Magical Venice, Italy

So I thought I’d write about Venice, Italy, I’ve been twice, and each time I am enchanted by how special this stilted or floating city is. It is an amazing destination, and I truly feel that it’s a magical place, I can’t explain it beyond that feeling you get when you go somewhere new and it just speaks to you. Because let’s face it, not every place get us like that. Even if it is amazing.

I will always remember the first time I got there, stepping off the train, on a sunny but chilly day in January (2016). I had taken myself on my first major solo trip. Having spent 4 days in Rome, I was now about to experience Venice for 3 full days. It has always been on my list, in my top 10 even, and I was thrilled to finally be there.

Venice is located in North-Eastern Italy, famous for being a floating city of unique beauty. This is a city of water where there are no streets and no cars, only canals. You can not drive, take an taxi/uber around the city, or travel via private boat or vaparetoo, or you walk. Venice stretches across 117 small islands, while the city is divided into six areas or sestieri and they are connect by 403 bridges…yup small, big, wide, narrow, you name it, there’s generally a bridge every few hundred feet.

Despite having been twice, I didn’t see every square inch of Venice, because I am not a fill every minute of your holiday kind of a person. I like to sit and take it in, to wander aimlessly and get lost, which I assure you, happens. And I often found myself thinking, I am never going to find my way home (hahaha). There’s never a need to panic, just the need to rest tired feet and knees!

All that being said, I just wanted to share with you how amazing Venice is. Just know that they are starting a visitors day fee, and eventually a permit of some sort will be required to visit. It’s just a heads up and I don’t have all the details. However, it’s because there are far too many people that visit it during peak season, and it takes all the joy out of it. But even more importantly is destroying the city itself.

So the best time of year to go to Venice is April-May and into June. July is are of course beautiful, but it gets super hot and muggy, unbearably so and there are far too many people AND in August the city is pretty much closed, so don’t go then! September & October are going to give you great weather as well. However, I went in late January, and I was super lucky, it was cold, Pacific Northwest Winter type of cold, not snow Prairies cold. And I had sunshine!

However, when it rains, it can pour, and I had a day at the end of September where it bucketed! Just know that when they say Venice floods, they aren’t joking. Check out these pictures. I have not experienced this myself, but I have a friend that lives there, and I’ve seen her pictures, this is real, everyone has Wellies and Hip Waders.

Enough about the weather…let’s talk about the city and the food.

OK the most famous square in Venice, and the one where you’ll meet every tourist in Venice all at the same time, is called Piazza San Marco, but is generally referred to as St. Marks Square by tourists and La Piazza (the Square) by the locals. It is the heart of the community, every major event that happens, happens here. The shot below is a stock image, because at no point in my trip was the square ever empty!

There are lot’s of cafe’s, and there is certainly something iconic about sitting there drinking a cafe latte. However, you’re paying a lot more for the privilege.

The clock (alternatively known as St Mark’s Clocktower or the Moors’ Clocktower) displays the time of day, the dominant sign of Zodiac and the current phase of the moon. The clock fulfilled a resolutely practical role in what was a mighty maritime empire in centuries past. Seafarers setting out from the Grand Canal could rely on this faultless timepiece to decide the most favourable time for setting out to sea. So reliable is the clock, that in 1858 it was made the official timekeeper of Venice – to which every other clock should be set.

The canals, that is what makes Venice, well Venice. There are a few major arteries, and you’ll find the Vaporettos running in both directions all day. A note about the Vaporetto, this is your transit system, as I mentioned earlier, there are no vehicles on any of the islands. So go to a kiosk where they sell magazines, etc., and you can purchase a multi-day pass, this is the only affordable way to travel around the city, paying one trip at a time will cost a fortune. I think you can also buy them at the vaporetto stations as well.

Whatever you do, don’t swim in the water. Some tourist do, not knowing the health hazards. Venice does not have a traditional sewage system, they are build on stilts over water, the sewage goes into the sea…I don’t think I need to explain that further, do I?! If that’s not enough of a deterrent (and it should be) swimming in the canals is illegal, because they are all “roadways”.

This was taken on the Island of Burano, it is famous for its textiles, and you can go there via vaporetto directly from Venice or from Murano Island, which is what I did. The Island is also known for its vibrantly painted buildings, and while it was about to bucket with rain, I was able to catch this famous section about half an hour before the deluge began.

Because I love architectural imagery, I tend to focus on taking them. You’ll see a lot of these images throughout the city.

St. Marks Basilica and Doge’s Palace, do this on a tour, you will learn so much more! Seriously this is the sort of thing you want to learn about, not just wander aimlessly through. And it’s a great way to skip the line. If tours aren’t your thing, then buy your tickets in advance. I’ve seen 2 hour line ups…

Why should you see it…here’s a little history

Originally the chapel of the Doge, St. Mark’s Basilica (Basilica di San Marco) became important in 829 when the remains of St. Mark came to Venice from Alexandria and were interred here. The present ground-plan, derived from the Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, dates from 1063. In 1075, the Doge passed a law requiring all returning ships to bring back something precious to decorate the basilica, accounting for the more than 500 columns of rare marble, porphyry, alabaster, and jasper brought back from the East.

