The romance of Venice
You can hardly believe a city like this really exists, its gelato-hued, wedding-cake buildings perched at the edge of watery streets…
…boats zipping past instead of cars…
…the ancient house facades and narrow alleys suffused with a romantic decay.
Speaking of gelato
On June 3rd we flew to Venice — my husband and I and our daughter, who chose the Italian lagoon city as a must-see when we offered a post-graduation trip to Europe — hoping to beat the masses of summer tourists and the heat by making it our first stop.
We stayed 5 days in a small, family-owned hotel, Locanda Gaffaro, in the charming and quiet Dorsoduro neighborhood. This is the courtyard upon which the hotel opens, with views of sherbet-colored houses.
The view along the nearest canal — charming, no?
While gondolas are what Venice is associated with, they’re expensive tourist rides.
We admired them as scenery but did not ride one.
Instead we bought multiday travel cards that allowed us to travel up and down the busy Grand Canal on water buses, called vaporettos (larger boat at right).
The scenery along the Grand Canal, Venice’s main thoroughfare, is grand, like San Simeone Piccolo church, built in the early 1700s…
…but also workaday, like this UPS delivery boat.
All boats — or at least visitors — end up at Piazza San Marco, an expansive plaza along the Grand Canal that is home to the Doge’s Palace, a crenulated, Gothic-arched, pink box…
…the domed and spired St. Mark’s Basilica…
…and an imposing campanile (or bell tower).
The basilica is an opulent piece of Byzantine architecture built in the 11th century (that’s right, the 1000s). Photography of the interior is prohibited, and although we saw many people taking photos anyway, we refrained. It is spectacular inside and well worth visiting.
Entry is free, but the line to get through security’s bag-check can be long. To get in quicker, find the offsite bag depository, just off the plaza, and leave your backpack there (you can take a small purse with you into the church; mine doubled as a camera bag). Then you can breeze through a shorter line for those who pre-checked their bags. Also, you must cover your shoulders and upper legs inside the church, so bring a shawl and wear pants or a skirt (to the knee) or you’ll have to put on a paper wrap at the door.
Detail of the basilica’s doors
Next door is the Doge’s Palace, the former residence of the Venetian republic’s supreme leader and the seat of government, and a museum since 1923. It was built in the 14th century and reconstructed in the 15th, another ancient and beautiful Venetian landmark.
Giants’ Staircase
Clock detail
I confess I get impatient with palace and cathedral tours, preferring to be outside people-watching, exploring streets, plazas, or parks, and sampling local foods. But still, this place does impress.
And the windows offer stunning views of the city.
Beautiful Venice
Statue detail on a massive fireplace
While touring the palace you can cross the Bridge of Sighs, one of the most famous landmarks in Venice, to explore the palace prisons. According to romantic lore, prisoners were said to sigh as they were marched across the bridge and got their last glimpse of the city before imprisonment. This is the view they would have had.
And here’s the free man’s view of the Bridge of Sighs.
Exploring the city along the smaller canals, you cross dozens of arched pedestrian bridges offering picturesque views.
Shops showcase traditional Venetian wares, like stationery, blown-glass ornaments, and masks and costumes.
Imagine wearing one of these to a masked ball.
Or this!
Funnier faces made of dough on display in a pizzeria window.
We sampled plenty of pizza, but one night we splurged on a seafood dinner at Estro, which I knew about from my friend Freda Cameron‘s Facebook posts about her visit to Venice, just days before ours.
The service, wine, and food were wonderful, including anchovies atop tomatoes…
…and cuttlefish with a crispy topper made with its own ink.
During the course of our stay, we visited nearby islands like Murano, known for its glass-blowing factories, and the lace-making isle of Burano.
We crossed the lagoon…
…to visit San Giorgio Maggiore church…
…which offers stunning views from its bell tower.
View of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Plaza from San Giorgio Maggiore.
An emerald labyrinth behind the church, as seen from the bell tower.
We did plenty of walking and exploring…
…and had our share of Aperol spritzes, seemingly the official cocktail of Venice.
One of the highlights of our time in Venice was seeing the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a modern art museum in Guggenheim’s former home along the Grand Canal. This is the sculpture she placed facing the canal, in view of neighboring churches and passersby. It’s The Angel of the City by Marino Marini, and it’s, ahem, an attention grabber.
