Venezia

Venice this time was an unexpected delight. Bill and I felt that, third time around, we finally scratched the surface, to the extent it's possible to do so, of the tourist facade and got to know the place a bit better - mainly because of the apartment in an awesome location and also getting on the vaporetto which gave us a sense of the lagoon from the water and of the islands.

It was deathly cold for most of the time and, with the mist hanging low, felt brooding and full of intrigue - you can see why it has captured the imagination of artists and writers for centuries.  

We drove across the causeway on a stunning evening as the sun was setting. In a carpark at Piazzale Roma we got ready to leave the car and go it on foot for the next few days, which took a bit of rearranging including stashing various food items in each of the kids' bags. We joined a sea of people crossing the glass bridge to the railway station, unceremoniously lugging and tipping over our bags as we dragged them up and down the steps with the crowds weaving around us! 

 

We got so excited about the location of our apartment, right on a canal just off the grand canal and along from the Ponte Guglie, that we set up the kids with a movie and popped out the door to explore.. we had a few drinks at an awesome bar, il parliamento, around the corner, then brought home takeaway pizza from the local pizzeria 

 

The next morning it was up for a family run all the way to the Rialto bridge and the kids got their first glimpses of the place - I don't think the crowds in Venice had ever seen anything like us as we ducked and weaved amongst them 5 in a row!

Then we were off to San Marco to check out the famous square, the basilica and the palazzo Ducale. It was madness, full of Italians all on their 4 day holiday weekend and we didn't hear many people speaking English the whole time we were there. 

On the way we got cajoled into the obligatory gondola ride - our gondolier was not the most inspiring guide, speaking to another gondolier and texting on his phone most of the time - and he took us on a pretty uninteresting back route. But the kids enjoyed the spectacle and Harv did some great photography - see below the photographer and the photograph :

 

  

 

Then the mist came in and the temperature plummeted...the early sun had left us unprepared for such a cold day - we got to San Marco and had a quick look around before taking refuge from the cold in a restaurant.

Later we rugged up and went out again for a stroll in the evening around our area, Cannareggio and the Jewish ghetto. It was atmospheric with the mist and darkness and all the dark figures appearing from narrow streets and alleyways, then every now and then a lively bar or restaurant. Bill even found a guy wearing one of the capes he's such a fan of!

Then it was back over to the main drag for gelato (go figure) and home for chorizo pasta.


 

The next day we dressed in preparation for the cold and bought one day vaporetto passes, starting at the canal stop right outside the apartment. It was a great way to travel - we got off at the grand canal past San Marco and then wandered to the end of the island (Arsenale, Via Garbaldi and after a dead end, back via Castello to the Fondamente Nove. It was great to see different parts of Venice - much more wide open spaces and the huge park at the far end, as well as impressive churches and palazzo along the way.

 

 

 

From Fondamente Nove we took the boat to the island of Burano about 40 minutes away, a fishing village known for its brightly coloured houses and its lace-making. It was very picturesque and busy with tourists snapping selfies of themselves around every corner. We snapped the same photos but resisted the selfies and headed to the edge of the island for some trust falls instead....

  

Trust falls on Burano

 

 

 

 

Then we sent the kids off to find gelato and managed a quick aperol before they found us...

 

That night it was back to our local bar then to the pizza joint for more takeaway pizza...

2 beers, 3 wines and 2 Aperols before dinner. Explains the big grin  (Bill)

The next morning we took the vaporetto back to Piazzale Roma and all of a sudden Venice had vanished in the mist behind us as if the whole thing was imagined.

Zoe says: I love Venice because it is so cool - we do a lot of boating. On one of the days we went on a really long run - everyone was freezing, I forgot to bring gloves and I wasn't dressed warmly enough. On one of the other days we went on a gondola, it was so fun but mum and dad didn't like it because the man who was driving us wasn't that cool. It was really cool because the owners of the house left three toys - my one was called Dopey Dog. I loved the gelatos too - the flavour I always get is yoghurt.

Amelia says: Venice is really amazing because the people who live in the middle of the city can only get around by boat or by foot. There are two islands in Venice, one is called murano and burano - we only visited burano but it was so cool we did trust falls but dad made it super scary because he kept on faking that he wasn't going to catch us. It was really cold over there but we wrapped up warmly we went on a gondola which is surprisingly a boat but the man who was paddling was on his phone the whole time and he didn't engage at all! but overall it was so fun and our house was awesome because there was a pizza pasta place round the corner that did great pizza.

Harvey says: Venice is amazing - it's weird to think that even the emergency services have to get around on boat. There is not a single car inside the centre city. Me and dad think that the fire department must roll around on four wheel motorbikes. I really like Venice - it's very inspiring for art. I have struggled to complete my photography art because Venice is such a complicated city - it's very detailed and there are a lot of things that I wanted to draw. I really loved the gelato.