Venice

JFK Schule has most of the major US holidays. We try to take advantage of these extra long weekends by planning short adventures. For Thanksgiving “break” we reserved an apartment in Venice, booked a cheap flight and read about the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, the Grand Canal and the islands of Morano and Borano in preparation for our Venetian adventure.

Venice was originally settled by people escaping the barbarians that invaded Rome in the first century. Most of the barbarians had German license plates and still return every summer to crowd the Adriatic Sea beaches. The barbarian hordes now also storm Venice via Easyjet, and they end up leaving behind their treasure rather than taking any away.

We joined the barbarian hordes on the Easyjet flight into Venice airport, walked ten minutes to the shore and climbed aboard a private water taxi (more like a speed boat bus really) for the 50-minute ride to Rialto Bridge. The Venice Lagoon is like a huge, shallow, murky lake. Rows of pilings delineate the dredged channels between the islands. The water is murky and muddy. More brown at times than blue. A constant stream of water taxis, workboats, private boats and waterbuses cruise through these aqua boulevards. In a short time, we arrived at the Grand Canal, slowed to a crawl, and got up close and personal with the dilapidated Venetian Gothic architecture packed cheek by jowl along the canal.

The Grand Canal is a large serpentine canal that divides Venice in half. It is about one mile long and 100 feet wide. The first bridge (Rialto) to cross the canal was built in the 16th century. This was our destination. Like Amsterdam and Hamburg, Venice made its fortune as a center of trade. Because of its strategic location close to the Middle East, it thrived in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The wealth from that time financed the building spree, and the remnants of that excess are still visible today, although with a slightly run down appearance. Parts of the island are barely above sea level, so when the tide is very high, water laps up onto the side walks and even into the buildings. The sea is gradually taking its toll on the buildings. That effect is exacerbated by the fact that they are all built on wooden pilings driven into the soft mud and many are slowly sinking into the mud. Of course the rising level of the sea from global warming is not helping, although I do not know if that really has had an impact yet.

At Rialto bridge we disembarked from our floating bus and were greeted by Tony, our real estate connection. Tony guided us through the winding alleys toward St. Marks square and, after just ten minutes, to our little second floor apartment (third floor in US terms). It was perfect! Two nice bedrooms, a big living / dining room, tiny kitchen and bath. Best of all, the living room window looked down on a small canal, and across it to Marco Polo’s house. Sweet! If you are interested, check out www.housesinvenice.com. The property is Casa Marco Polo.

I made the mistake of asking Tony for a restaurant recommendation. Thursday evening we trooped through the winding alleys in search of it. Venice is by far the most confusing city I have ever seen. There are no major roads (no cars either), and the place is an absolute maze. Eventually we found the restaurant. I knew we were in trouble when the waiter saw Tony’s card and took us to an elegant dining room. The menu confirmed our worst fears; we mistakenly entered a “fine” restaurant; the kind where a glass of wine costs as much as we would normally spend on dinner. Then you are in the conundrum… stand up and leave, risking all the embarrassing trappings that go with that decision, or say bravely, “what the hell, it’s only money” and then scan the menu for the cheapest thing possible. Of course we opted for the latter. Sixty minutes and 120 euros later we left the fine restaurant. I swear I was hungrier when we left than when I arrived. Some how three expensive ravioli and some bread sticks did not satiate me. Oh well, live and learn.

Friday was a nasty, wet day. Perfect for visiting museums. We took in three: the Doge’s Palace, the Correr Museum and the Peggy Guggenheim Modern Art Museum.

We also visited St. Mark’s Basilica. St. Mark’s bones were brought to Venice from Alexandria around 850 AD as a way to put Venice on the map. Of course, having a saint’s bones in town meant that the Venetians needed a kick ass cathedral. The first one was burnt down during a rebellion, so up went the second basilica around 1063. It, like most of the Venetian architecture, has a Byzantine flair. Intricate, lacy patterns and 40,000 square feet of mosaics, instantly catch your eye. Right next door is the Doge's palace and I have to say too that it is one of the most amazing palaces I have ever seen. The place screams out “We are rich and we want everyone to know it!”

Saturday the rain cleared and we headed out to the more remote islands of Morano and Borano by Vaporetti (water bus). The island of Morano was home to the first settlements. Today it is the epicenter of the Venetian glass industry. It is surprisingly big and has a run down industrial feel, kind of like a flat, wet Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with less Italians. We visited the glass museum there. The museum was inconveniently located like the dairy section in a grocery store, as far from the entrance as possible. We were forced to pass tourist shop after shop after shop with nearly identical wares. One had to wonder if all that stuff was really from Morano as the little labels said. Or could there be a Morano in China? Anyway, the museum was interesting. The kids did not even complain. Speaking of complaining, we are all getting spoiled. Jack had the nerve to say “Do we REALLY have to go to Venice this weekend? I just want to hang out with my friends.” Interestingly, after the first day he had changed his tune. “Venice is the coolest city I have ever seen. I am REALLY glad we came”.

Sunday we splashed through the rain a bit in the morning and bought some t-shirts for the kids. Then we packed up and headed to the Rialto dock to wait for our ride to the airport. We noticed that the tide was quite high and seemed to be rising fast. But we were very surprised to find out later that Monday had the highest tides in 20 years. Now we know why the tourist shops sell hip waders.