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On to Verona and Venezia (Venice), Italy - October 31-November 1, 2005
Verona
Halloween morning, also known in Europe as All Hallow's Eve, had us boarding the bus once again. Our journey would take us from Florence to Verona and then on to Venice.
We stopped in Verona near the Roman Ampitheatre, commonly known as the Arena. Many structures are under restoration in Italy, but rather than hide the buildings or cause a blight from all the scaffolding, they erect life-sized screens depicting the structure's likeness. There may be a safety aspect to it as well, but the care is taken to be able to see the buildings in their entirety.
Verona's walking tour led us from the Arena down the street to a tiny alley, to view the 'home' and balcony of Shakespeare's Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet. The alley walls leading to the courtyard are filled ground-to-ceiling with 'He loves her' and 'She loves him' graffiti.
It is a very romantic setting once you enter the courtyard, if you can imagine it without the hordes of tourists groping the left breast of the bronze statue of Juliet for whatever reason. Personally, I think Shakespeare would turn over in his grave or be laughing hysterically at all the hoopla over a fictional work.
A short block later, we entered Piazza delle Erbe. Smaller in size than the squares we'd seen in Rome and Florence, the Piazza delle Erbe had its own charm. The center was lined with outdoor market booths filled with all sorts of tourist souvenirs, fresh fruits and vegetables and food stands.
I certainly miss the panini sandwiches we found in Italy - such as foccacia bread brushed with olive oil and toasted, with one or two thin slices of prosciutto and cheese. Very simple and light, but bursting with flavor. Yummy!
Completing our short visit to Verona, we again boarded the bus and continued on to Venice, crossing the River Adige (left).
Even though our visit occurred in mid-autumn, we had been treated to wonderful weather. Being Internet savvy, we checked out the weather predictions for Italy prior to leaving the States and figured it would be raining from about our third day on. Verona was the first bit of inclement weather we had encountered and that was only a bit overcast. We were very fortunate to not be spending our walking excursions in the rain as we had anticipated.
Venezia (Venice)
Gondola ride
By mid-Monday afternoon, we had arrived in Venezia (Venice). Some of us had booked the gondola ride excursion and soon after we reached our hotel, the boats began to 'park' just ourside our door.
Eileen and Dan are obviously enjoying our tour. We had just been commenting on how we had heard Volare in nearly every city on the tour, but had yet to hear O Sole Mio. Unfortuately, it was already dark when we left, so we were unable to get photos of the brilliantly colored homes.
Dinner off Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square)
Dinner that night was at the Restaurant All'Angelo, located behind Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square. After enjoying the Italian serenade and more fabulous Italian food, we strolled back through the square, viewing some of the architecture of St. Mark's Bascilica.
Musei Civici (Civic Museum)
The first of November's tour would take us to the Musei Civici, or Civic Museum, home of Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) and the Bridge of Sighs, near St. Mark's Square. The palace is the former seat of the Venetian administration of justice. The Bridge of Sighs was the suspended walkway above a canal between the palace and the prisons.
Here you can see the Bridge of Sighs. It is said that when the prisoners would be taken to the jails, they would look out over the beauty of the lagoon and the island of San Giorgio, and sigh at their lost freedom. We were able to tour this bridge and see the prisoners' final views before being inprisoned.
The symbol of Venice is a beautiful blond (we would learn later) with a winged lion by her side as seen in bronze outside the Doge's Palace. Nothing was done without extravagance, including the 24-karat gold gilded ceilings inside the palace.
Our 'expanded' tour of Venice
After the tour of the Doge's Palace, we were given a glass-blowing demonstration at Vecchia Murano. To me what was more amazing than the beauty of the glass pieces, was how quickly the blower was able to complete a work. We left many more tourist Euros there and began our walk back to the hotel.
We returned to St. Mark's Bascilica, noting the higher tide waters coming into the square (notice puddling). At highest tide, it actually floods and people walk along table-like, elevated walkways. From here we had two directions to follow to reach the hotel on the other side of Venice - head for Piazza Rialto and from there, head for the Ferrovia, or train or ferry station. So much easier said than done!
We managed to skip right over the Piazza Rialto and headed for the Ferrovia. Well, we ended up on the opposite side of Venice from where we supposed to be - so turned around that we saw the hospital complex twice! You'll be walking along an alleyway or walkway and suddenly you've reached a dead end at a canal with no bridge. And maps will do you no good as they don't accurately show you which have bridges and which don't. We did get to see the true neighborhoods of Venice though, along with the UPS boats!
After a couple of extra hours wandering, we returned to the Carlton Grand Canal. We spent our last evening in Venice dining at Tre Gobbi, or the The Three Hunchbacks.
The next morning, it was time to say Arrivederci to GiamPaolo, our guide, and the rest of the tour group as we were breaking off to venture up into the Alps to visit family. Al took in one last view from his balcony overlooking the Grand Canal and we began to make our way to Marmentino.
