Sunday 9/17
We enjoyed two bottles of Port during the flight from Lisbon to Venice, granted they were small bottles but it sounds more significant without the detail of size.
We were met by our host who guided us through the neighborhood to our rental apartment. We got directions to Coop, a local supermercato, where we bought an evening snack plus fruit and pastries for breakfast. It was an experience to wander through the maze of rooms / departments that had been tacked together to make a very reasonable grocery store.
Monday
Monday
For our fourth trip to Venice we decided to stay 10 days to get a better sense of the real Venice. We chose an apartment in Castello close to San Marco Square but off the beaten track to avoid the standard crowds on the direct route between San Marco, the Rialto Bridge and the train station.
Continuing the crowd avoidance strategy, we started with an Early Bird Tour (7AM). Our guide met us at our door. From our apartment we passed the San Zaccaria church, walked through a nearly deserted San Marco square and over the Rialto Bridge to the Rialto Market which was just getting going and on to the San Polo district.
At the Rialto Market we spotted fresh shell beans, a favorite of ours that we have never seen in Mexico. And artichoke hearts! So glad we had a kitchen. Sadly the market seems much smaller than in the past.
In San Polo we enjoyed being introduced to the small shops selling speciality foods, spices and wine as well as a significant number of cafes and restaurants. Our guide pointed out the following (not all are open before 9AM):
- Casa del Parmigiana (House of Parmigiano) plus ham, balsamic and other delights
- Dolce Vita Pasticceria (Sweet Life Pastries)
- Drogheria Mascari (I know it is tempting to think of this as a drug store, but a drogheria is a grocery store. This one has amazing spices and wines.)
- Cantina do Mori (Cicchetti)All' Arco - (Cicchetti)
- Mauro - (Bakery)
- Casa Cappellari (A very fine restaurant that we visited later and it was well worth it!)
Crossing back a now busy Rialto Bridge to San Marco District our guide pointed out:
- Mille Vini (A thousand wines)
- Rosticceria Gilson (For a quick bite near Rialto Bridge)
- Venice Duck Store (Rubber duckies in costumes representative of various countries. Pat got a Venetian Gondolier. Actually this wasn't part of the tour, but a fun shop.)
- Suso Gelato Parlor (A "Gelatoteca")
- An amusing Gargoyle.
- And a Garbage barge.
Returning to our apartment we found time to do a Laundry and have lunch before our Sunset cicchetti tour. Cicchetti is basically the Venetian version of tapas and the popular way to enjoy them is to go from stand to stand sampling the best of each. We wandered through the picturesque San Polo & Dorsoduro districts stopping at:
- Trattoria S Toma for a selection of cicchetti (breads with different toppings –– white asparagus, shrimp, cheese, ... )
- along with a choice of Spritz drinks (3 parts Pro Secco, 2 parts Aperol or Select and a splash of sparkling water. Aperol and Select are botanical liqueurs. Aperol is a bit sweeter than Select).
- Pat took photos of other cicchetti toppings including: salami with cheese and tapenade, ham with fruit, prosciutto with sun dried tomato, chicken with mustard sauce, and a chunk of brie with a balsamic reduction topped with nuts.
- Chiesa di San Pantalon (To see the largest oil painting in the world, said to measure around 443 square feet and made up of 40 canvases sewn together)
- Osteria alla Bifora for a selection of meats and cheeses)
- Osteria ai Pugni for some wine)
- A piece of street art, The Migrant Child, by Banksy.
- The Fruit & Vegetable Barge (a Venetian form of a farm stand) at Ponte dei Pugni. Ponte dei Pugni is known as the “bridge of fists”, as it was apparently a place for settling scores with your rivals 😟. The losers got thrown into the cold dirty canal.)
- Gelati Nico
Along the way we noted a boatyard, both a mask and a carnival dress shop, and a cute door knocker. As we wrapped up our ice cream we noticed it was starting to rain so we scurried home. Thank God for Google Maps which, although service is somewhat sketchy in Venice, delivered us home quickly despite a few wrong turns in the maze of walkways and canals.
Tuesday
The next morning we had an Art Tour back in San Polo. Guess we should have just picked an apartment over there. Anyway, we truly love wandering around Venice just looking at things but we wanted to dive into a bit of the art scene.
Officially our tour featured 15C Venetian artists (Giovanni Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto) and wrapped up with 18C works of Giovanni Tiepolo. We also encountered great sculptures (notably by Canova) and amazing carved wood pieces by Pianta.
