Our Day in Venezia

 As much as I'd love to have hundreds (or more) readers following my blog, I'm truly thankful for the number of readers I currently have. Most of y'all know me personally and can really appreciate some of the more subtle aspects of my personality. One good example is that neither Cindy nor I are "morning people." Any time we have a day off and especially on weekends, we do enjoy sleeping in and waking up gradually with some good coffee. I alluded briefly in my previous blog about how our Tour Director emphasized that we were on a tour instead of vacation and that we would have many early days. She wasn't lying! We were free to set our own wakeup time, but we did have certain times to do certain things, typically much earlier than we'd prefer to get up when on a "normal" vacation.

Foggy morning on the Grand Canal

photo by Cindy Newman

I'll get back to our actual day shortly, but want to remind y'all of how our tour days generally started. Globus made being on time much easier by having a daily activities notice posted in the hotel lobby each evening. Our Tour Director Simonetta was responsible for this and would frequently remind us to look at the daily bulletin to ensure we'd be where we needed to be, when we needed to be there.

Daily schedule for Venice

Please click on the photo, and a larger version will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Go ahead and take a look. I'll wait. 

As a reminder, clicking on any photo will open a larger format for better viewing. Clicking on any link (in blue) will also open in a new window so you won't lose your place here.

See what I mean? Breakfast on our first full day here began at 6:45 am, and we needed to be ready to go by 7:50 am. Now, in my best Clint Eastwood growl: "Six forty-five am? Lovely!" 

Each hotel that Globus booked for us included breakfast, and all of them featured some sort of automatic coffee machine that would make everything from "American" coffee to espresso to cappuccino to hot chocolate. And this was real hot chocolate, not that phony-tasting stuff we generally get here at home. There was a hopper on top of these machines filled with actual coffee beans, so each cup was ground and brewed to order. Ohhh, yes! I'd love to have one of these at home! I quickly figured out how to make an espresso and then order a hot chocolate in the same cup. Wonnnnnnderful!

After several cups of coffee and breakfast, we met just outside the hotel's front door for Simonetta to lead us to our water taxi. Much like home this time of year, it was cool and quite foggy. Can you say "great photo ops?" 

Gondolas waiting for passengers

No, we didn't pile into a bunch of gondolas. Simonetta led us on a 10-minute walk to where a water taxi awaited us. With a group of 43, it would've taken a lot of gondolas to get us where we needed to go, and the water taxi would be much faster, too. I guess the idea of gondola races to St. Mark's Square was out of the question. Oh, come on! Don't tell me that you didn't have the same idea!

Most of our view along the canal was obscured by the morning fog, yet this seemed to enhance the mystique of Venice. Every so often the fog would thin enough to reveal an interesting building that Simonetta would describe to us. Today's walking tour would include Doge's Palace and a glassblowing demonstration at one of Venice's famed Murano glass factories. We would split into two groups, one touring Doge's Palace first while the other would attend the glassblowing demonstration. We'd then proceed to the other location. Our group toured Doge's Palace first. 

The following are some photos that do absolutely no justice to the beauty of these buildings. This is true of everywhere we went, though. The photos are lovely, but you really need to see the actual place to fully appreciate its magnificence. 

Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs is so named because the prisoners would have their last good look at Venice as they passed over this bridge before going into their prison cells. We actually got to cross this bridge during our tour, and I can see how these prisoners would feel. The walk between the two buildings is claustrophobic and only a small, barred window allows one to view the canal.

Inscription outside the palace

Stunning paintings on the ceiling

Beautiful paintings

Amazing decorations

Such artistry!

More "wow" to behold

St. Mark's Basilica

photo by Cindy Newman

My younger brother Sergio toured Venice several years ago, and I think he summed it up brilliantly: "There's only so much 'wow' you can experience without getting overloaded." Well said, Sergio, and I agree completely. We didn't tour St. Mark's Basilica due to the long lines and our limited free time. We still had a glassblowing demonstration to attend which promised to be fascinating.

I've seen glassblowing demonstrations before and am constantly amazed at the skill these people have. Not to mention that this glass is kinda hot, like instant third-degree burn hot! Part of the demonstration had the glassblower place a piece of paper on some glass that wasn't even glowing, and the paper immediately burst into flame. Yeah, lemme put my lips on this metal pipe with this hot glass on the other end. Nope!

Of course, no glassblowing demonstration is complete until the audience is directed into the showroom, where everything from small trinkets and Christmas ornaments to elegant chandeliers can be had.....for a price. Generally a hefty price, too. I'm not begrudging these artists, but.....wow! Several hundred dollars for even small, simple items, and you'll see just how quickly your wallet or purse will become much lighter. Having said that, we did find a couple of Christmas ornaments for a reasonable price that we bought. 

Now that our "official" tour was over, we had some free time before meeting Simonetta at the water taxi pickup point. Cindy and I explored the area around St. Mark's Square and found a charming little restaurant right on the water. I believe some gelato, a sandwich, and an Aperol Spritz were in order. While visiting the glass factory's shop, we asked one of the employees where he preferred to get his gelato. He mentioned a place about a 20-minute walk that offered a style of gelato only available in Venice. He gave us the address and off we went.

