Weekend in Venice

The weekend before last, one of Michael's colleagues was going to be in Venice for a few days and asked if we would like to join him. It turns out that Michael had never been up that way, so of course we'd like to go!

We duly booked train tickets and B&B accommodations, and the day finally arrived!

In the meantime, a long-time business associate who lives nearby and has a boat in Venice invited us to join him in a lagoon excursion! What a great opportunity to see a different aspect of the city.

When we arrived, we had an entire afternoon at our disposal. What better way to spend it than by going out to Burano? This outlying island is about 45 minutes by vaporetto (which get their name from the fact that they used to be steam "vapore" boats, although now they run on diesel), and is a charming collection of houses painted in tropical colors. Each house is a different (bright) color from the house next to it. Combine this appearance with the fact that Burano is a lace-making center, and it becomes my personal Mecca.

Burano, of course

We found the location of the historical lace collection that used to be in a museum, as well as the collection of old ladies who demonstrate lace making (also used to be in the museum, presumably only during opening hours): one of the shops specializes in the high-end handmade traditional lace "Punto in Aria" or possibly Venetian lace. They had some beautifully-made lace and embroidered gowns, children's clothes, and so on craftily mixed in with machine-made schlock (which annoyed Michael unspeakably) to sell at more moderate prices. One can understand the need to have different price points, but the borderline deceptive practices are rather questionable.

Wandering around, Michael was greatly amused/perturbed by the use of the area underneath the precariously tilting bell tower as a children's playground. While one doesn't expect that it will fall in the near future, one never knows: the tilt is already noted at 2 meters from vertical.

Time to get back to the B&B for a rest, and then dinner! We had amazing grilled razor clams, and other delights at a local fish joint recommended by our Italian friend.

The next day (Saturday), we spent the morning exploring the alleys around our hotel. The B&B is located in Castello, which is actually a very nice quarter from the standpoint that it's more where actual people live, as opposed to being a focal point for tourists. The area is a charming mix of tight alleyways that open unexpectedly into little piazzas. While it doesn't offer the "spectacular" sights like San Marco, it does have San Zaccaria with its choir and lovely crypt, and a few other pretty churches.

The crypt at San Zaccaria was a bit damp when we visited...

Warehouse in Castello loading a pallet into a boat

It was at a local greengrocers that we discovered "giuggiole." Called jujubes in English, they're vaguely like a fresh date in form and general appearance (hard-ish, brown skin), but are crispy/crunchy like a pear or apple, with an apple-like flavor. The interior has a pit. Dried, they become gummy and fruity, and these are, in fact, the origin of "jujube" as a gummy, fruity candy. 

We also reminded ourselves of "uva fragola." I've had them here before: a type of grape that is dark purple, quite small (but not as small as champagne grapes), and very round, it has a tough but flavorful skin and a very distinctive aftertaste. It's very similar to a muscadine, and Michael speculated that it was a Concord grape. With a little research, we determined that it was indeed a fairly near cousin to the Concord grape that was developed as an import from the New World to Europe.

In the afternoon, we went out in the boat to have a long tour of the outlying islands. We had the chance to stop at Torcello (the original Roman settlement in the area; Venice only became the focal point much later in history) and admire the churches and the local museum, as well as the excavations. We circled around Burano, then went to San Francesco del Deserto (yes, a "desert" in a lagoon: apparently Saint Francis visited the area, and a monastery sprang up on that island. It is usually a place of rest and quiet, but unfortunately two large tour groups showed up simultaneously with our arrival, so it wasn't particularly quiet or restful...but we certainly got the idea). We went down much of the way to the mouth of the lagoon, along Lido, and then it was time to head back. Aperitivi with our host, and then dinner! We ended up at a delightful restaurant, where we had mussels and other delights. Yum!

I'm still worried about that tower [Michael]

View of Venice as we returned from the outlying islands

We met up with Michael's colleague on Sunday morning, and showed him St. Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, and a few other sights near his hotel. We had a typical Venetian street food lunch: little slices of bread (think a baguette sliced into circles) covered with various bits and bobs like shrimp salad, smoked salmon, that sort of thing. The afternoon brought more boating, but with more people. Our Italian host brought along a date, and there was Michael's colleague, another coworker (and his client), and us! We enjoyed aperitivi on the island of Mazzorbo (which connects to Burano via a bridge), then explored other areas, including the interior canals of Murano and more! Dinner was at a splendid restaurant (more fresh fish, yum! Living in an interior region, we found that to be a real treat), and back home for a morning train ride home.

Did we mention passing Murano at sunset Sunday?

Love,

Alexandra