First of two full days in Venice. The public transportation in Venice for the commoners is the Vaporetto. It’s a city bus on the water, making many stops and cramming people on with standing room only. But the views are fantastic. The tickets are similar to the bus system. Buy a ticket before you get on and validate. Noone checks but if you get caught without a valid ticket the fines are high. The cost of a one way ride on the Vaporetto is almost $10. A 24 hour boat pass cost $25. So I decided to get my money’s worth and get a 24 hour pass and ride a lot on Thursday! I did see a lot of business people getting on an off the water taxi’s which are a private ride on a low speedboat.
What a fun way to travel. I started on the slow #1 cruising the Grand Canal. It stops about 12 times between the train station and San Marco square. I was able to get a seat in the front of the boat (the tourist section) where you could see both sides of the canal. I listened to a podcast on my iphone that described the buildings and their history.
My first destination was Murano, one of the islands near Venice, home of the famous glassmakers. Murano is much quieter than Venice. The streets facing the water were mostly selling Murano glass jewelry and home decor. There are a couple of furnaces where you can watch demonstrations of the glass blowing process. Doesn’t look like OSHA has any input here. This guy is wearing shorts, tennis shoes and no gloves as he works in front of a furnace that is over 1100 degrees. Murano’s reputation as a center for glassmaking was born when the Venetian Republic, fearing fire and destruction of the city’s mostly wooden buildings, ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano in 1291.
I did some shopping – glass jewelry of course. Having trouble deciding what I’m going to keep and what I’m going to give as gifts. Not sure the deals big – as I can find the same stuff online here for similar prices. But it’s the hunt that was the fun.
Venice at Night
Venice really shines in the evening. The throngs of daytrippers have returned to the cruise ships and their mainland hotels. Once the sun goes down, things cool off as the breezes pickup. It really is a romantic city at night. It is quiet, especially on the small streets. Venice is not a party town like other European cities (i.e. everywhere in Greece). Grocery stores were closing up a 8pm. Restaurants stay open until 10 or 11 and by midnight nightlife is done.
Just wandering the streets is pleasurable at night and very safe. I decided to do something a little different on Thursday night and treated myself to a Vivaldi concert at a small church on San Marco Square. The performance was Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by the San Marco Chamber Orchestra. These performances are held nightly in the summer and into the fall. The Four Seasons performance alternates with an opera night showcasing Vivaldi’s opera compositions.
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741), a Venetian trained to be a priest, found his passion as an Italian Baroque composer and virtuoso violinist. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. I recognized the music as soon as they started playing. Here is a link to a youtube video of another orchestra performing a piece.
The concert was just over an hour. A relaxing way to unwind after a busy hot day. After the concert I just wandered the streets. I happened on a museum that chronicles the history of the orphanage where Vivaldi was a teacher and where he composed his music.
I had intended to walk back to the hotel from San Marco but it just isn’t easy to go that far and not get lost. After an hour of purposely wandering I started to look for a boat stop. By 10:30 many of the lesser stops were shut down. Finally found my way to the Acaddemia stop on the other side of canal and boarded a very crowded bus. Standing room only as people were winding down their evenings.