A sculpture garden on the other side of the house includes a neon phrase by Mario Merz on an ivied wall: Se la forma scompare la sua radice è eterna, or If the Form Vanishes Its Root Is Eternal.
A garden pavilion is topped with greenery.
Nearby sits Two Figures, a sculpture by Luciano Minguzzi.
This engraved bench intrigued me.
A young woman at the museum told us about Peggy Guggenheim’s life story, which was full of adventure, pet dogs, and heartbreak.
Inside we admired works by artists like René Magritte (Voice of Space)…
…and Gino Severini (Sea = Dancer).
A collection of blue glass sculptures by Egidio Costantini, modeled on Picasso sketches, were displayed appealingly in a window overlooking the Grand Canal.
After 4-1/2 days, it was time to say goodbye to Venice. We took a two-hour flight to Paris, where we spent 5 days in the City of Lights.
Coming up next: Our visit to Paris, including views of Monet’s waterlily paintings.
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I think your next book should be a travel book of your pictures and your descriptive monologue. I could almost picture myself riding the buses and walking the streets with you.
I’m glad I conjured it up for you. Thanks for the lovely comment. 🙂
I think you were smart going to Venice in May. Less crowded and undoubtedly cooler. Some beautiful shots of the buildings especially those spires and towers. No shots of the dungeons? They made me feel desperate to get back outside. A trip of a lifetime for Julia.
I think David got a shot of the dungeons, but of course I only included a sampling for this post. We were actually there in early June. It was warm during the day but cool after dark. I was glad to beat the worst of the summer heat.
Pretty! I liked seeing Venice through your lens. But no garden visits?
I did include two: Peggy Guggenheim’s sculpture garden (and former backyard) and the hedge labyrinth behind San Giorgio Maggiore. I saw evidence of many private walled gardens from the outside, but I don’t know how you’d get access. I wonder if there were any public gardens I missed.
Now, that’s a fabulous graduation present! I’ve visited Rome and Florence but never made it to Venice. I love all the aerial views you captured, as well as the mini-tour of the Guggenheim museum.
David and I visited Rome and Florence in 1989, right after we graduated from college. But we’d never been back to Italy until now. I loved seeing Venice, but I confess that Florence remains my favorite.
Thank you for sharing your trip..I enjoyed seeing Venice vicariously especially since yours are not the usual touristy shots AND you tell us where and what we are viewing.
I’m glad it didn’t seem like a forced slideshow viewing at the neighbors’ house — ha!
Our trip to Venice was in September, thinking we’d also manage to miss a lot of the summer tourists. I remember spending a couple of hours sitting on the steps of San Simeone Piccolo church watching the people go by, such a wonderful vantage point in a magical city.
That sounds lovely. People watching is such fun.
What fun! Such a beautiful city. CAn’t imagine bopping around town in a boat! It certainly is like being in another world.
The only other places I can compare it to are Amsterdam and the River Walk in San Antonio. But it’s taken to a whole other level in Venice.
pam, thank you so much for this lovely post! will be visiting italy (venice, florence and rome) next september and i’m salivating thru your photos – lol! how lucky is julia! can’t wait to see your paris adventure!
You will have such a great time there! Bon voyage (early)!
Thanks so much for this post!
It’s my pleasure!
Enjoyed another trip through your lens (figuratively as well as literally). How did you not get lost exploring the city?
The maze-like alleys were easy to get lost in, for sure. But the city is not very large, and we had GPS on our phones. Less romantic than phone-less wandering, to be sure.
Pam, your wonderful pictures and accompanying texts took me back to 2000, when Julie and I went with the American Horticultural Society to Venice and Veneto. When we visited the Guggenheim, the VP showed us around. When he learned we were from Dallas, he could hardly contain his excitement, because they had just gotten some important modern sculptures on loan from the Nasher Museum in Dallas. It made me appreciate the Nasher even more than I already did.
There’s nothing like travel to make you appreciate home, I find. You come home and see everything afresh.
Venice is stunning, one of the few places that truly lives up to its hype.
It’s a very beautiful city.