1/1/20 -- Explore Venice, Part 2

We got a later start today to allow both the hotel staff and our trip leader and 2 intrepid co-travelers to recover from the late night of watching fireworks. Shortly before midnight, from our room, we saw flashes on our ceiling from local fireworks outside our room and then Jim heard the fireworks from the official display. Alessandro showed us a short video of the start and it looked spectacular even on the small screen.

We took the Valparetto to the Rialto to meet our local guide, Natalya, for a 2 hour walking and historical tour of Venice. Natalya covered a lot more than I could absorb, so this post will mostly be photos of our experience.

24 hour clock with 6pm at top (quitting time) and
noon (lunch) at the normal 9 position.

The Rialto Bridge

In the center of the old town, the bottom floor of this building is the
prison so the prisoners can see how life is getting away from them.

Liquid chocolate. Looked for, but couldn't find
this place later.

This campo and the two photos below are associated
with Marco Polo. I liked the arch.

Marco Polo was accused of telling a million lies in his
story of his China travels. The plaque says "second
court of the million"

This  plaque (above Jim) says "suburbs of the million".

Near the campo., this building claims to have been the house of Marco
Polo, apparently a questionable claim.

 

Private bridge to a home.

There's a boat behind the gate. Parking boats is as much
a problem here as parking cars in San Francisco.

Plaques memorializing two residents sent to Auschwitz

The yellow boats are ambulances and the building
(here and below) is the hospital. There was a move
to close it because of cost that was turned back.

Above and below: front of the hospital

Above and below: church with crypts attached to the walls.

Entrance to St. Mark's Basilica

Another 24 hour clock

The part of St.  Mark's Piazza that leads to the lagoon. The left post is
the Venetian lion, the right is St. Theodore, the patron saint of the
city before St. Mark

This face of St. Mark's looks over the area below. In the summer, it is
packed with tourists. It was relatively empty for us.

Piazza San Marco with its shopping arcades.

Afterwards we walked to Alessandro's favorite Neapolitan pizza place for lunch because he said we would not get to try pizza later in the trip. I showed him the notes from my cousin Anna's friend about exploring Venice and what NOT to do, and the NOT list included pizza. However, our pizza was great and since Jim and I were able to split one, it was a low-priced lunch.

After lunch, we went to a short glass-blowing demonstration at a Murano gallery (which save us the time and expense of traveling to the island) and had a chance to look over their products. I found a pair of glass periwinkle earrings I couldn't live without.

The glass blower is working with a blob and a tool to create the horse below.

From there, we went back to Piazza San Marco to end our official day.

This campanile was originally built in the 1500 and
collapsed int 1902. It was rebuilt exactly the same
within 10 years.

The others scattered and Alessandro walked us to where I could pick up a SIM card for my travel phone and then I used Google maps to lead us back to the hotel. Having live mapping capability made all the difference in my willingness to venture out into the city on our own. Even when we missed turns, we were able to find alternate routes and explored a lot  more than we otherwise would have. We did manage to stumble onto a chocolate shop for our first chocolate adventure.


When we got back, it was time to pack up for our transfer to our seven day cruise, which was a challenge, since I needed to eliminate one of the bags we brought and to transfer the computer safely without having to carry it until 3pm or so. For dinner, we decided to try the nut bar we had just bought and found it both tasty and appropriately filling.

Then we went out with the group to a Vivaldi Concert at the Church of San Vidal near the Piazza. Taking a boat places is starting to feel normal, but it is handy to have a guide to verify we are  on the right one. The concert included one of my all time favorites, Pachelbel's Canon, to start and included other pieces like the Four Season's that I was familiar with. It was definitely a professional quality presentation.

The large gray building was our target

The musicians