Venice, Italy (he said)
24 Mar 2018 by KentFeb 27 to March 1, 2018 – Venice. On the list of things that tourist guides tell you to pack for a trip to Venice, you won’t typically find winter coats, gloves and hats. Because Venice is surrounded by the warm waters of the lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, the temperature rarely falls below 40 degrees this time of year. Yet, due to the lingering polar vortex (or maybe it was some Siberian thing), we arrived after our drive from Cortina to freezing temperatures and a forecast for snow.
Once again Heather scored us a fantastic apartment, on the mainland and on the main bus line that would take us across the causeway to the Venice most people picture in their mind. We stowed our gear (imagine showing up to a tourist apartment in Venice with ski carriers, boots, and giant suitcases full of ski clothes), then bought a 24-hour pass and made it onto the island by late afternoon. The pass covers all modes of public transport in and around Venice (buses, trains, and boats).
The first excursion was to lap the main island by boat, travel back up the Grand Canal, and find a restaurant that was walking distance to the bus terminal. I guess technically everything in Venice is walking distance, since there are no cars, but whatever. We found a terrific restaurant, Osteria Bea Vita, in the quieter, northern section of streets/canals.
The next morning we awoke early (for us) and immediately headed back to Venice for a full day of tourist activities. As we were crossing the causeway by bus, we started to see patches of snow on the bridge and railings, and by the time we reached the Island, there were two inches of snow on the ground. This clearly doesn’t happen very often, because even the locals all had their phones out and were snapping photos of snow-covered boats and bridges.
We walked the streets to the south of the Grand Canal, then caught a boat to Murano, where we changed to a second boat to Burano. This is a more out-of-the-way island in the Venice Lagoon, famous for its fishermen, and for the brightly colored houses. My guess is that all the incorrectly mixed paints in Italy eventually end up in Burano, where they are distributed free to the residents.
Not to be outdone by its cousin in Pisa, Burano has its own leaning tower (but with a square instead of round cross-section). Our hoped-for delicious seafood lunch was pretty disappointing, especially considering that Burano is famous as a fishing village. But it was pleasant to walk all around and through the small island, and we headed back to Venice mid-afternoon.
After walking the central and eastern section, and visiting a few churches, we found a delicious Med-style restaurant, Frary’s, pretty much right in the middle of the island. We took our time walking back to the bus station, and found a few nice photo-ops down some small side streets.
Then it was time to wrap up our winter European trip, and catch an early flight home. And while it doesn’t snow very often in Venice, not even once per year on average, our plane had to be de-iced because, just for us, it snowed. Again. For a second straight day. Which delayed our flight. Which caused us to miss our connection in Paris. Which caused us to get re-booked on the dreaded Delta Airlines (partner to Air France). Which actually wasn’t so bad after all. Our previous flight on Delta, all the way back in 2003, was so bad that we successfully avoided the airline for a decade and a half. But now I guess we’ll have to reconsider, and give them another chance. All indications are that the title, “worst airline in the world,” is now owned by United.
Coming up, no flights (or cars for that matter) for a while, as we prepare for our annual, three-month, springtime Bahamas cruise. Our next post will feature turquoise water and, hopefully, delicious freshly-caught fish.