Last Night in Venice

We spent our last day in Venice wandering the various streets and back alleys and traversing too many canals to count.  One of the most popular things to do when in Venice, at least for the tourists, is to ride with a gondolier.  Mom turns 76 later this month and for an early birthday present the four kids paid for a gondola ride for her and Pop.  She was very excited and was kind enough to ask us along.  It was a great finish to our time in Venice and a nice way to cap our vacation in Italy.  Ciao!

Mom and Pop's First Selfie

A first for the "techno-savvy" parents -- the selfie.  We're standing on a bridge over the canal in Murano, although you can't really tell where we are.  I guess we'll have to practice more so we can frame the shot better.  :)

Rialto Bridge

A super close up is the best I can do to show
the bridge and not the scaffolding

The Grand Canal traverses through the heart of Venice and there are only four bridges that cross it.  Rialto Bridge is the most famous and most photographed.  Similar to the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the Rialto Bridge is lined with shops on both sides.  Unfortunately for us, the bridge is undergoing renovation.  We've seen a lot of scaffolding while we've been in Italy.  It's good to know that these sites are being preserved, but it makes for horrible pictures.  Perhaps this is a clever ploy to make us come back so we can see it in all its glory.  We're just grateful to be able to be here and experience it, even if I don't have a very good photo.

Murano & Burano

Murano

Today we visited two outlying islands from Venice -- Murano and Burano.  Murano is known for glass making and has multiple glass factories on the island.  When you hear of Venetian glass, you're hearing about Murano.  Burano is known for lace-making and the panoply of pastel colors that cover its buildings.

Cam Furnace -- Glass Factory

Our first stop was Murano.  We took the vaporetto from the stop nearest our hotel for the 40 minute ride to Murano.  The public transit system in Venice is not buses, but boats.  There are no cars in Venice, only boats that traverse the numerous canals that cross the city.  Vaporettos are the public transit boats.  Being that it is Sunday, we weren't sure what we would get to see, but we found the Cam Furnace open and they gave us our own private glass making demonstration.  If it were a weekday, we could have see normal production taking place, but having a personal demonstration was pretty cool.  The master glass maker made a vase and a horse figurine while we watched.  It was amazing to see the speed at which he worked.  As with most of of Venice being dependent upon tourism, Murano is no different and we were then escorted to the show rooms to see all of the glass on display that we could buy.  While we did make a small purchase for a souvenir, it was incredible to see all of the chandeliers and other large glass items that are made in Murano -- and as was pointed out to us -- they can ship it anywhere in the world.

Burano

Murano was a nice first stop, but after seeing the demonstration and strolling the streets for a while, we were ready to move on to Burano.  Another 30 minute vaporetto ride and we were there.  The first thing that struck you as the boat was pulling in was the rainbow of colors covering the buildings.  Burano seemed to be more lively than Murano, with more outdoor cafes and shops open.  We saw several stores that sold everything lace -- from clothing to curtains to other decorative items.  Some of the patterns were quite intricate and delicate.  After a couple of hours of Burano charm, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta before heading back out.

Our lunch stop -- delicious paninis

Venice & St. Mark's Square

We've arrived in Venice.  Our home for our last three nights is the Hotel Campiello.  The hotel is less than 100 yards from the San Zaccaria stop on the water at the end of the Grand Canal.  We walked right off the boat with our luggage and were in the lobby in about three minutes.

Venice is fairly compact and you can easily walk everywhere you want to go through its maze of alleys and bridges.  The heart of Venice is St. Mark's Square, with the Basilica, Doge's Palace, Correr Museum, and Bell Tower all surrounding the square.  During the day, its one huge mosh pit of people trying to get around.  Fortunately, our hotel is only about a five minute walk to the square so we're right in the heart of Venice but on a quiet back alley away from all the commotion.

Mosaic on the outside of St. Mark's Basilica

We headed out to the square to see the action for ourselves.  First up, we went in and toured St. Mark's Basilica.  This church dates to 1064 and is gilded to the hilt in gold, with colored marble and extensive mosaic murals on the walls and in the floors.  Given the era and location in Italy, there is a significant amount of influence from the Byzantine era.  Given all of the other churches and duomos we've seen since we arrived, the Basilica was smaller than I expected.  The mosaics and gold present throughout were much more extensive and impressive than any of the others we saw.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so unfortunately I have none to share.

Inner Courtyard at the Doge's Palace

After we visited the Basilica, we decided to go ahead and tour the Doge's Palace as it was later in the day and there was no line.  The Doge or duke was the Venetian ruler and the Palace was his home.  Venice was the center of power in the world for four centuries between 1150 and 1550.  In one sense, the Doge was an elected king, chosen by nobles from within their ranks to carry out their laws and decisions.  The Palace was very impressive in how it was laid out and the way the rooms would function to reinforce the sense of power carried out by the Doge -- the same way the Oval Office reinforces the power of the Office of the President.

Because today was a travel day, we didn't know how much sightseeing, if any, we'd get done.  This opens up our schedule quite a bit so we'll be able to soak in a little more Venice.  That shouldn't be a problem.

Arrivaderci Fucecchio

Saying goodbye to our hostess Tiziana

Tuscany has been great, but all good things must come to an end.  Our time in Villa Maura is over and we're off to Venice for the final leg of the trip.  Tiziana has been a great hostess and we loved the slower pace, less crowds, and tranquility of our time in Tuscany.   We're dropping our car off at the Venice Airport, so our route from Fucecchio to Venice takes us past Bologna.  We drove through probably 25 or more tunnels through the mountains with just as many bridges over gorges and rivers to get there.  The Venice that everyone knows and pictures in their minds is an island with lots of canals.  However, the city extends to the mainland and that is where the airport is located.  We'll then take a boat from the airport to our hotel.   That's a first for us.

The Fun is in the Wandering -- not just the Destination

Mona and Vanna with our new memento

One of the fun things about this trip has been the wandering through the side streets and neighborhoods -- finding a neat little store, discovering hidden arches, or seeing a fabulous view.  Such was the case when we stumbled into Vanna Spagnolo's studio in Volterra.  Vanna was alone in her studio working on her next painting when we wandered in and begin looking at her paintings.  We loved how she painted the frame as part of her pictures which gave it a 3-D appearance.  All of her paintings were of the Tuscan countryside and views we've been seeing.  One of the views we frequently saw in our travels we were not expecting  -- fields of sunflowers.  Vineyards and olive groves --yes;  sunflowers -- no.  While she did speak some English, a lot of what she told us was in Italian.  Our Italian is practically non-existent, but we understood one another.  She showed us how the various features of the painting represented wisdom, serenity, security, and tradition.  We probably spent 30 minutes or more in her shop -- just the three of us -- talking about her paintings and deciding which one we'd like to purchase.  We now have a fantastic memento that will remind us of the wonderful time we spent in Tuscany every time we look at it.  This is why we have so much fun wandering.