Venice: a Magical Town. The trip to Venice was just an offshoot to our main event. I chose this city as our point of entry to our journey to the Dolomites. This place has always fascinated me since I learned the song in “If you Should Go to Venice” in our music class in grade school.
The busy Grand Canal.
After our airport snafu in Brussels, we arrived safely in Treviso- another off the main city airport that Ryanair services- but a reasonable time travel (about 45 minutes) to Piazzale Roma, in Venice.
We arrived around 9AM at Piazzale. The main drop off for all land transport. Since Venice is a car-free city, we made our way to the water taxi station; Vaporetti as the Italians call it. Once we got our tickets, we waited for few minutes for our ride.
Left: one of the alleys we walked through; Top: First Italian meal at Mario’s; Bottom: selfie at the Piazza;
The Vaporetti are larger size boats usually with capacity to take 200 to 220 passengers from point A to B within the Grand Canal. Our hotel was nearby the famous Rialto Bridge, while this was my first time seeing Venice- I couldn’t hide my excitement as our water taxi started to sail. To say that Venice is beautiful is an under statement- it is Magical. While on the boat I was amazed by the grandiose of what’s before my eyes. A very unique cityscape- the the highway is the Grand Canal, and alleys are the small ones; not to mention the fact of how the entire town was built over water, standing on submerged wooden piles over Istrian limestone blocks .Such a feast, and I was taking them all in. When we got off tithe water taxi we headed to Hotel Algraspo de Ua, our lodging while in town.
It was only past 11 and check in is not until 2PM. The concierge is kind enough to check our luggages so we could wander around town. Two things that worth telling during check in: 1. I was able to finally say my name the Italian way; and the receptionist believed it is Italian as I said it so good🤣; 2. If your concierge asked if you want a room upgrade on the top floor, say no- there is no elevator in old buildings in Venice and to carry a 30lbs luggage on a stairs, you’ll easily regret it🥲.
Before we actually headed to exploring the city, we tried looking for an authentic Italian place to eat. We chose Ristorante Mario, the one we found from the back alley and didn’t seem to look touristy. Kevin got his pizza, while Merly and I had Risotto Nerrisimo or Black Rice with Grilled Cuttlefish. The meal was spot on; so flavorful even though it’s just risotto. My plate was empty when we finished eating- that rarely happens. I ended my meal with an espresso- which was waaay too strong! But luckily I ordered it as I was already getting tired and wanting to nap.
walking through small alleys and passing the foot bridges and seeing gondolas is such a treat in these Venice streets.
Canals and the old buildings. We began our walk from the alley after we ate as we passed through I noticed that some were wide enough, but mostly were narrow- they made me feel claustrophobic. There were lots of people too-both locals and tourists- merging and going to either both directions. Some alleys are connected by foot bridges over small canals where you can see some gondolas pass through. It is quite a scenery that you don’t always see (unless of course you live in Venice!). Most of the time when you go through narrow streets, it’s a nuisance when you see the other side of the buildings; but here I found it more nostalgic. There’s beauty any directions I look; and the presence of gondolas and the smile of the tourists riding them make the ambiance more appealing.
Our main destination was Piazza de San Marco or St Mark’s Square. When we get there the place was packed of tourists like us; yet the place is unbelievably beautiful. This grand architecture is captivating. St. Mark’s Basilica, The Clock Tower, and the Procuracies; all are so well detailed in all aspects. From the posts to the marble decorations, the romanesque carvings are truly majestic. I couldn’t help but wonder how life was like during the golden age of Venice. Must be impressive.
The Piazza at St. Mark’s Square at dawn; shot at long exposure.
We stayed a bit at the Piazza and after that we walked by the Grand Canal where we watched people enjoying Gondolas. I also took the opportunity to capture the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute from the other side of the Canal. I knew I would not see all of Venice since we’re here for a limited time, but at least I got the glimpse. At this time, the heat was quite suffocating so we decided to rest at the nearby garden outside the Doge’s Palace. Once rested, we started heading back to our hotel while enjoying (and stopping at) the novelty stores, buildings and people.
When we got back to our hotel we rested for a few hours to recoup some energy. While in the room, I looked out to the tiny window we have the view of a smaller bell tower, later I found out it was the Campo de Santa Fosca/Santa Fosca Parish Church. So there was a good thing about being on the top floor after all😉.
We all napped. Once I felt I had the energy, I headed back outside while I left Merly and Kevin who were still resting. I will meet with somewhere later.
Rialto Bridge at night; still have some people.
Rialto Bridge. Our hotel was 200ft away from Rialto Bridge so I went. This is the oldest, and most iconic bridge in the Grand Canal. Started as a pontoon bridge in 1173 (but destroyed multiple times in different events) and was rebuilt with limestone, this was designed by a local artist and built in 1588. Rialto connects San Marco and San Polo (Wikipedia).
