Where: Venice, Italy
When: February 10 - 12, 2012
With who: Loren and Rachel
Day 1
Venice was just a short 2-hour train ride from Florence. When we left Florence, it had been a beautiful sunny day. However, shortly into our journey, as the train emerged from a particularly long tunnel, an audible gasp resonated through the car. The beautiful Tuscan countryside had given way to a white-out blizzard. Yikes. It proved to be a precursor to the frigid weather awaiting us.
Soon the train climbed out onto a bridge that was in the middle of a large expanse of water. Nothing was in sight but dots of islands and iconic striped poles. We had arrived.
The fastest way to get to our hotel upon arrival was by taxi. A water taxi. On the grand canal. Not too bad. Our first views of the city as we floated down the canal were so pretty, but the wind on the water cut through your clothes and chilled you to the bone. Luckily, I was able to brave it enough to take some photos. For pictures of the Grand Canal, click here.
After our 40 minute boat ride, we arrived at Saint Mark's square, bags in tow, ready to find our hotel. Very fortunately, the hotel was just one block past Saint Mark's. It was the Hotel do ai Mori. It was small, but the location could not have been better. Plus, as we'd learn, the very old, tight streets of Venice don't allow for many things that would be considered spacious.
After dropping our things off, we set out in search of food and to venture around the city a bit. The streets are narrow, windy, and made to get you lost. When you add in random canals, bridges, and gondola sightings, you are thoroughly confused and have no idea what direction you are after walking.
We soon came upon the Ponte di Rialto. This bridge has taken many shapes and forms over the last 1,000 years, but after several collapses, the bridge as we see today was finished in 1591. Similar to the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, it is lined with shops.
While we were crossing the bridge, we came across this small shop. Inside was a man painting masks. While we chatted with him, he grumbled about how most of the masks in Venice are shipped in from other countries, and that he was one of the only people still making authentic masks. He had a bunch of celebrity photos around his shop, and it turns out he is like, THE go-to guy when Hollywood needs a mask made. His biggest claim to fame was that he made all the masks in Eyes Wide Shut (I don't remember, but I'll take his word for it).
Continuing our wander, we stumbled upon more squares, bridges, and canals. We would turn down a super narrow twisty pathway that would eventually open up into another square, then cross a bridge, back through an alley, repeat.
Before we knew it, we'd found our way back to St. Mark's Square for a look-around the Basilica di San Marco. Click here for pictures.
After leaving the Basilica, we decided to attempt to warm ourselves with some mulled wine. Sadly, it would have taken a lot of mulled wine to warm us up from how cold it was.
We decided to head back to our hotel to rest up, have a low-key dinner, and get to sleep early. The next day was going to be big, and we wanted to be ready for it. Our street gave us a beautiful last look on Venice for the day and got us prepped for what was coming the next.
Day 2
The next day in Venice started off as cloudy and cold as the day before. It wasn't just cold, it was also humid, so there was no stopping the chill from creeping right into your bones. We decided to take the taxi boat to the island of Murano. Now, the idea of getting onto a windy boat to travel to an island was not particularly appealing; however, as it was our only full day, we had to go for it.
Murano is world famous for it's glass. The glass factory was moved to it own island in 1291 both to isolate it from the main city in the event of a potential fire and to protect the secret of the factory's unique glass making.
After about 40 minutes on the boat, we arrived. The island was surprisingly deserted. If it weren't for the random artwork of glass scattered about, you wouldn't think you were in the right place.
The glass factory itself was ok. It did have a ton of glass items from hundreds of years ago, which was pretty cool. I was fascinated by how similar the glass-blown jewelry from 2,000 years ago looks like something you'd wear now. It was cool, but we were in and out of the place in under an hour. We decided it was time to head back to the main island, particularly as we still had to buy our masks for the evening's events! Peace out, Murano.
When we got back to Saint Mark's, the preparations for Carnevale were in full swing. Click here for pictures.
