The Big Trip - A Voyage of Discovery Around the Med: 2014-03-30

We reserved this day (April 4) for Venice. Randy had never been there. Alice was nervous about driving and parking there. Not to worry - all worked out fine. We drove from our amazing bed and breakfast south of Padua to Piazza Roma in about 40 minutes and parked easily. The charge is 26 Euro per 12 hours, but it is Venice! We walked through the complicated streets, crossing many canals by bridge until we found Saint Mark's Square (about a 45 minute walk).

Randy steps foot in Venice

Alice does a Venice selfie

A double selfie over the Grand Canal

A beautiful winged lion statue - the symbol of the Doges

There, we found Saint Mark's under much scaffolding but still impressive. It was a cloudy day but not cold. There were an abundance of tourists but, for Venice, it was a quite a light day in terms of crowds. We visited the inside of Saint Mark's, which was worthwhile. However, way more worthwhile was our 10 Euros that got both of us into the church museum. Here, we got to access the loggia of the church with its unrivaled views. We also got to see (and even touch) the original four horses. These magnificent statues are just mind blowing. They are in fantastic shape despite being some 2,000 years old. Their expressive and modeling are just amazing - both artistic and realistic. If you go to Venice, you must go to this museum area in the church. And, we were very lucky in our timing to see Saint Mark's. It was closed shortly after we entered for a flute concert which we could hear clearly from our place in the museum. This made Saint Mark's (and its museum) nearly empty of tourists while we were there.

The Doge's Palace

A Saint Mark's Square selfie

Randy and the pigeons (and countless other tourists)

Inside Saint Mark's it said no cameras but everyone disobeyed so Alice did too (but with no flash)

Some of the impressive gold mosaics

The four horses (the originals) - either Roman or Greek - no one knows for sure. They were in Rome then Istanbul then Venice.

The first of four portraits of these magnificent beasts

Number 2

Each as is as expressive and powerful as the next

Last, but hardly least...

Teeth and nostril close up

An eye deserves attention

The scratches close up - these are intentional and all over the horses. The scratches were intended to reduce the reflection and glare on the bronze as the horses were made to be place outside.

Another symbol of Venice - though a little funky

The Saint Mark's Tower as seen from the church loggia

Loggia double selfie

We asked an American nearby to snap this photo and did the same for him and his girlfriend

A detail from the loggia of the clock tower

The winged lion of the clock tower. Sadly, the clock was not working on our visit.

We then walked to see the Bridge of Sighs and intended to take a water bus (vaporetto) to Murano Island. Well, here our luck gave out. There was a 24 hour strike of the water bus drivers so none were running. It was probably just as well, as we made good use of our time in Venice proper. We walked a bit and found a really nice and delicious restaurant by a backwater canal for lunch. We dined on gnocchi and grilled vegetables. Randy had a Bellini, in the birthplace of Bellinis while Alice drank a split of prosecco. We then hired a gondola driver and took a standard 35 minute trip in the Grand Canal and some very narrow, backwater canals. It was totally worth it for the relaxation and to see Venice by water.

The iconic Bridge of Sighs

Randy near the Doge's Palace

Our lunch spot

Randy's Bellini

A Venetian lunch - shared gnocchi and grilled vegetables

Our cute waiter took this photo

A gondola double selfie

A detail of our well tuned gondola

An impressive Venetian church seen from the water

Randy was a little worried about falling overboard (he does not swim) but seems to have relaxed

A pretty sweet Venetian palace

We head for a narrow canal

Our gondola driver ducks to get under the bridge

An ultimate selfie - three people on a moving vehicle!

A window detail on a back canal

More building riches seen from the canals of Venice

We shopped for Murano glass at a shop on Saint Mark's Square. The glass is a bit pricy but very good looking and unique. We also bought a few silk scarfs that were locally made. You could drop a lot of money in Venice - the shops are very high end and all major designers are represented. There are also very high end shops for typical Venice goods - glass, silk, etc. There is also a lot of touristy junk.

Our friendly Murano glass shop operators - actually natives of the island of Murano. They are wrapping our many purchases. Thank goodness for American Express.

Having no other option, we needed to walk back from the Saint Mark's Square area to our parking garage in Piazza Roma. This was another 45 minute hike following the signs. This time we managed to find the Rialto Bridge and crossed over it. We got back to car and headed out towards Verona.

Walking up the touristy Rialto Bridge

After an hour or so, we found our Agriturismo for the night which was located just east of Verona. This family farm (with chickens, a donkey, a black sheep, three black cats and a dog) has a structure with four or five rooms to let. Our room was spacious and comfortable. The toilet was weird as it had no seat but you could still sit and it ended up being OK. Our hostess, Gemma, was obliging and also runs a vegetable shop from the building. She recommended a local restaurant, Osteria Dal Pipa, and we had a good dinner there with some excellent but very expensive wine. The wine, an Amarone, ran 60 Euro and was fantastic but an indulgence. We had bean soup, green salad, and gnocchi for Alice (with truffle butter) and rabbit pasta for Randy. We slept well after our day's excursions in the Verona countryside.