Venice ~ Nothing Can Compare

We stood in the open mid-section of the vaporetto, braced against our suitcases and chilled by the cold wind that whipped off the canal that late November afternoon. We could have sat inside but didn't want to miss one minute of the sights, sounds, and smells that are Venice.

Venice vaporetto taking passengers to stops along the canal

We'd selected three cities to visit during our early winter 10-day Italian Escapade: Bologna, Verona and Venice.  I think we may just have unintentionally saved the best for last! 

Venice Revisited 

Oh the city of gondolas is magical

It wasn't our first visit to this centuries-old city built  atop some 117 small islands separated by 150+ canals and  connected by more than 400 bridges. But it certainly had been too long since we'd been back. On this late autumn trip we had arrived by train after spending a night in Verona then boarded a boat headed for our hotel in the San Marco district. Luckily our stop was one of the last so we could do some sightseeing along the way!

Aqua Alta 2012 in Venice  - photo from a blog post about that trip

Our last stay in 2012 was during a time known as 'acqua alta' (high water); a time when the city is flooded by high tide bringing the canals up over its walkways and piazzas. We didn't venture out often back then as each outing meant a balancing act on raised platforms installed for pedestrians to get around on when the floods occur. We hoped we'd not have a repeat of that weather phenomenon during this stay - and luckily, we didn't.

Famed Rialto Bridge - Venice

During our five day stay we planned to explore this fabled city's quarters, or sestieri, as they are called. Our overly-ambitious plans included visits to two nearby islands, Murano (for its glass) and Burano (for its lacemaking and colorful buildings). However, we were so taken with Venice we never made it to them. 

Exploring on a sunny but chilly morning

We again set forth on foot (as you do here until you are traveling on a canal) without any itinerary or 'must see' list. However we ended up visiting more tourist attractions than we had in the past because there were no lines of tourists.  We can probably thank the season and the lingering concerns over Covid for reducing the number of fellow visitors, but honestly, it was almost too good to be true.

No one taking a photo of the Bridge of Sighs - incredible sight!!

Take the Bridge of Sighs. . .on past visits so many tourists have wanted to take its photo - or worse, a selfie of themselves and the bridge - that we usually avoided the area all together as standing from where I took the photo above felt like being a sardine in a can.

We stood at that railing with few others

With maybe a dozen or so ahead of us, the line to check Covid vaccination status was longer at St. Mark's Basilic than was the ticket line. Absolutely no wait for tickets and no crowds inside. We were able to buy tickets once inside (again no wait) and visit the upper level art gallery and outdoor viewing area on the roof - again with only a handful of  others.

Waiting in the rain for the restaurant to open

The weather was fickle - one day we'd have sunshine and on another, rain.  It was chilly in the daytime and got rather cold at night which prevented us from enjoying the many bars and restaurants with tables and chairs that spill out onto the piazzas.  But it was never so extreme as to keep us inside as had the acqua alta on the previous trip.

The major sestieri (districts) of Venice

There is nothing better to our way of thinking in Venice than setting out on a walk with no destination in mind. Twisting walkways lead you over bridges, past shops, through piazzas and reveal all sorts of treasures that we find as interesting as those highly touted tourist sites. Take for instance:

 

Window food and drink storage

  A favorite walk was through residential areas, admiring flower boxes, shutters and facades on the ages-old buildings. It was  fun to spot places like the window sill above. It was cold enough to keep food and beverages chilled outside and that is just for what this window was being used. 

Ambulances and emergency rooms

We are both fans of Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti novels. Often a victim is taken to the hospital by ambulance in these 'who-dunnit' stories. It was interesting to see what the ambulances and emergency room entrances look like in a city whose 'roads' are canals.

Dock builders balanced on beams over the water

We found it interesting to watch workers balance on narrow beams - walking, and kneeling -- on the frame they were putting into place.  I'd not seen construction equipment working from a barge before nor workers balancing as if they were ballerinas. 

Did I mention the food?

Needless to say all the walking we did worked up both thirsts and appetites in all three cities we visited.  I haven't yet told you much about Italian food and drink. The next post will take you to public markets, shops, bars and restaurants. . .I promise to make your mouth water in a 'Taste of Italy'  

An Aperol Spritz

For those of you who are reading The Mediterranean Lifestyle magazine, you'll get a taste of Italy in  my article "A Bite of Bologna" that appears in the just-published Feb/March edition.  This edition is available on line and for the first time ever - in print as well!  

