Art, History, and Wow! – A Picture Storybook of Our Breathtaking Exploration of Three European Cities.
Chapter 2
Venice
On to Venice!
Our Easy Jet flight was delayed. Modern travel.
Stephano and Lucia's apartment is located perfectly in Dorsoduro section of Venice. It is an easy walk from the bus. Lucia, who spoke a little bit of English, met us at the Venice bus depot and walked us to our apartment.
The apartment was not in an
ancient building but had gobs
of old-world Venetian charm
with hardwood, marble and tile
floors, beautiful custom
cabinetry and high ceilings. It
was far from the maddening
crowds, yet close enough to
the fray to be convenient to the
abundant sites throughout
Venice. The apartment had
lovely amenities, gorgeous living
space with a nice
eat-in kitchen and gas range.
There was a classic Venetian
view off the little balcony
(see the two pictures, one day,
one night) overlooking the canal.
As we approached the building we were greeted with a big hello from across the canal. John Fleming, my brother-in-law, and my sister Pat, had been waiting for us, not knowing that our flight was delayed. We discovered a few weeks earlier that we were all going to be in the same part of Italy at the same time. .
It was magical.
Birthday Cake in our apartment.
And Venice is magical. It is also amazingly photogenic. From the canals and calles to the churches, every nook is a visual thrill ride. I thoroughly enjoyed figuring out the maze of alleys, tunnels and bridges. By the end of the second day I could navigate around Dorsoduro like a
native! (almost)
The Museums are outstanding and we highly recommend buying the coveted Museum Multi-Pass if you go. San Marco, at the southern end of Venice, was a behemoth, gold-enshrined
testament to the Venetian dominance of the world and its subsequent wealth. It is quite literally
encased in gold and precious stones and it is monstrously huge. The impact it must have had on common people and visitors of the 11th Century must have been of immeasurable awe.
San Marco, Umbrellas.
But the real story, and a monument that moved me more than anything else I saw in Venice, was a sculpture-adorned architectural pediment, some forty feet high that we found inside the Santa Maria Gloriosa Dei Frari, a church located in the heart of the Dorsoduro section of Venice.
They were three very short but full days. And on the evening of the 7th, we walked to the north end of Dorsoduro, scouted our path to the train station in preparation for our departure in the morning. We found our way back to the apartment, packed and cleaned, then went out and had a wonderful birthday meal in one of the many splendid restaurants to be found in Venice.
By this time it was hard to fathom that our vacation could get any better. We felt we had been very lucky with our apartment in Paris. It was cute, clean and functional. And it was ideally located. Our apartment in Venice? Palatial comes to mind. It was the proverbial home run! Was our luck about to run out? What would we find when we finally arrived in Fiesole for the last leg of out trip?
Calle
San Marco Revealing the Sacred Museum Passes
Sketch of Gondolier
Grand Canal in the rain.
Stay Tuned for Chapter 3, Fiesole and Florence