Welcome to Venezia: Murano, Vivaldi & Gondolas- Oh My!

On Tuesday March 13 we arrived in Venice as our second school field trip, but it was also the kick off to spring break. I was really excited to go to Venice because of the mysticism about it. I wasn’t aware but apparently the slogan in Venice is “Fall in love with the city and get lost”. We didn’t quite get lost, but I did fall in love with it (aside from the rocking sickness I got from the Vaparettos).

The first day we got there around 11:30, and we had be warned by students before us that while Venice is cool, it’s the most miserable trip because its cold and rainy and damp…not true! It was 75, sunny, and gorgeous. The weather back in Castiglion had still been on and off cold, so we were all thrilled to be stripping down to just 1 layer of clothes, and walking around the sunny city. Once we got off the train we stepped immediately outside the train station and happened upon the Grande Canal- it was pretty cool to get to the city and that be the first thing we see. What I didn’t know is that “Venice” is actually comprised of several islands- Venice, Lido, Murano, Burano, and Torchello. Our hotel was on Lido, so we then got in to a cool water taxi (it reminded me a lot of James Bond movies) and took a 45 minute drive over to Lido, found our hotel and grabbed a quick lunch. We then met back at the Vaparetto stop on our island to head back to Venice to San Marco square for a tour of the non-touristy part of Venice.

The water taxi to Lido

On the Grande Canal

 Our tour guide Anne was the cutest thing in the world. She was this little old white haired lady, with a long puffy jacket and a “Timberland” baseball cap. She introduced herself to us, and said told us to look hard for her, because since she is so small, it would be easy to lose her, so she would just whistle to us- then the rest of the tour whenever she wanted our attention she would sing “yoo-whoo” to us…it was pretty entertaining. She also liked to hum in to the microphone that linked to our headsets, so as we walked around Venice we got to listen to her humming- so cute! And for some reason, I can’t explain, she reminded me of tweedy bird, ha ha.

In San Marco square we discussed all the different types of architecture that was built in that square, and it was cool how I could look around and not only see one of the most famous palaces (Doges’ Palace) and classical, Hellenistic, and byzantine architecture. After San Marco square she took us around some of the more residential parts of the city, and we got to see the true Venetians who lived there, not just the migrant workers who sell souvenirs. We ended our tour on the Realto Bridge where all the good shopping is, and while I didn’t get anything (yet) I did try Venetian “Vino Calda” (hot wine) which tasted a lot like wine and apple cider- delicious! After we headed back to Lido to get dinner and pass out because it had been such a long day walking around.

Vino Calda!

The Realto Bridge

 The next day we had an early morning, but it was easy since the breakfast the hotel gave us was delicious- homemade cornettos with nutella, and my favorite- yogurt and granola (how I’ve missed it!).  We had a tour of Doges Palace at 9:15, which I actually liked a lot. There was lots of golden gilding, and so many ornate details on the ceilings and crown moldings. Of course, like any good museum in Italy, we weren’t allowed to take pictures, so I have none for y’all. From there we went in to the Basilica of San Marco which was a quick tour because you are actually not allowed to stop and just look around- you have to constantly be walking- kind of weird. It was really interesting to see the decoration in this church, because most of what I had seen was frescos, but this church was decorated with only mosaics. I found out that the reason why was because in case the foundation moves (which it does A LOT being on the water) the ground would not crack, merely just shift. Pretty cool!

Our tour guide Anne...she's so cute!

Doges' Palace

San Marco Square

Inside the church of San Marco

 From there we had till mid afternoon free, so we wandered around the island trying to find some exhibitions (we never found them) and then headed back to Lido to grab lunch. After we ate, a bunch of us went to the beach on the island to hand out and have a few drinks. Clara, Chloe and I attempted to make the signature Ventian cocktail…key word attempt…they weren’t that good. At 3:30 we had a scheduled tour of the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which was really cool because its right off the Grande Canal, and the fact that I got to see a lot of work by famous artists such as Jackson Pollock, Theo Van Doesburg, and Salvador Dali. Once the tour was over we rushed back to Lido, ate a very fast dinner and changed because there was a concert that night back on Venice. I wasn’t aware, but it is very popular in Venice to have classical music concerts, and luckily we got to go to Vivaldi concert. It was really relaxing and nice to sit and enjoy the music for about and hour and a half, and the members of the orchestra were quite interesting to watch because they were so passionate. After the concert we waxi-ed (water-taxi-ed) back to Lido to get some sleep because we were going island hoping the next day!

Our not-so-tasty Italian drinks

On the beach of Lido

SEASHELLS!

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Vivaldi Concert

 Thursday was spent exploring the two other islands of Murano and Burano. We headed to Murano first, which ended up being over an hour long boat ride, and we got there around 11:45. We were quickly rushed off the Vaparetto because the free glass blowing demonstrations ended at lunch time…which was 15 minutes away. So we ran to the factory, and luckily made it in time to see the demonstration. 3 men were working, and they moved so fast the demonstration lasted all of 5 minutes- it was short but really cool. It’s kind of funny- I’ve spent the last 2 spring breaks watching glass blowing demonstrations- 1 in Cape Cod and 1 in Italy! We then of course went in to the gift shop to look at the Murano certified blown glass, that was way expensive, except for the earrings…so all us girls went crazy and bought a couple of pairs!

 After spending about an hour or so on Murano we made way for Burano. This island is known for its lace making and the brightly colored houses. Now when I say brightly, I mean BRIGHT! Z-islander has nothing on this! Every single house is painted a bold color, with brightly colored shutters and cute awnings. We just walked through the town, stopped by a few shops to watch the old ladies make lace, and took some cool pictures in front of the homes.

LACE! Everywhere!

Clara, me, Robert, Katelyn, Alli & Erik

my favorite little house!

 The day ended with heading back to Venice for…you guessed it…a gondola ride! We had found a man the day before who offered us a really good deal, but we were on our way to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, and of course we couldn’t find him, so we just settled for the next one we found. The ride in the gondola was really cool- the gondoliers probably put about 10-20,000 euros in to making and furnishing each boat, so they are really comfortable and solid. We got about 30 minute ride, and I wasn’t aware till after because I was facing away from the gondolier, but he was texting-while-gondoling…kind of scary! 

BURANO!

Clara and I on Burano

Ciao Venezia!

 The next morning we stopped in to the Salvador Dali museum on the island to look at some drawings and sculpture of his (not many paintings unfortunately) and then we were off to make our way to the airport for Paris!