Romantic Venice

Venice is a captivating and eternally romantic port city in the north-western Adriatic. However, it can only be reached by water. We left our car at the Punta Sabbioni car park and took a water taxi to the city. Crossing the sea is quite a unique experience and water taxis are fast and punctual, albeit packed full of people, and docking the boat is a bit “bumpy”, though not unusual if the driver hits a pillar with the side of the boat. Traffic flow is well organised and public transport timetables are accurate (we were using the AVM Venezia official APP that we had downloaded on our phones).

Mornings are quite foggy and cool in Venice. But as noon approaches, it gets warmer and the fog lifts. After breakfast, we took a water taxi to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with a church on top, a very fine specimen of a Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio. Sadly, we couldn’t wonder at the church’s beauty because the fog didn’t allow us to see any further than a few metres in front of us. It is said that there was once a monastery on the island and a church was later built, dedicated to Saint George (or San Giorgio in Italian). Once inside, you can truly see the grandness of the church, supported by the high ceiling, columns, auxiliary altars, and Tintoretto’s paintings of the presbytery.

We heard the vaporetto first before spotting it a few seconds later due to the city still being shrouded in fog. We returned to the island of Venice and went to St. Mark’s Square for some sightseeing. The Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) is really gorgeous and it connects a former prison with the Doge’s Palace. This is where prisoners could bathe in sunlight, stare into the vast sea and enjoy the freedom of life one last time (before they were thrown into the dungeon).

St. Mark’s Square is also the most beautiful part of Venice, so it comes as no surprise that crowds there are the most massive and coffee the most expensive. I wasn’t impressed by St. Mark’s Square, mostly because it was glutted with golden colour and too many various details of different styles. St. Mark’s Basilica is quite conspicuous with its five domes, glittery mosaics and countless little spires. Next to the basilica are the Doge’s Palace, the residence of the Doges of Venice between 7th and 18th century, and the tallest (and simplest) building, the St. Mark’s Campanile, which offers a stunning view 99 metres above the ground on a sunny day. But since it wasn’t clear whether sunlight was about to penetrate the clouds, or the cold fog cover our cheeks, or if it was maybe even about to start raining, we decided to grab some coffee and pass on the stunning view.

After walking down the narrow streets and crossing many little bridges, we finally reached our destination – the Libreria Acqua Alta, where not only do they have a wide selection of books and any book lover who enters gets a twinkle in their eyes, there are also countless photo worthy spots. Best of all, there was a cute chubby cat who first helped the cashier count the money, but then settled at the entrance and started licking its paws as soon as we had left, not paying attention to the passers-by.

Calle Varisco, the narrowest street in Venice, is one of the less known (and less touristy) attractions, but it’s charming and worth a visit. We continued on to the Rialto Bridge. The massive 16th-century stone bridge is packed full of tourists and artisans who sell their crafts in their small shops all day. The Fondaco dei Tedeschi shopping centre sits right next to the bridge. The ground floor is graced with high-end clothes, shoe, perfume, and cosmetics shops. The five floors together offer an assortment of clothing, footwear and handbags, and there’s a display gallery a floor above as well as an exit leading to the roof that offers a gorgeous view over Venice. Completely free. By then, the fog had already dispersed, the sun had broken through the clouds and the city had been bathing in sunshine. In the afternoon, we visited the Scala Contarini del Bovolo, a charming building, thanks to its spiral outer staircase, terracotta colour and white columns. Tired from all the walking and frozen to the bone, we headed back to our suite.

The next day, it was time to explore the southern part of the city, also known as the art district of Venice. We crossed the Ponte dell’Accademia (the Accademia Bridge or Bridge of Artists) and headed to the peninsula in the south. We put our luggage in the lockers and reclaimed it in the evening before boarding the ferry and leaving the island. This turned out to be quite convenient as we could freely wander the city, without our luggage, and we didn’t waste time returning to the suite to pick up our things in the evening. First, we took a peek through the iron gate towards the Penny Guggengeim Museum (she was an American art collector). After her death (in 1979), her house and 20th century art collection became one of the most important museums of European and American art in Italy. After that, we headed to the beautiful octagonal baroque Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. The exterior is simply stunning as it was built using white Istrian stone and the dome is “held up” by eight columns.

We treated ourselves to seafood pasta (we have to admit we had been enjoying delicious food all three days while in Venice: pasta and risottos) and then waved towards the St. Mark’s Square after boarding the ferry.

After having spent our two-day break exploring the romantic city of Venice, we travelled to the fascinating island of Burano. You can read more about this mysterious and colourful island of lace in the article titled An Island of Colourful Houses in the Venetian Lagoon.