HOLYLANDS CRUISE bLOG #4`

HOLYLANDS/CRUISE
BLOG #4
Ahhh Venice! We decided immediately that Venice must be one of the great places in the world. The Pacific Princess moored at the island port of Venice, the only place in town where we would see motorized vehicles, where we boarded a “water bus” which took us to the San Marcus “bus station”. A short walk behind our guide escort took us to Hotel Saturnia where we would stay for the next three nights. The Saturnia boasted four stars but would probably be awarded a maximum of two in San Francisco. None the less, it was comfortable, in the center of things and blended in well with the aged buildings in the neighborhood. After all, it wouldn’t be right to have a 30 story Hilton planted in the middle of a 15th and 16th century city.
Our first walk about the neighborhood was with the admonishment from the helpful desk manager that an unusually high tide was being experienced and the next day would be better for visiting the Piazza San Marcos. We were dying for a piece of real Italian Pizza so we headed out anyway. Sure enough, the tide was in and the large plaza in front of Basilica di San Marcos was covered with several inches of water. This was obviously not an unusual condition because platform walkways, about 24 inches high were in place so that the several thousand tourists in the area could take their pictures without getting their feet wet. Since it was about that time, we found a sidewalk restaurant facing the Canale Grande, and enjoyed lunch and an opportunity to people watch. We were immediately aware that Venetian footware is noticeably unique. Many of the ladies were wearing fashionable but obvious rubber or plastic boots so that they could walk through the tidal waters while keeping their tootsies dry. Very practical. After lunch we strolled across the Piazza di San Marcos on the raised walkways and noticed that the tidal waters were receding. Merchants surrounding the piazza were busily sweeping the remaining water out of their shops and from in front of their shops.
Our hotel hosts proudly announced that a complimentary tour of Murano came with our room. We knew we wanted to visit Murano so we signed up. Dottie’s Mother and Joe had visited Murano many years ago and brought home a chandelier that was a focal point in the entrance hall of their home. Our “taxi” driver arrived at the hotel and led us to a nearby water taxi that would take us to the island of Murano. On the way to the taxi, our guide stopped short and addressed us in Italian (we think) expressing concern that a large puddle left over from the high tide blocked our way. His look suggested that the whole gig was off because of the puddle. Bill quickly solved the problem by carrying Dottie “over the threshold” style walking through the almost ankle deep puddle. Dottie reacted with cool and aplomb as though such was an everyday occurrence, all the while knowing in her heart of hearts she was going to be dropped with each step. Venetian water taxi drivers each has his favorite short cut and our driver was no exception. He avoided the open sea by winding through Venice backroads giving us an eyeful of how the 60,000 residents of Venice live and where they work.
Our “free” tour of Murano consisted of a glass blowing demonstration as the only audience in a room with bleachers for fifty or sixty. We watched as a man attached a glob of molten glass on the end of a six foot pipe and then put the glob in a roaring furnace blowing through the pipe to form a lovely little vase. He added a couple of handles to the vase and cut it from the end of his pipe as a finished product. He then put another glob on the pipe and within 60 seconds or so fashioned a small horse complete with mane and flowing tail. Very impressive. Then we were led away from the furnaces to a show room of Murano glassware with some other stuff thrown in to provide a complete inventory. One room was full of marvelous chandeliers and various lighting fixtures while other rooms displayed beautiful crystal sets and objects of art made from glass. It was obvious we were expected to buy something which we didn’t. We knew that there were many similar shops on the island of Murano and we suggested that we would like to visit them. We were assured that we could but our “free” taxi wouldn’t be available to take us back to Venice. That’s the way it is with freebies. We decided that we had seen what we wanted to see at Murano so we returned to Venice. We were glad we went.
The coughing and sneezing of fellow passengers during our cruise finally caught up with Bill and Dr. Dottie “decided” that it was time to take a day off. She had already gone through the shared bugs earlier in our trip. We stayed in all day with food sent up from the kitchen below. It was a day well spent because we were both reenergized for our next day of touring in Venice.
It’s hard to believe that little Venice has 56 churches most of which date back several centuries. We decided we had to visit a few but not all. We focused on Santa Maria del Giglio, Santo Stefano and, of course, the Basilica di San Marcos. Each church had a unique story about its construction, funding and reconstruction. Each was beautiful in its own way. In most cases a wealthy individual put up the cash for construction to commemorate a special event or just to make certain that his family name wasn’t lost in history. The Basilica di San Marcos, St. Marks, was something else. It was impressive in its size and the considerable art work seemingly everywhere. We made our visit with easily a thousand or more tourists who took pictures with their digital cameras even though signs were everywhere prohibiting cameras and talking loudly even though “Silencio” signs were equally evident. We spent an hour enjoying the remarkable beauty of San Marcos. We paused for a while in a small chapel where we lit candles for loved ones in our lives that we have lost.
We (Bill) decided that we simply had to see the Ponte di Rialto, the famous bridge that was built in the 16th century. We found it after a good deal of meandering that took us by hundreds of shops whose intent that no tourist should leave Venice with any money left in the wallet. We window shopped but didn’t buy all that much. We finally found the Rialto bridge where we stopped at a nearby sidewalk café for a lunch next to the Grand Canal. Our final “to do” for the day was satisfied when we hired a gondola for two to take us back to our hotel, singing gondolier and all. We passed dozens of gondolas on our way some of which were loaded, maybe overloaded, with Japanese tourists who smiled and waved as they passed us looking a bit romantic and carried away with the moment.
At 5:00 am on our final day, a water taxi picked us up at the landing at the rear of our hotel and took us on the first leg of our trip home. A timely flight to Madrid where a long wait on the tarmac ultimately informed us that our bird wasn’t going to fly. American Airlines put us up in a five star hotel in a lovely suite readying us for our flight home a day later. We were really looking forward to stepping off the merry go round and the extra day left us totally exhausted. A good time and lots of fun can do that you know. And then, as we were waiting for our plane to take-off at Miami, we were told once again that our plane couldn't fly. We off loaded a sell-out crowd and boarded a second plane of the same maker. It only cost us an hour and we were pleased that our experience on Sunday wasn't repeated. Enough already! Granddaughter Andrea picked us up at 12:45 am and we were in our own bed for the first time in three weeks by 3:00 am. Life is good!
If you ever have an opportunity to visit this part of the world, don’t let it pass. We know, you can take a camel ride in lots of places but in front of the Pyramids of Giza is special.
Love to each and everyone,
Gram and Granpa Bill, Mom and Dad, Dottie and Bill