Our first stop was at the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari with the paintings by Titian and Giovanni Bellini. After Titian's death, they hired Canova to create a suitable tomb. See the elegant pyramid piece below. Canova was a bit ahead of his time with the sleek design so they had a more "suitable" one sculpted (see ornate one on the bottom left) for Titian. Canova now rests in the one he created.
Some background: In 1478, a group of well-to-do Venetians banded together to establish a confraternity (think: a gentleman’s club with a charitable twist) dedicated to San Rocco – a saint believed to protect against the plague. They erected their meeting hall next to the church that housed the remains of the saint and commissioned Tintoretto to decorate the new building. The masterful Italian painter produced more than 60 works for the Scuola based on the Old and New Testaments. The result is a series of salons that hold some of Tintoretto’s best work, as well as masterpieces by Titian and Tiepolo, among others. The ornate ceiling is considered to be one of Titian's finest works. Pianta got to show off his woodwork skills here as well.
- The Adoration of the Shepherds byTintoretto
- Wood carved portrait of Tintoretto by Francesco Pianta
- Wall carving by Pianta
- Ceiling of the upper hall of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco with paintings by Tintoretto
We then walked through some hidden and charming alleyways to arrive in Campo Santa Margherita, a lively area and hangout for the local university students (who were in class so it was quiet).
Heading into Dorsoduro our tour continued to Scuola Grande dei Carmini with the paintings of Tiepolo.
CW from top left:
- Scuola Grande dei Carmini chapel altar
- Madonna of Carmel giving the scapular/cloak to Saint Simon by Tiepolo
- Stairway with ornate ceiling
- Angels with lilies and scapulars by Tiepolo, surrounded by Putti.
After the tour we returned to Campo Santa Margherita for lunch at Bar Samurai. Pat had tagliatelle with porcini, and Bill had penne with arrabbiata topped with extra crushed fresh chili pepper - very hot but he ate every bit.
We started with the Doge’s Palace / Palazzo Ducale which, in the day, housed the Doge’s apartments, the government seat, the city’s courtrooms, and the prisons. We entered via the Giants Staircase, stopped for pictures from the Loggia (covered terrace) and caught a photo of San Georgio Maggiore Island across the San Marco Basin. We continued up the Golden Staircase to the Institutional Chambers. Along the way we saw the Mouth of Truth, open to everyone to lodge anonymous complaints.
- The Chamber of the Inquisitors has a ceiling decorated with paintings by Tintoretto.
- The Chamber of the Three Head Magistrates has a secret passageway leading to
- The Chamber of the Council of Ten.
- The Chamber of the Great Council is not only the largest and most majestic chamber in the Doge’s Palace, it is also one of the largest rooms in Europe.
Roughly 1.5 hr later our After Dark San Marco tour was waiting for us. There are a max of 4 groups of 25 plus the guides. Not a bad way to see this amazing place. So happy to see the place and take photos and without the crowds.
Considered one of the best examples of Byzantine architecture in the world, the Basilica di San Marco is known for its opulent design and gilded interior mosaics. It is nicknamed Chiesa d'Oro, "Church of Gold". Its design is a mixture of eastern and western architecture styles resulting in a unique architecture typical for Venice. The interior is completely covered with bright mosaics containing gold, bronze, and a vast variety of stones.
It seems we've missed seeing Saint Mark's Tomb on previous visits. Yes, it's a crypt and honestly I haven't been impressed with most. Yet with the artwork and the extensive use of glitter and gold it is hard not to be impressed.
Wednesday
We took a day off. We wandered around ending up at the train station. We took the Cannaregio route going over. It was like a wide road of humanity sweltering in the sun. Why didn't we take another route, who knows? However we found a much cooler route back through the alleyways of Santa Croce and San Polo. The sun didn't penetrate there and there were cute shops along the way. We stopped for lunch at Osteria Ai Storti having Caprese, Calamari Friti, Fegato (Liver) a la Veneziana and Nero D'Avola.
We wandered some more making our way back over the Rialto Bridge to our apartment. Later we had a light evening meal of cheese, focaccia, and sautéd artichoke hearts!
Being big sparkling wine fans, we had arranged a tour to Prosecco territory.with Chiara, a guide and sommelier. Prosecco is sparkling wine that comes from the Veneto or Friuli Venezia Giulia regions, a short drive from Venice. There are two DOC levels, the basic very good sparkling and the even better DOCG of which there are 4 types.
- Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG
- Asolo Prosecco DOCG
- Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive DOCG
- Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG
The key differences of Champagne & Prosecco are:
- Prosecco tends to have more pronounced fruit and aromas (a product of the Glera grape!).