When: February 10 - 12, 2012
With who: Loren and Rachel
Day 1
Venice was just a short 2-hour train ride from Florence. When we left Florence, it had been a beautiful sunny day. However, shortly into our journey, as the train emerged from a particularly long tunnel, an audible gasp resonated through the car. The beautiful Tuscan countryside had given way to a white-out blizzard. Yikes. It proved to be a precursor to the frigid weather awaiting us.
Soon the train climbed out onto a bridge that was in the middle of a large expanse of water. Nothing was in sight but dots of islands and iconic striped poles. We had arrived.
The fastest way to get to our hotel upon arrival was by taxi. A water taxi. On the grand canal. Not too bad. Our first views of the city as we floated down the canal were so pretty, but the wind on the water cut through your clothes and chilled you to the bone. Luckily, I was able to brave it enough to take some photos. For pictures of the Grand Canal, click here.
After our 40 minute boat ride, we arrived at Saint Mark's square, bags in tow, ready to find our hotel. Very fortunately, the hotel was just one block past Saint Mark's. It was the Hotel do ai Mori. It was small, but the location could not have been better. Plus, as we'd learn, the very old, tight streets of Venice don't allow for many things that would be considered spacious.
After dropping our things off, we set out in search of food and to venture around the city a bit. The streets are narrow, windy, and made to get you lost. When you add in random canals, bridges, and gondola sightings, you are thoroughly confused and have no idea what direction you are after walking.
View from the bridge
While we were crossing the bridge, we came across this small shop. Inside was a man painting masks. While we chatted with him, he grumbled about how most of the masks in Venice are shipped in from other countries, and that he was one of the only people still making authentic masks. He had a bunch of celebrity photos around his shop, and it turns out he is like, THE go-to guy when Hollywood needs a mask made. His biggest claim to fame was that he made all the masks in Eyes Wide Shut (I don't remember, but I'll take his word for it).
Continuing our wander, we stumbled upon more squares, bridges, and canals. We would turn down a super narrow twisty pathway that would eventually open up into another square, then cross a bridge, back through an alley, repeat.
Before we knew it, we'd found our way back to St. Mark's Square for a look-around the Basilica di San Marco. Click here for pictures.
After leaving the Basilica, we decided to attempt to warm ourselves with some mulled wine. Sadly, it would have taken a lot of mulled wine to warm us up from how cold it was.
We decided to head back to our hotel to rest up, have a low-key dinner, and get to sleep early. The next day was going to be big, and we wanted to be ready for it. Our street gave us a beautiful last look on Venice for the day and got us prepped for what was coming the next.
Day 2
The next day in Venice started off as cloudy and cold as the day before. It wasn't just cold, it was also humid, so there was no stopping the chill from creeping right into your bones. We decided to take the taxi boat to the island of Murano. Now, the idea of getting onto a windy boat to travel to an island was not particularly appealing; however, as it was our only full day, we had to go for it.
Murano is world famous for it's glass. The glass factory was moved to it own island in 1291 both to isolate it from the main city in the event of a potential fire and to protect the secret of the factory's unique glass making.
Lining the canals of the island are hundreds of tiny shops filled with glass-blown trinkets. They had everything from jewelry (rings, cufflinks, and earrings), to vases, to miniature knick-knacks (ladybugs, ants, dogs, Disney characters, aliens...pretty much anything). On our search for the glass factory, we wove in and out of shops, up and down the canals - partly to shop, partly to stay warm.
The glass factory itself was ok. It did have a ton of glass items from hundreds of years ago, which was pretty cool. I was fascinated by how similar the glass-blown jewelry from 2,000 years ago looks like something you'd wear now. It was cool, but we were in and out of the place in under an hour. We decided it was time to head back to the main island, particularly as we still had to buy our masks for the evening's events! Peace out, Murano.
When we got back to Saint Mark's, the preparations for Carnevale were in full swing. Click here for pictures.
On our last morning in Venice, the snow had fallen and covered everything. A beautiful site for the end of the trip.
A fabulous end to a fabulous trip with two of my favorite girls. I think we've pretty much decided that (a) a second trip to Italy is in order and (b) we will be going in the summer time when the weather is a bit nicer. Ciao!
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