Grand Finale - In Venice!

Though Roger and I have been to Italy three times, 

having visited Rome, Naples, Sorento, 

Pompei and beautiful Tuscany, including Florence, 

we had never been to Venice. 

Surely the home of explorer, Marco Polo, 

the composer, Vivaldi, 

and the infamous Casanova must hold many charms.

 I know Venice was the first city to engage in international trade after the devastation of the Middle Ages, 

and then went on, for a time, to become the Cultural Center of the World.

So Venice's importance in history is indisputable.

And though we had heard some negatives about what we might find in present-day Venice, 

such as flooding in St. Mark's Square, 

Italian vendors of the real blown glass, etc. replaced by Asian vendors selling fakes, 

and a permeating stink,

We were pleasantly surprised!

We found no flooding, 

could easily detect the real from the fake 

and all we could smell 

was the fresh air of springtime!

It was glorious!

Stacy and Tom and Missy and Jedd had not been to Venice either,

 so we six signed up for the Viking two-day post tour.

We stayed in the Molino Stucky Hilton, 

which was renovated from an old pasta factory and was on a separate small island, 

one of 118 that comprise Venice.

It was amazing to see how a large city can function with no cars, no trucks, no horses and carts, 

no bicycles and scooters, just many, many boats, water taxis and gondolas.

Immediately after we disembarked the Viking Star, we were transferred on water taxi to our hotel. 

After we checked in and sorted out luggage, off we went on a free water taxi to the island of Murano 

to hopefully watch a glass blowing demonstration and check out the famous glass.

Hotel Molino Stucky Hilton

We enjoyed a scenic boat ride to Murano.

Well, of course, because the boat ride to Murano was free, it was provided 

by the glass blowing business below, 

which is where we docked by and we were then filtered right into their glass-blowing demonstration.

 Our boatload of 10 had to agree on when we would return, which we determined to be 3 pm, after we would have a chance to shop on the island and have lunch.

I have always been fascinated with glass-blowing, and had greatly looked forward to going to Murano.

In preparation, I read a three-book series about a family of glass blowers 

and I have even been known to google glass-blowing on the internet, 

then fascinatingly watch many glass-blowing videos, 

even other tourists' home videos of what we were about to see.

The end result of their demonstration was this little colorful horse.

We purchased this sweet blown glass miniature Nativity.

I wish we had taken more pics of the marvelous glass, not just here, but in so many shops in Venice. 

It glittered and sparkled in every color and shape imaginable!

Gorgeous!

I loved this little shop I wandered into, the kind shop keeper 

and I was tickled to find this Venetian glass pendant.

After exploring awhile, we were all starving from our so-recent separation from our plentiful cruise food 

and we were excited to try Italian food in Murano, so we got a recommendation to have lunch here.

It was divine and it was my kind of weather - in the low 70s

!

What a scenic, pretty little island!

We separated a bit at the end, and Stacy and Tom found their first gelato!

We headed back to our hotel . . .

. . . made sure the correct luggage had been delivered to our rooms, then . . .

. . . off we went again on the free water taxi to St. Mark's Square.

Wow! It was as beautiful as advertised!

The Byzantine-Gothic style of St. Mark's Basilica was called by Napoleon "the finest drawing room in Europe."

Beautiful mosaics were everywhere! This floor blew me away!

(Mackenzie-Childs take note!)

Note the winged lion statue, the symbol of Venice's past power

Okay. 

Here I spotlight one of the most important components of our almost delirious enjoyment of Venice - 

the incomparable GELATO!

We had it three times a day for both days we were there - 

but who's counting!

We shopped inside many blown glass shops, not really buying so much but absolutely loving the looking!

Of course, what is the most famous thing to do when in Venice - ride on a Gondola!

We didn't actually make that happen, but we sure watched and took many, many pics of them.

While wandering around St. Mark's Square, we heard the bells chiming and discovered 

that a Saturday evening mass was to be held. 

We decided to go in and have that experience. 

We didn't stay for the entire service, but heard the priest? speaking in Latin, 

joined by the congregation several times with incantations and a choir sang beautifully. 

It was ornate and lovely inside.

Missy captured dusk gathering . . . .

. . . and it was time to conclude our first day in Venice and head back in the water taxi to our hotel.

Next morning was another sunny, spring day and after a yummy included breakfast in our hotel, 

we boarded the water taxi for St. Mark's Square.