My article in The Mediterranean Lifestyle Magazine

That is it for this time around. We send wishes for safe travels to you and yours and thank you for the time you've spent with us strolling through Venice on a winter's day. Please come back for a serving of Italy's culinary arts and bring a friend or two with you~ 

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Travel Realities: The Other Side of the Postcard

“Do you ever write about the bad stuff. . .or do you ever experience any bad stuff?”

The question has been asked more than once of us.

In reality, we  haven’t experienced any real ‘bad stuff’ –  lost luggage, small rooms, cranky people, schedule changes – are irritations, but not ‘bad stuff’ in our book. 

Yet, we probably are guilty of focusing on the  pretty side of the postcard when writing of our travels. We’ve not spent much time on the flip side, the one on which the human message is written. 

Our travels -- particularly in Europe --have given us a chance to see the other side of the post card; particularly the graffiti and the protests.

Those images on the flip side of the card aren’t the picture-pretty tourism shots, and we don't focus on them but realize  it’s important not to forget them either. Today we remember:




Madrid, Spain

In Madrid, Spain posters announced a manifestacion (a protest) that would ultimately fill the Plaza del Sol with such numbers of unhappy Spaniards during our stay that we ultimately quit going through the square but took back streets to avoid it. We weren’t particularly afraid of going through the gathering but just as we avoid emotionally-charged groups of protesters at home, we do so on our travels as well.



Dubrovnik, Croatia

From the top of the Old City wall’s of Dubrovnik, Croatia we had spectacular views like that to the right, but also far too many views of graffiti marred historic buildings like the photo above.






Bologna, Italy

Graffiti artists had struck nearly every building here – even those where owners had painted murals to decorate the metal security doors that are pulled down and locked each night.

And while we loved this Italian city and hope to return one day soon, we’d be less than honest, if we didn’t mention the smell of urine that filled the air as we strolled through some of its famous arcades (and there weren’t that many dogs. . .let your imagination do the rest)







Naples, Italy

As we began our day-long explorations last fall the ‘welcome parade’ was a protest march – again by another unhappy group.

In fact, it is always interesting when we see the notices and the signs being carried. . .prompting this basically monolingual pair to wonder what all the unhappiness is about?












Seville, Spain

One of the more interesting protests we encountered was a group of unhappy teachers who’d set up their protest camp inside the massive Cathedral:



Venice, Italy

Even Venice was not immune to graffiti vandals who tagged walls where ever they saw fit:

Lisbon, Portugal

Where the  tram was so graffiti covered that it almost appeared to be a mural. . .

Madrid,  Spain

Where faux-blood, red paint was splattered near the sign of the Syrian Embassy when we went past one morning. . .and gone by the time we returned a  couple hours later.

And  the protestors who lined the street near the Embassy the day before. (Just down the city street firefighters had set up a protest camp).








United States:

I wrote that first portion of this post prior to our arrival in Honolulu, Hawaii last week.  It would have ended there, but we’ve got a post script to that postcard now:  We spent three nights with this view of Waikiki – the postcard view, you might say:

Saturday night as we walked back to our hotel, we sadly witnessed a fight between two street people; one who was using his leather belt to whip the bare upper body of the man who’d challenged him.  By the time we got past, they were grappling on the ground as sirens of the responding police cars could be heard. Three of the police cars were below our room for some time.  Just last night a police chase in Waikiki ended in officers killing a soldier, whom they were unable to otherwise restrain.

Yes, we’ve come to realize there are certainly two sides to the postcard. What have you learned from the other side of the postcard during your travels?

And that’s our contribution to Budget Travelers Sandbox’s Travel Photo Thursday.  Head over there for some additional armchair travel.  Hope you’ll visit our Facebook page as well. And come back again real soon.

Kotor, Montenegro: Climb Every Mountain

“Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every highway,
   Every path you know. . .”

As the steps grew more uneven – actually missing in places – and the town below looked like a miniature toy land, I started humming those lyrics from the “Sound of Music.” My mental musical mantra carried me upward as we conquered one of those ‘travel bucket list’ items we’d had since a cruise stop in Kotor, Montenegro back in 2004:

We were finally climbing the walls that zigzagged up the sheer face of the Hill of St. John to the remains of a once mighty fortress high above this town of some 26,000+ people. It had been on our list  since July’s triple-digit temperatures during that previous cruise  kept us from tackling it.