The place was packed. Everybody wants to have that piece of photo of the Grand Canal. I took a glimpse a little bit but the crowd was thick so I decided to just cross the other side of the bridge to San Polo and took pictures of it from the other side. I did a little exploring of San Polo until I found the original Pinocchio store so I got a souvenir from it.
My nephew become most of my subject matter😉
I decided to head back to the bridge to San Marco, as I was planning to take photos of the Piazza during blue hour and at night time. This was when Merly and Kevin rejoined me. I went ahead and took photos of the gondolas by the canal in a long exposure, but it was too windy and my images were coming out blurry. So I had Kevin as my alternate subject😂.
The Piazza turned into gastro hubs at night; with multiple areas serving fine Italian dinings. They have musicians playing piano and instruments performing Italian classical musics. When one restaurant its playing, the other wasn’t- they alternate. It was a refreshing scene to see and good music to listen to. We stayed from the corner while people watching for a while. Then I took my last long exposure shot at blue hour and decided to walk and find another local Italian place to have our second Italian meal of our trip.
When we were done with dinner, we went back to the Piazza for another night photography shoot; at least for the night. When done, we headed to the hotel to call the night.
Day 2. The following day in Venice was far different from the previous. I woke up from the sound of the rain from the terra-cotta roof next to my window along with sporadic thunder I heard from a far. I got up, took a shower and dressed up as I waited for the two to do the same. Not long after, we headed down for our complimentary breakfast; then went to our “seize the day” adventure. It was still raining; and the weather forecast that day was rain until mid afternoon. Both Kevin and I were happy that Merly brought some ponchos that were very convenient than umbrella while walking the narrow streets.
While I did a bit of walking at San Polo the previous day, we decided to explore its entirety on that rainy morning. With no set itinerary, we walked and occasionally saw prominent landmarks in this part of Venice. Some of which are Campo San Giacomo di Rialto, the less popular side of the Grand Canal, and the best part was Mercato Il Pesce/Fish Market. This last one reminded me of our very own fish market in Bacnotan, La Union, but on a larger scale; also the fish here were not the same ones I see from ours.
our Gondola ride adventure. Left: The Bridge of Sigh. Top: all three of us smiling from the bumpy ride; Bottom: waiting to get serenaded 😂
We continued walking until we circled back to the Fish Market. Then we headed back to Rialto bridge and crossed to San Marco. It is big; after we seen St Mark’s Square and the Piazza the previous day, we decided to go walk the opposite. It stopped raining too and took the opportunity to give the gondola a shot. We started at the Grand canal. It took us a while to get into the smaller canals because of the influx of people riding the gondolas after the rain that morning. I really think that being on the smaller canals was far better than the Grand Canal; there were more stories within- for example, the gondolier pointed us the Bridge of Sighs- an enclosed limestone bridge which connects the Dodge Palace to the prison. Prisoners get a final glimpse of the lagoon and the sky before facing imprisonment or execution.
We sailed and turned towards the narrow river streets as we enjoy the old buildings and all the different views and ancient architectures. I Was waiting for the gondolier to sing (like the ones we see in the movies) but that didn’t happen😂. We must have enjoyed the ride as we didn’t realized that almost 60minutes had passed. The gondolier drop us off by Rialto Bridge and that was it- 90Euro for a 40-60 min ride. I highly recommend to do this- it gives you a different perspective of the city.
Top L-R: Night 1 of Italian food; Night 2 of Italian food 😂
Bottom L-R: riding the water taxi; meeting Nilda and Damian on top of the Constitution Bridge;
Still not contended, I suggested to both Kevin and Merly for us to take the water taxi to Piazzale Roma- the plaza for the bus station where we got off when arrived town because I wanted to see Ponte della Costituzione/Constitution Bridge. This one made an impression the day we arrived as it was made of Istrian stone and glass. So we did. On top of the bridge is a grand facade of Venice- a different view of the city and the Grand Canal. Truly magical. As we crossed it, we passed Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station- where we will meet Damian and Nilda the next day.
Our walk heading back to Rialto Bridge after a trip to Piazza Roma was a combination of buying souvenirs and local knick knacks to nibble while enjoying the city and the people. The sun was then behind the old buildings; and by the time it was setting, we were back to Rialto Bridge to watch the sunset.
After seeing the lovely sunset, we found a place to eat another Italian meal. We were seranaded by a random gentleman with his accordion. Such a treat for our last Venetian meal.
Day 3 and Goodbye Venice. The following day it was raining again. I went out as this was the last time I will get a chance to take photo of the place. I went to San Polo and shoot some pictures of the gondolas parked by the canal. The rain is almost ruining my chances but, I still push through. Then I went back to Piazza de San Marco for another take on long exposure. When the light came up, I went back to the hotel and tried to sleep again. Then we all woke up before checkout at 11. After our breakfast, we left the hotel and took the water taxi and headed to Santa Lucia Train station to meet Nilda and Damian. Dolomites here we come!
The gondolas in an overcast day in the Piazza