The Floating City of Venice

If you get the chance in this lifetime, see Venice. While I have never been particularly drawn to Italy, I have always been a bit fascinated with Venice. I would often be told to see it now because it is the sinking city, soon to be underwater. I wonder just how true that is but I wasn’t going to wait to find out. (Fun fact – Venice is sinking 1 to 2 millimeters per year!). Knowing I would be in Europe for work this past summer, it was the perfect opportunity to start the trip in Italy and see how one would live in a city that essentially floats.

Since my girlie loves to travel as well, we got her a passport and she came along for her first international trip. It was an amazing experience for both of us and while we visited a few other cities in Europe, I would say it was our favorite city of this trip. Let me just tell you (and show you) why.  Here are 7 of our favorite things about Venice, Italy.

Water here, Water there, Water everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE! You might ask how you get to Venice from the airport and I would have to say, by boat. Or how about the train station? Again the answer would be by boat. There are 117 canals with over 400 bridges to connect everything from one side to the other. Personally, we LOVE the water so even though we were told falling into a canal could send us straight to the hospital to be disinfected, we still deeply appreciated them within a safe distance of toppling in. We also could not resist a gondola ride. My girlie was concerned about it tipping over (especially considering it could mean at trip to the hospital) while I enjoyed the view and did a bit of window shopping.

Gelato and Cannoli – Oh My! I have a mad sweet tooth and as strange as it sounds, anyone who knows me, knows I don’t “do” ice cream. Something about it being cold and milky just rarely appeals to me. It was to my delight that I found real Italian cannoli. We made it a habit to take a walk after dinner and grab dessert. Sophia was more than eager to eat gelato everyday. I will confess though, as we were in the heat of summer, during a European heatwave, I did have gelato on a couple of occasions. And admitting this as someone who would typically pass on dessert if it were ice cream, it was delicious!

The island of Murano. Glassblowing is such an art, one the Venetians had no interest in sharing so they designated a place, on the Island of Murano, where they could safely keep these artisan glass makers and all their trade secrets.  The island was dedicated, and let’s not forget isolated, and to this day still carries on this glass blowing art. Every glass maker has their own little recipe as to what makes them special and we are told any blown glass found off the island is just a cheap imitation. I did not think I would be as impressed as I was. The glass blowers work in extreme temperatures, with not only high exposure to heat outside but from the kiln and the hot glass, with little to no self protection. I think of blown glass and I picture vases and bowls but they create so much more. I was interested in some small tile art work featuring Glimt, my favorite artist. This lasted until I saw the price tag of 4 figure for a small 8×8 tile square. Unfortunately, it was also in an area where I could not take pictures so I only hold its image in my head until maybe the occasion and funds arise for me to return and purchase it.

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The island of Burano.  This is another of the many islands of Venice that has a rich, colorful history.  As we approach by boat, we see the homes lined up and brightly colored.  Instantly we become cheerful.  The island was a fishermen’s village.  As legend has it, the fishermen would leave early in the morning and return in the evening fog.  The decision was made to paint the homes bright colors to avoid crashing into them in the haze of the fog.  Our tour guide also shared a side note that prior to the homes being painted and in hazy fog, the fishermen would often become confused as which homes was theirs and end up in the wrong home at the end of the day.  To avoid this the wives took it upon themselves to paint the homes a different color so there was never any confusion of where their husband should be at the end of the day.  The island is not only known for its brightly colored homes but of the lacemaking which has been past down from generation to generation.   It is all handmade, hand stitch by family with each member having their own contributing piece.

St Mark’s Square  This is the most famous square in the world.   On one side of it sits Dodge Palace while the other sides are made up of a church, shops and restaurants.  The story behind the squares you find in Venice, where all the homes are very close together and only open to narrow winding streets, is that the square would include a church and the home of someone very rich.  This was because it was the only place where the sunlight would shine into a home.   It also provide close proximate to the church and a water supply provided by the well that would sit in the center of the square.   All this makes senses since what use to be the royal palace sits to one side of the square.

Aperol Spritz.  Even though this drink has been around since the 1950,s, right before I left for my European vacation, I was introduced to the Aperol Spritz at an event where it was being promoted.  Little did it occur to me that I would be having one in the country that created it only a short time later.   To make the Aperol Spritz is easy as 3-2-1 –  3 parts Prosecco,  2 parts Aperol, and 1 part Soda Water.  This is a light refreshing drink I quite enjoyed in the heat of the evening.   It is so popular in Venice, they even have Aperol Spritz flavored gelato.

And last but not least….

Getting Lost. There is a trick to finding your way around the streets of Venice, look up at the top of the buildings for arrows that point you in the right direction to St. Mark’s Square.   Of course, we did not discover this until it was almost time to leave. Truth be told that was probably a blessing. When we were rushing to get to a tour (rushing should be prohibited while on vacation) I tried desperately to use my phone GPS. It was hopeless though. It would constantly direct me and tell me I was at my destination when I was no where near close. Finally we gave in and just wandered.  This allowed us to find many shops and experience the splendor of Venice as we crossed over those many bridges, caught sneak peaks of the gondoliers on breaks, discovered little hidden corners, and experienced the hustle of all the restaurants as they worked tirelessly to make you a patron.

Venice was a magical experience.  It is like no other city.  Definitely visit it before it sinks!