco square, and we only used it to sleep), we made our way to the Acedemia museum, then on to enjoy some modern art at the Peggy Guggenheim collection. We made a pit stop at Harry's Bar, it used to be a famous hot spot, well known for visits from Ernest Hemingway. It's also where the delicious drink called the Bellini was made. A mixture of sparkling white wine (prosecco most often) and peach puree. Now the bar is mostly overrun with tourists, often American. We then walked back to our hotel and had a bit of a rest. I won't tell you where we had dinner, but it was delicious, and a nice departure from Italian cuisine.
The next day we woke up early to check out the fish market by the Rialto bridge. There was beautiful produce and a wide array of fresh fish. We then went to check out the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari a really beautiful church in the San Polo district. There are a few famous and angelic pieces of art. It was also so cold that I could see my breath inside the church. We walked back through the city (after our visit we had literally walked over the entire city of Venice), and took a water bus to Murano.
Murano is known for its glass making, stunning lamps and jewelery. I thought that perhaps I might pick up a piece of jewelry, but found that after so much window shopping I wanted something a bit more unique, and didn't see anything that caught my eye. We stopped off at a restaurant by the water and had a wonderful meal. Mine wasn't so exciting, but delicious. Patrick's was much more adventurous. One of the dishes made famous in Venice is cuttlefish stewed in its own ink. Cuttlefish look like they could be cousins with a squid, and they have black ink. The dish was surprisingly good, but I'm glad that I didn't order it.
We got off the ferry on the opposite side of Venice and walked back south towards San Marco square. When we got back to the square we stopped at one of the cafes in the square and enjoyed some tea and coffee. Unfortunately one thing you can't get away from in any city is construction and repair, and our visit happened to fall on a major renovation of the buildings surrounding the square and the church itself. Much to our surprise we discovered that Carnival started in Venice that weekend, though it was more of an unofficial start. But we were able to see a fountain of wine erected near the square, and some very lavish and impressive costumes.
On our final full day in Venice we played tourists by going on a gondola ride and walking through San Marco Basilica. When I had travelled to Venice before with my class I had opted out of a gondola ride as I wanted to share that experience with someone I loved (not to mention it's a little expensive). Never would I have imagined back then that I would travel back there with my Naval Officer husband, whom I already knew from high school and was out of touch with, from our home in Sicily. What a wonderful surprise for me! We delighted in our short trips through the sometimes very narrow canals, with an entertaining gondolier (Patrick insisted on finding a gondolier with the striped shirt and straw hat).
San Marco Basilica is one of my favorite churches. I couldn't wait to return and I couldn't wait for Patrick to see it. The entire upper half of the church is covered in stunning mosaic murals, 8000 meters squared. Let me tell you, that's a heck of a lot of mosaics. From the ground they look so flawless that they are paintings. We decided to pay the few extra Euros to go upstairs (the rest of the church is free, and visited by an average of 100,000 visitors a day), however, we missed the very small and not very well labeled entrance. Once we had discovered we missed it and were out in the square once more, we went through the line again and made our way upstairs. And we were so glad that we did. You are able to get so much closer to the mosaics, and examine them up close. There are also some enjoyable exhibits to see. It was absolutely worth it, and perhaps one of my favorite times of our trip.
On our last night we wanted to try a well known restaurant in Venice, so we started off in the general direction. We knew the area, but we miscalculated a bit and had to figure out a new route. By the time we actually made it to the restaurant we discovered that it was closed on Sunday nights. Of course! So we spent the next hour looking for a place to eat. Each place we looked at I vetoed for some reason or another. We came across a small alleyway and looked at a restaurant at the entrance, but I saw a restaurant further down and we went to check out the menu. I'm so glad that we did. It was a charming little restaurant with a wonderful wood burning fire place. The dining room was very cozy and the food was amazing. It was a wonderful end to a great trip.
Well, I digress, before leaving for Emily's 2011 tour of the US, Patrick and I made a weekend trip to Venice. It was a wonderful trip. We enjoyed getting lost in the city and winding our way through the small alleyways. Most towns in Italy haven't changed much in the last few hundred years. They are charming and lovely, and when you return the memories come flooding back. I've so loved returning to these towns to relive old memories and make new ones with my incredible husband.
