BigWeather's Blog

We woke up early, about 7a, and headed downstairs to breakfast.  Standard breakfast, however the croissants were amazing.  I asked at the front desk where they got them from, expecting something along the lines of “oh, from the bakery down the street” or “we make them in our kitchen” but instead got “delivered frozen and heated up.”  Well, whatever works!

Finally headed out about 10a (yeah, we’re not the greatest at getting out early), crossing the Grand Canal at the Rialto bridge and heading northeast to the coast of the island.  Along the way we passed many cool old squares, each seemingly with its own church.

We waited a few minutes for the water taxi to take us to the island of Murano, famed for its glassblowing industry.  Along the way we motored past an island given entirely over to a Greek Orthodox cemetery with a nifty church.

After landing we walked up the canal a bit and did some browsing along the way.  As the canal was a bit wider than the narrow streets of Venice we were directly exposed to the sun.  It was unrelenting!  We went into the shop of the famous glassmaker Venini.  We saw a really neat lamp — for twenty seven thousand euros (about thirty thousand dollars)!  Yikes!  We beat a hasty retreat as I was terrified of accidentally knocking over anything in that place.

Walked up the canal a bit more and came upon a clock tower with a cool spiky deep blue glass sculpture in front.  Crossed a east-west canal and past the brilliant Chiesa dei Santi Maria e Donato, a church dating from the 600s (not a typo!) and supposedly containing the bones of a slain dragon.

We ate lunch at Osteria al Duomo Pizzeria.  We sat in the cool (relatively) courtyard behind the restaurant where they grow their own herbs.  We had Cokes and water.  Michelle had a mushroom pizza, Addison a pepperoni pizza, and I a ham and mushroom calzone that was good.  Once again we were charged a cover charge — what’s up with that?

A short distance from the amazing church was the Museo del Vetro, a museum dedicated to the art of Venetian glassmaking.  After a short introduction video (showing different aspects of glassmaking like blown glass, rods, mosaics, and beads) we were treated to a short but very informative and interesting series of rooms.  It told the story of glassmaking from the ancient times in Syria through to the rise of glassmaking on Murano (after burning down parts of Venice one too many times) during the Middle Ages through to the era when Murano was competing with copy-cat manufacturers in Austria and Germany and on through the slump in the early 1800s and the resurgence of the craft in the late 1800s through present day.  What was particularly amazing were the advancements to the art discovered by Murano’s masters like how to make transparent glass (mid-1400s).  Even more interesting is that the techniques would sometimes be lost for centuries before being rediscovered.  There were many neat items on display, most notably a dining room table sized sales display from the 1700s representing a small garden.  Behind the museum was a gorgeous courtyard filled with stonework (crosses, sarcophagi, etc.) from the Middle Ages.

We walked back to our water taxi stop and did some window (and actual) shopping along the way.  Along the way we spotted a boat with a small crane for unloading as well as a UPS boat.  Once back on the main island of Venice we walked back through to our hotel, arriving by 4p and taking a brief siesta until around 6p.

Hopping back on the water taxi (turns out that was a great deal) we went down the Grand Canal and under an old wooden bridge called Ponte dell’Accademia to St. Mary Salvation basilica, or Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.  I was really struck by the design of the church, it looked like it would be home in Instanbul.

A short ride on the water taxi took us to the end of the Grand Canal and a wooded stretch of shore with shops and the like leading to Venice’s main tourist attraction, Piazza San Marco.  Passing under the watch of two statues atop tall columns, one of a winged lion the other of San Teodoro and a slain dragon, we came upon the box-shaped yet very ornate Doge’s Palace.  Nearby loomed the very tall brick Campanile di San Marco.

Next to the Doge’s Palace was the Basilica di San Marco, separated from the Doge’s Palace by the magnificent Porta della Carta.  The basilica practically glowed gold with its mosaics in the evening light.  Red poles with lions atop were in the plaza and directly in front of the basilica.

At the northern end of the square sat the Torre dell’Orologio, an ornate clock tower build in 1499.  Another twenty four hour clock, it was also remarkable as it showed the roman numeral hour and Arabic numeral minute.

As it was later in the evening, about 7p, there was no line to take the elevator to the top of the campanile.  Absolutely amazing views from on top, though sadly I was not up there when the bells rang.  Talked with an older British couple on the way up, they were in favor of Brexit.  Amusingly, the brand of the elevator was “SCAM.”  Not very confidence inducing!

After returning to ground level I found Michelle and Addison and we headed back toward the hotel.  Along the way we found a Chinese restaurant, Tian Jin, and enjoyed some very good food — appetizers of spring rolls and dumplings, sweet and sour pork for Michelle, beef and onions for Addison, and beef curry for me.

Once back at the hotel we debated riding a gondola but decided it was too late.  While Addison stayed in the room Michelle and I went to get some gelato.  Once back at the room we talked with Genetta via Facetime then I blogged and headed to bed.