- Champagne is from the Champagne region of France.With Prosecco the second fermentation is done in a tank rather than bottles as is the case with Champagne. This makes Prosecco less expensive to produce ...so good Prosecco is much less expensive than good Champagne.
- Having the second fermentation in a tank makes lighter, with frothy bubbles that don’t last as long.
Prosecco is made from Glera grapes (85% or more for best) and other varieties from the area (Verdiso, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, and Glera Lunga). As with other sparkling wines it is available as brut, extra dry, and dry. We prefer the brut (driest) but the Extra Dry isn't bad.
We visited 3 small charming family owned wineries, Svolta, Toffoli Vincenzo, and Gli Allori (cousins). All are focused on DOCG wines. All were great.
Friday
We were on our own and decided to visit the Academia Museum (focused on pre-19th century art of northern Italy) and Ca'Rezonnico an 18C palazzo and art museum on the Grand Canal.
At the Academia we saw works by Titian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Canova. And by some lesser known artists. Having kind of OD'd on the big names, we enjoyed the wall piece marble carving by Canova, the detailed landscapes depicting Venice and the countryside, the sculpted wooden wall piece of apostles, the sculpted woodwork of more everyday characters on the ceiling and even a lovely painted door.
Then we were off to visit Ca'Rezonico. It is a notable example of the 18th century Venetian baroque and rococo architecture, Among other things, we enjoyed the oriental guards, an ornate chair, the glass exhibit with works by Lino Taglispietra (a Venetian master of glassworks who 1979 traveled to Seattle where he trained the students of the Pilchuck Glass School in the finest techniques of Venetian glass blowing), a porcelain dog, and a veiled virgin (it is so amazing how the sculpture shows so clearly her features beneath the gauzy veil).
Pat had been interested in taking a tour of the villas along the Benta Canal since our first visit to Venice. The Canal, constructed along the Brenta River in 16C, connects Padua and Venice. In 18C Palladian Villas were built along the canal as summer homes for aristocratic families. The tour floats by 9 swing bridges and through 5 locks to navigate an almost 33 foot drop from Padua to Venice. It passes more than 70 villas of which we visited 3.
The ride is tranquil. The rural scenery is picturesque.
We visited Villa Foscari, aka La Malcontenta, built for a young bride who was forced to live a lonely existence there in luxury but with little to do and no significant companionship.
In the early afternoon, we stopped in Oriago for lunch. We opted to pass up "the famous restaurant" Il Burchiello to have buratta caprese and pizza instead at Eden, a simpler place.
We cruised on to Villa Widmann Rezzonico Foscari. Our final visit was to Villa Pisani. Here artists were not allowed to sign their works. However Tiepolo's signature in many works, is the parrot, thereby circumventing the rules.
As we wrapped up our visit at Villa Pisani the previously beautiful day turned to a downpour for our last leg. In Padua we waited a bit for a taxi but, as you likely know, taxis are not reliable when it is raining. We finally decided to hoof it to the train station. The ferry from the Venice train station was seriously crowded and we could not see the stops or track our progress along the way. Finally we got up to check and found we'd skipped many stops and were at our stop! Phew!
Our evening repast was at Agli Artisti near our apartment. We had a very fine Veronese wine (Sengia Rossa Aldegheri 2018) and pastas (Taglatelle with Duck ragù with cocoa and wild berries for Bill and Spaghettoni carbonara with guanciale and pecorino cheese for Pat.)
Sunday 9/24
We decided on another quiet day. Our first stop (after a late start) was a site often used to highlight "hidden" Venice. Scala Contarini del Bovolo has a dainty seeming spiral staircase. Lovely. It's hidden off a small alleyway not so far from San Marco. We needed a photo of our own. Our choice for lunch, Casa Cappellari in San Polo (recommended by our early morning guide). It took a little effort to find, but it was worth it. (Another hidden gem.)
Along the way we ran into a couple interesting characters, we got a somewhat arty shot of a gondola trhough a grating, and could't resist a couple more shots of San Marco. This time Bill got a closeup of the towers and it turns out the sculpture on the top isn't all white. The angels' wings are gold covered, as is much of the lion.
Today was Islands day and we made it all the way to Murano, the first stop on the ferry. We wandered the streets, shopped in every open store, and visited the glass museum. The number of glass items is still immense and seeing their history in glass styles and colors is fascinating. We had a seafood lunch before taking the vaporetto back.
Some neighborhood shots. Cicchetti in Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Pasta and wine from Agli Artist. Our alleyway. Gondolas passing under our window.
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