In Love in the Island City

Gondolier at sunset

Our first site in Venice

Punto Della Dogana

One of the back alley views

Excited to take pictures

Impatient Gondoliers

In St. Mark's square

The many boats on the Grand Canal

The water was high near St. Mark's square (there is a constant problem with flooding)

Gondolas

The Bridge of Sighs (and it's inappropriate scaffolding)

Another alley view

Me and Monique in front of the Rialto

Murano

A large Murano glass sculpture

The colorful houses on Murano

Blue skies for once

Glass blowing exhibit

The Gondola station

Monique and I in St. Mark's square at night

The Grand Canal

St. Mark's square from above

Gondola ride

Our gondolier

Just fitting under the bridge

In front of the Rialto on the water

Napoleon's house

Near the Rialto

Last night in the city

St. Mark's in the distance

Last picture in Venice

“Excuse me please, notice on right,” the Gondolier said through good but accented English. “Notice the house with the two points on top,” he pointed out as he navigated us with just one oar (the Gondolier tradition) through the Grand Canal, a little choppier than the narrow back canals we had just come out of – the water lapping against the side of the narrow black boat, which came to two distinct points on either end and was ornately decorated in gold and silver.

“That is the house of Napoleon.” The sun sat split between the two obelisks which sat atop the building, like a field goal through the uprights, and was creating a shadow on the waves of water created by the multitude of boats coming through the harbor – water taxi’s, the vapretto, Gondola’s, and personal boats – all darting this way and that, emphasizing the point that for Venetians, boats are the mode of transportation. Our gondolier laughed, “He came first time to Venice as visitor, second time, not so friendly, as ruler.”

However, the tour of the Grand Canal was not the most impressive part of our 80 euro (average cost) gondola ride, rather it was the small back alley canals where the gondolier truly showed his skills. The ship slowly glided through the water so smooth and untouched it seemed like we were floating on ice. The gondolier – occasionally putting his foot against a wall the help navigate – rowed us slowly through some gorgeous views of the famous city, cutting at 90 degree angels at some points and even going backward for the finale. The gondola ride was truly a magical experience, and though expensive, worth the price.

Our tour included the old town of Venice. The narrow canals in the center of the oldest part of Venice, created the original need for a one oared boat – hence, as with most modern delicacies, the gondola was created initially for a very practical purpose. The Venetians needed a way to navigate the canals with only one oar and with a very narrow boat. Thus the birth of the Gondola came about. As we finished our tour and teetered off the boat, Monique and I had finished our time in Venice, however, I suppose for the purpose of the blog, I should inform you of our other Venetian endeavors.

We arrived at Treviso Airport late on Tuesday night and caught a shuttle into Piazza Romano on the very edge of the city. Not knowing where we were, or where to go, we headed out of the square in hopes of finding a street name to try and locate ourselves. As we wandered out of the main piazza, we immediately hit a major canal and just like that I muttered to myself “this can’t be real.” We had wandered onto a section of the Grand Canal and just like that we hit our first batch of gondolas. The colors of the ornamented buildings around us were only exemplified by the lights on the waterfront and the moon in the background. I was hit almost instantly with how amazing a situation we were in and it was the first of many times where I’d mutter to myself “this is so cool!”

That night we tried our best to navigate the city and find our hostel – I’d like to take the time now to thank God, the lady at Il Nuovo Ristorante, and Google Maps application for my blackberry, for getting us safely to the hostel that night. Venice is confusing and narrow enough as it is (some of its main streets on maps can’t even fit two people across [even if one is really tiny!]) but if you throw in our hunger, exhaustion, and the darkness of the night, we were in for a bit of a challenge. However, nonetheless, we were able to find our place – a cute little spot off the beaten path in the Dorsoduro section – and some food before we retired for the evening.

Our second day in Venice was about as magical a time as I’ve ever had with my time in Europe. We decided to spend the day exploring the city – no agenda in mind, and that’s exactly what we did. Venice is technically a city of over 150 islands and 420 different bridges that link it together. We spent that first day crossing maybe half of them. We started out by our hostel visiting Punto Della Dogana (a boy holding a frog), and then headed in to the main touristy part of the city. We wandered through Piazza San Marco, ventured into Saint Mark’s basilica, saw the Bridge of Sighs, navigated some narrow back streets, headed up to the Rialto (famous shop covered bridge in the oldest section of the city), and basically wandered hand in hand enjoying the various Campo’s that the city had to offer.

Venice originated as group of separate settlements which all had their own patron saints and individuals town squares – as a result the city is made up of a myriad of “Campo’s” all designated to different patrons saints, and the easiest way to navigate the city is to point yourself in the direction of one Campo and keep walking that way until you hit it (trying to navigate street by street on a map is nearly impossible).

On day three of our trip to the northeastern Italian coastal city, Monique and I headed out on a vapretto (water metro) to Murano – an island off the island on the coast – which is famous for its particular type of glass making. The sun had finally decided to show its face for a small part of the afternoon and we were actually granted some blue skies to enjoy the distinct orange, yellow, and red houses on the island. We wandered the island for a bit, and then toured the history of glass blowing museum, which has Venetian glass that dates as far back as 500 B.C. (though I suppose it wasn’t all Venetian back then). Afterward, we found a glass blowing exhibit and got to witness first hand a glass plate, jar, and snail being made by one of the Venetian artisans. Monique fell in love with Murano glass and as a result came home with several souvenirs.

That night we came back to the hostel and decided to dress up to go out for dinner. We grabbed some food in a small family restaurant off the beaten path between two of the Piazza’s. After we finished enjoying the homemade pasta, we wandered around the city for a bit, admiring the sites at nightfall. Before we ended the night we grabbed some gelato (we were at a 2 a day minimum at that point) and headed back to the hostel for the night.

Our final day in Venice, Monique and I were up a little bit earlier than usual and headed out to grab breakfast while we walked. The beauty of Venice lies in the fact that some of the most beautiful sights are only found when you’re either lost or wandering with no intention of heading anywhere. That morning we spent a lot of time taking pictures in the narrow back-alley canals of Venice. After a quick lunch where Monique finally (and regrettably) had spaghetti and meatballs, we headed back to St. Mark’s. After scaling the large lighthouse turned clock tower, we admired the views of the city from Venice’s highest point.

It was at this point in our trip that Monique and I looked at our pocket change and decided that it would probably be worth it to take a trip on a gondola (described above). Our friendly gondolier took us on an hour tour through the back canals of Venice, pointing out historical landmarks, humming in the background, and even occasionally singing in Italian – in words that if I understood them correctly were more or less translated to: “I’m improvising, I’m improvising, they can’t understand so I’m improvising.” On the other hand, if you drowned out the words, the tour on the gondola was well worth its cost. We saw the oldest section of Venice, the narrowest street, the first water hotel, the house of Mozart, the house of Napoleon, the post office and the court house (both of which are only accessible by water). It was truly a magical afternoon.

However, with the finishing of our gondola tour, Monique and I were also just about done with our time in Venice. We spent our last remaining hour’s site seeing and tourist shopping, wandering around the Rialto, and then slowly making our way back to Piazza Romano. As we boarded the bus to the airport I was immediately hit with the dread of realizing that one of the most amazing experiences in my short life was now finished. But perhaps that is the beauty of the best times in your life, the fact that they have to end to be complete, or more importantly, that they have to end to open the door for the next one.