The interior is clad with 4,240 square meters of gold mosaics, mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries. Between 1500 and 1750, some of the old sections were replaced by “modern” mosaics designed by artists including Titian and Tintoretto.

And now for something completely different. As you head over to Murano one of your stops is San Michele Island, you will see the Barque of Dante. The Barque of Dante has been erected between Venice (Fondomento Nuovo embankment) and island of San Michele (the cities cemetery). The boat like gondola has Dante and his companion Virgil in it. The concept is based on The Divine Comedy in which Dante and Virgil cross the river Acheron, and the water boils with damned souls. The boat is set on a slightly submerged pontoon rocking it on the waves and with the ebb and flow of the tides.

There are a lot great restaurants and amazing museums throughout the city, some are filled with nothing but religious iconic art, and while I’m a museum lover, I found it got a bit tedious, though the buildings themselves are beautiful.

Now there are people that will argue this, because there are plenty of kids that live and grow up in this amazing city. However, because most of us don’t grow up in this type of environment, I don’t think it’s great for little kids. It’s not exactly safe, the canals are right there, no guard rails or any of that, and if you have a child that’s used to running free, it’s easy to end up in a canal. Which has so many ramifications. Just something to consider.

This amazing glass sculpture is just that, it’s made of glass, and is called the Comet Glass Star – created by master glass maker Simone Cenedese for Christmas 2007 www.simoncenedses.it and you will find it on Murano Island, approximately a 30 minute vaporetto ride away.

Murano Island is known all over the world for its glass artists. The Island has glass blowing studios you can go and watch the artists blowing glass, and of course there are dozens and dozens of shops. My advice is to do a full tour of all the shops before you buy the first item you find. There are a lot of items that are the same, but every now and then you’ll come across something spectacular made just by that particular artist. BUT don’t forget what store you found that something in, because, they all blend together and you’ll never find it again!

Let’s talk a little about the food.

Venetian food is not necessarily what you think of when you think Italy. the North American version of Italian food is not indicative of every region of the country. Venice being a water city has a lot of seafood, generally prepared very differently from the way most of us are used to, I can’t say I liked it all, but I’m always willing to try something new, like the below dish of Cuttlefish in black squid ink on a bed of polenta. It doesn’t look all that appealing, but it was actually pretty tasty, however, I’d share this dish (for the experience), because it’s super rich, and I simply couldn’t finish more than half of it. One thing, veggies on the side is not a thing in Italy. If you want vegetables, then you have to order them separately.

Because it’s good to try new food and have new experiences, I don’t need nor want unique food every single time. So, I went out for dinner with my lovely AirBnB hostess one night, it was somewhere in the Jewish Ghetto, I’m not going to tell you the name, because it is no more… I started with the seafood platter, though I confess that it was just a bit too adventurous for me and my friend traded dishes with me, leaving me with the most amazing mushroom ravioli. The en·trée was divine, beef tenderloin, a pistachio encrusted lamb chop with perfectly roasted sides.

This was without a doubt the best meal I’ve ever eaten, ever, anywhere! Though the escargot baked in truffle oil, on my first night in Paris ranks really high as well!

Oh and the Tiramisu – yeah it’s to die for. And the hot chocolate is pretty much heaven in a cup, kinda like drinking chocolate mousse!

There are so many things that you can see and experience, including classical music concert in San Vidal church in the heart of Venice, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection of modern art, The Gallerie dell’Accademia and so forth for culture. The shopping is great, but don’t buy cheap knockoffs, they are known for their leather handbags, and I left with 2 on my first trip.

There’s the Rivo Alto or Rialto market has everything fresh you can imagine, from fruits and vegetables to seafood and everything in between. All of the outlying “islands” are worth seeing, depending on how much time you actually have. Just go, and explore!

You may be wondering why I don’t have more photo’s, I do, but not a lot, I don’t take as many photo’s as you’d expect, because I have made the conscious choice to experience my trips, rather than trying to capture the perfect shot. I don’t want to get lost behind the lense and have to look at my photos to see what I missed in person so to speak!

Sometimes our parting shots include sunrise.

Well there you have it, Venice from the perspective of someone that loves solo travel and found amazing experiences just getting lost half the time!

Remember, I’m here for all your luxury travel needs.

And if you have a suggestion for a city/country that you’d like me to focus on, please send me a message at maria @ theeventfultraveller.com and I’ll get to it asap.

Because each share truly helps me out, please consider sharing and pinning!

Thanks – Maria