September 18, 2024–
Today was Venice Day! We had an 8:00 A.M. appointment to meet our tour guide/group in Piazza San Marco, Venice, for a four-hour guided tour of the Ducal Palace and the Basilica of San Marco. We got up at 5:45 A.M. to make sure we caught the train across the street by 6:22 A.M. We figured we had no clue how to purchase tickets, and so on, so….. We also were told that yes, Venice would be only 16 minutes away on the train, but that then we’d have to walk for about 30-40 minutes to get from the train station in Venice to Piazza San Marco. We decided that we would attempt the Vaporetto, aka water taxi, from the train station in Venice instead of walking all that way and so early in the morning, no coffee, no breakfast…. In fact, if we took the Vaporetto, we figured, we’d have about a half hour to wait to meet our tour group, a half hour when we could grab that coffee and a possible croissant…. Well, the train went swimmingly. The Vaporetto was a bit of a challenge to figure out the correct one to take to get where we intended. But then, the silly Vaporetto had a million stops before getting to San Marco. There was a direct route, but we did not think of that soon enough. On the train, sitting opposite us had been a strikingly dressed and therefore noticeable woman with a really cool tote bag. She got off the train when we did, but then went somewhere we did not. So…because of all the stops the Vaporetto took, we got to San Marco about 10 minutes late! I had a huge, pounding headache that would not quit, the kind that makes me vomit! As soon as we began walking from the Vaporetto dock to the Piazza, we fortunately reached a trash can so that I could embarrassingly take care of that uncomfortable urge. We continued walking toward the scheduled meeting place, knowing that the group would likely have moved on. And, indeed, it had! We were told by another tour guide that our group had already moved into the Ducal Palace, and there was no way for us to join them at this time. Nor could we reschedule a tour before September 25! I convinced Dad to walk to the entrance to that Palace, planning to talk to the people there in Italian, and plead for us to somehow join that group. Irony of ironies, the attractive woman with the cool bag sitting across from us on the train was one of the workers at the Palace gate! She said she recognized us from the train, and with a broad, kind smile, she arranged for one of the Palace staff to escort us to our tour group inside! People are just so kind sometimes! She told us that she got off our train at the stop before San Marco and walked to the Ducal Palace in short time. Anyway, we joined our group, and continued to the end of the tour. I still felt as though my head would split and my stomach would not hold up. Dad took all the pictures along that tour because my eyes just would not deal with focus nor with light. Just one of those things….
By this time, long wooden platforms we had seen being hauled to the Piazza before the tour had now been stretched across the Piazza as if to form a walking path. The reason? Venice was experiencing “acqua alta” (high water) due to the combination of a wind advisory/full moon/high tide peaking at noon. Piazza San Marco is the lowest point on the Island of Venice. Water was spouting/seeping through the concrete floor of the Piazza, flooding it and many of the surrounding alley ways/passages, making it challenging to get around the island. There are no cars on the Island of Venice. There are canals, bridges, and walking paths. Reminiscent of the overhead walkways in Vegas, these bridges go over the canals and connect the walking paths. So, one is going up and down concrete steps all around town. Those who know me, know how much I loathe anything uphill, so these steps—with a very bad headache and queasy stomach—, and lack of readily-available WCs (water closets, aka bathrooms), all combined to make me miserable. By this time, all I really wanted to do was go back to the Villa to sleep this off, but knew that getting into Venice was no easy task, we had purchased a one-day unlimited Vaporetto pass, AND we had a food tasting tour, difficult if not impossible to re-schedule, late that afternoon. We stuck it out, Dad was a HUGE and patient help to me (for whom I am eternally grateful), and we decided to try to hop a Vaporetto to get to the neighboring island of Murano. Murano is supposed to have a row of pretty multi-colored houses, and is known for its glass-blowing industry. By this time, in addition to the acqua alta that also affected Murano, it began to drizzle off and on. No one seemed to care too much about the drizzle, and street vendors quickly made multi-colored plastic-ish, water-proof “shoe/leg covers” available for sale. Dad and I did not buy the “boots” (because, where would we ever wear them again), and we attended a glass blowing demonstration indoors. Because we could not walk the flooded path of the pretty houses (some people did not buy boots, either. They just took their shoes and socks off and walked around barefoot—), and because my head still hurt, we hopped a Vaporetto back to the Island of Venice and found a cafe in the middle of a Piazza, where we sipped strong caffe e latte and munched on now-old croissants beneath the shelter of large cafe umbrellas that not only kept us dry, but that also blocked bothersome bright daylight. With prayer and good grace, my headache slowly went away! Just in time for the beginning of the food tour gathering in a Piazza by the Rialto Bridge! But first, we HAD to find the famous Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) that we had walked over but not fully seen during our earlier tour. What makes it famous is the story behind it/otherwise, the bridge itself is not much unlike many others in Venice. (In the Middle Ages, prisoners who would be executed in the Piazza would walk over the bridge from the prison in the Ducal Palace on their way to their deaths…). From the Ponte dei Sospiri, we walked up and down and all around….the Island to the food tour gathering place by the Rialto Bridge.
Elena was our tour guide, and 11 other people from Canada, the U.S., and London, were among our group. This tour was called a Bacaro in local terms, suggesting that people gathered to eat different kinds of foods and drink several types of wine, everything locally grown—no preservatives/chemicals/additives—across several hours, visiting and chatting with each other. For this tour, we would be walking from one establishment to the next, all places that featured authentic Venetian foods/drinks, beginning with antipasto (appetizer) and ending with homemade gelato. The tour was FANTASTIC! I was worried about the fish and meats ( because I simply am not a fan), but the guide and chefs graciously accommodated me, having foods that they knew from the beginning that I would eat. I did not expect this, and I was truly impressed! Some of the establishments we visited had been in business since the 1700s! Anthony Bourdain had frequented one of the restaurants on the tour. Other establishments had won awards or received recognitions from prominent organizations. We were served about five different types of local wines, and, of course, the traditional coffees for dessert. There was so much wonderful food and good conviviality among the guide and group members! No one could possibly have left the tour still hungry! Elena relayed stories/customs/traditions/superstitions about the foods and beverages that we consumed. This was truly one of the best organized tours I have ever taken anywhere! I kept thinking of Scott, Patty, Chloe, Noah, maybe Johnny, Alison, Dave, Tara, Kate, and possibly others among you who would love to sample high-quality regional foods!
The tour having ended, and about 20,000 steps having been walked throughout the day, Dad and I planned to head home…but NOT until we had photographed the famous Rialto Bridge! I was able to sneak around when we came close to it and capture it on iPhone! So, back to the Vaporetto, and onto the train, for our ride back to our Villa-temporary-home! We did not get back until about 10:40 P.M., and we raced for the bathroom and hopping into bed! What a full and awesome/memorable day our trip to Venice had turned out to be after all!
P.S.: Interesting sightings: Legendary Venetian gondolas on the canals, ambulance boats by the hospital in Venice, a funeral boat (hearse) close to the hospital…. There is no cemetery on Venice Island. The great majority of bodies are buried on a nearby island. Stumble stones memorializing three Jewish victims from the Holocaust. Soooo much more to tell! A different time if you are interested.
Our Travels 