We passed Church of San Giorgio.

Our first stop was Doges Palace.

We had purchased the tickets the day before, which was a smart move to beat the big lines.

Doges Palace, originally built around the 10th century, was the seat of power for the Venetian Republic for centuries. It was the residence of the Doge (the ruler of Venice) and also housed the political bodies of the state, including the Great Council and the Council of Ten. It is lavish and elaborate, where the artists and the artisans of each age showed off their great skills. It was Venice's most important secular building and was the home and headquarters of the Venetian Republic for approximately 700 years, until 1797 when the city fell to Napoleon. It was truly impressive to go through, and we took many pics!

Display of weaponry

We walked through the prisons and torture chambers in the bottom .

. . . and across the Bridge of Sighs, famous for being the last view of freedom prisoners had 

of the outside as their boat took them to prison.

Famous Bridge of Sighs in the background

Rooftop views of beautiful Venice

Back on St. Mark's Square

St. Mark's Campanille Tower

A great combo was playing Italian tunes (see background, right) and Roger, all of a sudden, 

in a burst of romance, pulled me out on the square for a 

50th Anniversary Dance.

The kids loved it!

Time for a quick gelato

We decided to take a water taxi on the Grand Canal to see the famous Rialto Bridge and get some lunch.

The famous Rialto Bridge

Missy said this was the best pizza she had in Italy!

We passed the most amazing bakery and had famous cannolis (now I know why they are famous!)

and other incredibly delicious yummies.

Missy LOVES hot chocolate and had heard it was delicious in Venice. 

It was thick and like drinking melted chocolate!

We returned on a water taxi back to St. Mark's Square. 

It was quite an interesting tour just watching out the windows.

I noticed this three generations of Italians sitting by us on the water taxi.

The Mom had just purchased her little girl an American Disney Jasmine doll. 

I watched them take the doll out of the package, then thoroughly check her out!

This is the shop where Rick and Jodie purchased their exquisite Venetian vase in their entryway. There was one like it in another color. We talked to the proprietor, who explained the painstaking process of how it was created. The artist who made these special vases has since passed away.

Roger and I were enjoying such a happy day!

We ventured out walking to find more fun shops to browse through and saw such fairy book scenes, crossing over canal after canal.

Before I came on this trip, I read a novel called, The Gondola Maker to learn about Venice in the 1600s 

and about this amazing craft and the importance of gondolas to getting people around this city on water.

Taken at a major gondola station, this will have to be our gondola shot. The gondoliers wouldn't take US dollars, and none of us had euros left.

I was amazed when I read about how much skill and workmanship goes into making a fine gondola.

The famous La Fenice Theater

I love this street shot!

As we were wandering down alleys and over canals, 

Missy said the light was perfect for some couple shots on one of the bridges.

Daddy/Daughter shots

We started trying to find a sidewalk restaurant that was recommended by our concierge 

and weren't having much luck, so I sat down on a bench and noticed a cute Italian man who was

packing away his accordion. 

Roger walked up, saw him, too, and asked him if he would play for his wife for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. 

Oh, boy, did we have one of our favorite memorable experiences!

 He pulled out his accordion, and off he went, from one favorite to the next, and the kids got in on the action, too. 

We loved this guy! 

When we asked him if he knew where there was a good restaurant, he tried, in broken English, 

to tell us how to get to one, then he just shrugged and gestured, Come with me, 

and he led us through alleys, up and down canal bridges. . . 

. . . to this place, where we had a delicious meal!

Roger and I shared this fresh seafood platter 

including shrimp, cuttlefish, squid and a delicious grilled local fish.

Margherita pizza and shrimp salad with blood oranges

We ate next to the St. Giovanni e Paaolo Church.

We had to have a final gelato.

Missy caught this beautiful shot at dusk.

Back to St. Mark's Square to catch our water taxi.

Tired but happy tourists returning to our hotel 

What a glorious two days we spent together in charming and romantic Venice!

What a wonderful way to cap off the trip of a lifetime!

We are so grateful that our kids and their spouses could each organize their lives, 

which was a considerable undertaking, especially because it involved taking time from busy professions, 

finding care for so many grandkids and rescheduling countless carpools to lessons, etc.etc. 

And not to mention the expense involved.

We love and adore our children and how very, very blessed we are!