Last fall we’d again arrived by cruise ship, this time aboard the Celebrity Silhouette.  The October visit, on a cool crisp sunny day, didn’t provide us any weather-related excuses.

Kotor, is a UNESCO listed “World Natural and Historical Heritage Site” and its Old City, (that triangle of red roofs you see on the photo above) built between the 12th and 14th Centuries, remains a delightful warren of narrow streets and squares.

It is located on Boka Kotorska, the Bay of Kotor, at the far end of the deepest natural fjord in the Mediterranean.










Upon paying the 3-euro fee to walk the walls, we were provided a brochure with map showing color-coded zones: ‘relatively safe walking path, zone of increased risk and high risk zones’ and a brief history of points along the way. It also said, in bold red letters: You are advised to use caution on the trail and consider your physical condition.



After all, it is a climb of 1,350 steps with an ascent of 3,947 feet/1,200 meters. (And once up there, you will need to come down). It began quite easily on somewhat uneven steps that lined a sloped cobbled path, which once had been used to move cannons up to the fortress.

Steps along our route continued to be uneven, many broken or missing in places, yet fine in others. Low borders in places and others not. (There were places you didn’t want to make a misstep. )



This somewhat rickety metal bridge, spanning a deep crevasse, led into what remains of the fortress.

We explored its nooks and crannies, which were often accessed by tiny openings. (I am five feet tall, by the way).

Venetians built the walls and a reminder of their presence remains today in the image of the winged Lion of St. Mark, the symbol of the then Republic of Venice, just above modern- day graffiti.

From the fortress we had spectacular views back over the city and bay and into valleys on the other side of the hill, like this one that revealed the remains of an ancient church.



From the fortress mega-yachts appeared to be  the size of row boats.

Not everyone was able to make it to the top. Those of us who did photographed each other to celebrate the feat. We felt pretty smug during our descent when half way down we came across a group of red-faced, 20-somethings sucking air and declaring that they had gone far enough!





We had two major chuckles on this outing.  The first was the “No admission” sign near the fortress that cordoned off a sheer drop of several hundred feet:

And the second was the young woman we encountered along the way, who obviously had decided to dress formally for this outing:

If You Go:

By water:
There is nothing better than arriving in Kotor by boat traveling through the fjord that cuts through the towering cliffs, passing intriguing small hamlets along the way. If you have an opportunity to take a cruise with Kotor as a port of call – we recommend taking it!

Ferries from Bari, Italy and Bar,Montenegro also travel to Kotor.
By air:

The nearest airport is Tivat, eight kilometers away and is served by several airlines.

More information:  http://www.discover-montenegro.com/

It is time for Travel Photo Thursday so head over to Budget Travelers Sandbox for more armchair travel! Hope to see you back here Sunday for WAWeekend!

TPThursday: Travel Guilt or Gratitude?

Thanksgiving Day is being celebrated throughout the United States today with traditional acts of gluttony and, hopefully, with some time spent on gratitude (the day’s original purpose).

We are bypassing the culinary gluttony this year for. . . What else? Travel gluttony.  So, as I was stuffing our bags instead of a turkey, I was thinking about how grateful I am for the freedom and ability to travel as well as the joy it brings.

I recalled a passage from Paul Theroux’s  book, “Pillars of Hercules”.  Thanksgiving seemed the perfect day to share it with you:

“Did the traveler, doing no observable work,


                             (Early morning Milano, Italy’s train station)

freely moving among settled, serious people, get a pang of conscience? 

                             (Afternoon Bologna, Italy)

                           (Evening Cetona, Italy)

I told myself that writing – this effort of observation – absolved me from any guilt;

                             (Squero di San Trovaso, one of Venice’s few remaining gondola workshops)

but of course that was just a feeble excuse.

                              (Wine store in Venice, Italy)

This was pleasure.

                         (A piazza in Milano, Italy)

No guilt, just gratitude.”

Happy Thanksgiving ~ we are grateful to all of you for stopping by on this Travel Photo Thursday. Remember to stop by Budget Travelers Sandbox for more armchair travel.

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