We used Google Maps to navigate to this restaurant, walking through several side streets along the way. I remarked to Cindy that this would make an interesting challenge on The Amazing Race: "Make your way on foot from St. Mark's Square to Gelateria Nico and search for your next clue." I even tried saying it in the host Phil Keoghan's Kiwi accent, which got only an eye-roll from Cindy. Hey Phil, if you ever read this, what do you think?

Gelato? Yes, please!

Aperol spritz

Scenic Venice

Can you believe this view?

We enjoyed the panini and gelato and started making our way back to the meetup point. For better or worse, we passed several shops along the way that kinda, sorta made me regret having the panini (but not the gelato). Yes, that panini was delicious, no question about that, but hey, just look at one of the shops we passed. Go ahead, click on those photos.

Ohhh, my!

Holy schmoli canoli!

Hey, I bet I could find room to squeeze in some of these delightful morsels. Well, maybe not. We still had dinner to think about in a few hours and I wanted a good appetite for that. Before our trip, Cindy did extensive research on recommended restaurants close to our hotel. There was one place just a short walk from the hotel, and the online menu promised to be most satisfying. Thankfully, we found many shops like the one mentioned above throughout our trip.

As if scrumptious displays like this weren't enough to attract our attention, we found not one but two, yes two different stores with.......chocolate fountains! Hhhhhmmmm, as much as I love living in Texas, I just may have to reconsider and think about moving to Venice. I mean come on, multiple chocolate fountains? Oh HELL yeah! Then again, maybe I can just convince Cindy to let me install one of these in the house. Come on, y'all, leave a bunch of comments supporting this and I'll make sure you get first shot at it when we install one.

Let's get one for the house!

photo by Cindy Newman

We met our group at the designated pickup location and enjoyed a leisurely cruise along the canals back to our hotel area. I was happy to be able to sit down and enjoy the water taxi ride as we've already put in a lot of steps today. 

What could make this day better? How about finding our first Italian geocache? As luck would have it, there was a virtual cache just a short walk from our hotel. Done! Logged this virtual as "found" once we met the requirements and added another "smiley" to our profile. Stay tuned, folks, as there are a few more caches to find during our tour.

I'm glad we had about an hour to rest and refresh at the hotel before venturing out to the restaurant. Globus offered an optional "excursion" called "A Venetian Night Out via the Grand Canal" that included dinner. However, since we had already booked several other such meals on this tour, we wanted to enjoy this dinner by ourselves.

It was dusk as we arrived at the restaurant and earlier than the typical Italian chooses to eat. We had our pick of tables and were promptly seated. Based on what I discovered online, I knew exactly what I wanted. Yes, there's also a story behind it as well. Naturally....

Km0 Osteria

At this point, I'd ask for your indulgence and allow me to explain the story behind my specific choices. I'm thankful for the relationship I had with my late father. Even though he and mom separated when I was young, we maintained a very close relationship throughout my adulthood. I was fortunate enough to visit him both in the UK and Singapore when his company stationed him there.

Good times in Singapore

scanned from original print

His favorite cuisine was Italian, and in his business travels, he always managed to find the best Italian restaurants from Seoul, South Korea, to Singapore and everywhere in between. The next time any of y'all see me in person, remind me to tell you the story of the Singapore Italian restaurant. It's quite funny but is better enjoyed verbally. 

He was given a recipe for penne arrabbiata from some restaurant and introduced me to it. It is a spicy red sauce with just a few ingredients. I do love spicy foods! Author's note: I've seen two spellings for this sauce: arrabiata and arrabbiata. I've been unable to determine the proper spelling, so I'm going to pick the spelling on the restaurant's menu and stay with it. One of his favorite Italian red wines was Valpolicella, and I'm glad he introduced me to it as well. They make a perfect pairing and when I saw that this restaurant had both, well, you can see where this is going.

Valpolicella

Penne arrabbiata

Unsurprisingly, this dish was expertly prepared and reminded me of meals past with my beloved father. I ached to be able to share this dinner with him and Cindy, but my memory would have to suffice. I offered a toast to our spiritual dinner companion and the room became a bit blurry. Tears, yes, but good tears.

To you, Dad!

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you all. It means a LOT to me to have been able to have this opportunity to enjoy his favorite meal....in Italy....and be able to share such a moment.

What's a good meal without a tasty dessert to finish it off? How about some chocolate panna cotta? Yes, please!

Chocolate panna cotta

It was every bit as delicious as it looked. By this time, we had spent the day walking all over St. Mark's Square, enjoyed a fabulous meal, and were ready to call it a day. The walk back to our hotel was most pleasant and provided some great photo opportunities.

Venice at night

Back at the hotel, I took a long, hot shower to relax and refresh myself. Why are my feet so tired? Oh, I guess it's all the walking we did today. My job doesn't require much walking or standing, so it's rare for me to get these step counts without really trying.

Lots of steps today

Tomorrow is going to be another (of several) early days. Our suitcases need to be out the door by 6:30 am, then breakfast, and be ready to roll by 7:40 am. Ugh! Where's my sleeping in time? Oh yeah, not on this trip. Maybe we'll catch some sleep on the bus to Pisa and Florence the next day. 

So that was our day in Venice. What did you think about it? I'd love to hear your comments, especially if you've been there before. 

Coming up next, our journey to Florence with a side trip to Pisa. You can find it here.

The first installment of this series can be found here.

Until next time....

carpe cerevisi