We flew up early on Friday morning and stayed until Monday morning. When we arrived we took the water ferry to San Marco square. Before leaving for Venice I asked the travel agent for directions to our hotel, and she printed off the directions from the Hotel's website. We made our way to the hotel and at the front desk we gave the man our name. After a few moments of looking for our name, I showed him our print out, and discovered that we were at the wrong hotel. We were staying at the Hotel Cavelleto and had arrived at the Hotel Canelleto. After having a quick laugh we went to our 'new' hotel and checked in. We would find that perhaps to amuse the locals and confuse the tourists the one letter difference in spellings occur quite often through the city of Venice.
On our first day after checking into the smallest hotel room that I've ever seen (but who cares, it was right off San Marco square, and we only used it to sleep), we made our way to the Acedemia museum, then on to enjoy some modern art at the Peggy Guggenheim collection. We made a pit stop at Harry's Bar, it used to be a famous hot spot, well known for visits from Ernest Hemingway. It's also where the delicious drink called the Bellini was made. A mixture of sparkling white wine (prosecco most often) and peach puree. Now the bar is mostly overrun with tourists, often American. We then walked back to our hotel and had a bit of a rest. I won't tell you where we had dinner, but it was delicious, and a nice departure from Italian cuisine.
 |
| Harry's Bar |
The next day we woke up early to check out the fish market by the Rialto bridge. There was beautiful produce and a wide array of fresh fish. We then went to check out the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari a really beautiful church in the San Polo district. There are a few famous and angelic pieces of art. It was also so cold that I could see my breath inside the church. We walked back through the city (after our visit we had literally walked over the entire city of Venice), and took a water bus to Murano.
Murano is known for its glass making, stunning lamps and jewelery. I thought that perhaps I might pick up a piece of jewelry, but found that after so much window shopping I wanted something a bit more unique, and didn't see anything that caught my eye. We stopped off at a restaurant by the water and had a wonderful meal. Mine wasn't so exciting, but delicious. Patrick's was much more adventurous. One of the dishes made famous in Venice is cuttlefish stewed in its own ink. Cuttlefish look like they could be cousins with a squid, and they have black ink. The dish was surprisingly good, but I'm glad that I didn't order it.
 |
| Cuttlefish stewed in its own ink. |
We got off the ferry on the opposite side of Venice and walked back south towards San Marco square. When we got back to the square we stopped at one of the cafes in the square and enjoyed some tea and coffee. Unfortunately one thing you can't get away from in any city is construction and repair, and our visit happened to fall on a major renovation of the buildings surrounding the square and the church itself. Much to our surprise we discovered that Carnival started in Venice that weekend, though it was more of an unofficial start. But we were able to see a fountain of wine erected near the square, and some very lavish and impressive costumes.
On our final full day in Venice we played tourists by going on a gondola ride and walking through San Marco Basilica. When I had travelled to Venice before with my class I had opted out of a gondola ride as I wanted to share that experience with someone I loved (not to mention it's a little expensive). Never would I have imagined back then that I would travel back there with my Naval Officer husband, whom I already knew from high school and was out of touch with, from our home in Sicily. What a wonderful surprise for me! We delighted in our short trips through the sometimes very narrow canals, with an entertaining gondolier (Patrick insisted on finding a gondolier with the striped shirt and straw hat).
San Marco Basilica is one of my favorite churches. I couldn't wait to return and I couldn't wait for Patrick to see it. The entire upper half of the church is covered in stunning mosaic murals, 8000 meters squared. Let me tell you, that's a heck of a lot of mosaics. From the ground they look so flawless that they are paintings. We decided to pay the few extra Euros to go upstairs (the rest of the church is free, and visited by an average of 100,000 visitors a day), however, we missed the very small and not very well labeled entrance. Once we had discovered we missed it and were out in the square once more, we went through the line again and made our way upstairs. And we were so glad that we did. You are able to get so much closer to the mosaics, and examine them up close. There are also some enjoyable exhibits to see. It was absolutely worth it, and perhaps one of my favorite times of our trip.
On our last night we wanted to try a well known restaurant in Venice, so we started off in the general direction. We knew the area, but we miscalculated a bit and had to figure out a new route. By the time we actually made it to the restaurant we discovered that it was closed on Sunday nights. Of course! So we spent the next hour looking for a place to eat. Each place we looked at I vetoed for some reason or another. We came across a small alleyway and looked at a restaurant at the entrance, but I saw a restaurant further down and we went to check out the menu. I'm so glad that we did. It was a charming little restaurant with a wonderful wood burning fire place. The dining room was very cozy and the food was amazing. It was a wonderful end to a great trip.
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