Venice Italy

From Rome to Venice, we took the 4.5 hours TrenItalia EuroStar train and arrived around noon, costs at 89.86 Euro. We are staying at the Hotel Pincipe, right next to the Venezia Santa Lucia train station, a 5 minutes walk to the hotel. Upon check-in, we immediately went out for a walk and find very quiet streets as it's Christmas day. Pretty much everyone walking on the street are tourists looking for an open shop and most of the shops are actually closed. We do find some restaurants that's still open, so we immediate hop in and get some snacks and cup of coffee. Since there really isn't much to see on Christmas day, we simply forget about the map and let ourselves be guided by the narrow, meandering streets and picturesque bridges that link all neighborhoods in Venice. Venice is actually not a big city and we could get around very easily by walk, or by the Vaporetto, the super-efficient water taxi that keeps Venetians and tourists moving along the Grand Canal.


At night, we went to see an opera called Opera Balletto. The show is a Musica in Maschera, which is a charming concert-entertainment unique in the world joining the art of melodrama and the mysterious and enchanted world of Venetian masks. All the musicians and singers were wearing the eighteenth century costumes and perturbing handcrafted masks. The show is performed at the Scuola Grande Di S. Giovanni Evangelista building. It is about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.







On the second day, after breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Piazza San Marco or St. Mark's square. We board a vaporetto at the Ferrovia boarding point and depart at the San Marco pier, right in front of the St. Mark's square. We start with the gothic jewel that is the symbol of Venetian civilization, Il Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. The Palazzo Ducale was the official residence of each Venetian ruler and was founded in the 9th century. The present palace owes its external appearance to the bilding work of the 14th and early 15th centuries. Ducale palace is full with paintings and frescoes by Tiziano, Veronese, Tiepolo, Tintoretto and other great masters. The 15th-century staircase is crowned by Sansovino's statues of Mars and Neptune, symbols of Venice's power.



The Bridge of Sighs or Ponte dei Sospiri was built in 1614 as a passage way between the Palazzo Ducale and the prison. It reputedly took its name from the sighs of prisoners being led to trial. The Ducal Palace originates in the beginning of the 9th century, while the history of Venice as a city goes back as far as the fall of the Roman empire at the end of the 5th century. Also located in the St. Mark's square is the Museo Correr which has an extensive collection of the art and history of Venice, including aspects of everyday life ranging from the vital role of the sea to the festivals and games that animated the city. Right in the center of Piazza San Marco is the St. Mark's Basilica, which blends the architectural styles of East and West to create one of the greatest buildings in Europe. The exterior owes its almost Oriental splendor to countless treasures from the Republic's overseas empire. Among these are copies of the famous bronze horses, brought from Constantinople in 1204. The magnificent multicolored marble façade is capped by five domes and adorned with an intricate series of mosaics.



There are lots of choices for drinks in the St. Mark's square area. We picked the one opposite to the Basilica Gran Caffe' Lavena at San Marco 133, the locals claim is the best espresso in the piazza San Marco. Going down from the Piazza San Marco to the Rialto area, the Mercerie and the nearby Calle dei Fabbri have been the main shopping streets in Venice for hundreds of years, attracting crowds of shoppers. Again, time for shopping for souvenirs and gifts and choices are plentiful. Other the usual designer clothing, Venice is also well known for its masks and costumes. The Laboratorio Artigiano Maschere in Castello specialises in traditional mask making, with some truly splendid and eye-catching designs. Some of them even hold workshops to demonstrate their craft of mask making.







Early morning, we went to the Rialto Pescheria, or fish market. The grand hall, with its heavy stone arches, wooden-beamed ceiling and black lanterns, dates to 1917 and marks the spot where fishmongers have been selling the curious lagoon creatures since the Renaissance. Continuing down the road reached the massive marble Rialto Bridge, the oldest bridge on the Grand Canal built in wood as early as the 12th Century and remodeled in stone in the 17th century. Today, the bridge is lined with boutiques and peddlers and it remains one of the city's busiest and most bustling areas. Few visitors leave Venice without crossing the famous bridge. It is a also a wonderful place to watch and photograph the constant activity of boats down on the Grand Canal below.



In the afternoon, we took a vaporetto and went to the Murano Island nearby. The DM route takes about 10 minutes. It is faster than route 42 as it goes directly to Murano without all the middle stops. Murano has been the center of the glassmaking industry since 1291, when the furnaces and craftsmen were moved here from the city because of the risk of fire and the disagreeable effects of smoke as buildings were mostly wooden at the time. Visit the ubiquitous glass shops on Murano, and there are countless paperweights, glass beads and necklaces, knickknacks, and items of glass jewelry. Some are colored fish in transparent glass aquariums, or wrapped hard candies of multicolored glass. Others are pretty glass necklaces and beads, for example. Most Murano factories have large showrooms where you can watch demonstration of the glass being formed. For more information about the history of Murano glass, check out this LifeInItaly website.



When all is said and done, Venice is a truely unique and wonderful city for visit. Most people probably agree that Venice is a city everyone should see and expereience at least once.