DAY 6: Venice, Italy
Dubrovnik is gorgeous but Venice is my favorite place on Earth. I’d been there about 12 years earlier and I was anxious to visit again. The last time I was there it was the middle of winter so I practically had the whole place to myself but this time it was very crowded. When we got up that day we took a Vaporetto (a water bus) to San Marco where we saw San Marco cathedral and the Doge’s palace. We didn’t go inside because the lines were hours long and I’d been there before. We wanted to spend the precious time we had there exploring the city.
San Marco is famous for the large number of pigeons that inhabit its piazza so we decided to buy some bird food and feed them. All we had to do was hold out a fistful of bird seed and within seconds several of pigeons would land on our arm and eat right out of our hand. It was a blast.
We did that for about 10 minutes until we ran out of food and then went to have some food of our own.
The next item on our agenda was to track down a restaurant that one of my friends in the states had told us about. Since we were going to be staying overnight in Venice we wanted to have a really nice Italian dinner on shore. It took us about a half hour to find the restaurant because there are very few street signs in Venice and it was hard to get directions with our very limited Italian. We wanted to make reservations but we also had a gondola shore excursion scheduled for that night so we chose to wait and see what time that ended before committing to a restaurant. From there we decided to wander through the backstreets of Venice. It didn’t take long before we were completely lost. Getting lost in Venice however, is in my opinion, the best way to see the city. We got to see all the small, less traveled canals, all the brightly colored buildings and lesser known cathedrals, and we weren’t surrounded by throngs of tourists all trying to see the same things we were. At some point it started to rain and we decided to try to find our way back to San Marco before we got totally drenched.
We were hopelessly disoriented however so we just tried following some other people who seemed to be trying to find their way out of the Venetian labyrinth as well. As we walked along we discovered what seemed to be primarily an art supply store. Lucky for us, they also sold umbrellas. We purchased an umbrella and continued on our quest for San Marco. After walking for about 15 minutes we started to see tourists again so we knew we must be on the right track.
We managed to reach the Grand Canal, but much to my surprise we ended up at the Rialto Bridge, quite a distance from where we started. The Rialto Bridge is one of the most famous in Venice. It is quite wide with a series of ornately carved arches cross the top. On the bridge one can find many little shops that offer Venetian products and souvenirs. After exploring the bridge, we decided to return to the ship for a nap before our gondola ride scheduled for 7:30pm that evening.
A gondola ride through the canals of Venice is something I recommend to everyone. We went at twilight and it was such a surreal experience. My fiancé managed to talk our tour guide into letting us on the one boat, out of the 20 on the excursion, which had the accordion player and the singer. It was a truly indescribable experience. The sky was rosy, the air was balmy, the canals were serene, and the music was magical. I didn’t end up taking the gondola ride the last time I was there and I’m glad that I finally got to do it. It is one of the highlights of my life and I will never forget it.
When the ride was over we made our way back to the restaurant that we had chosen not to make reservations for earlier in the day and discovered that they had no availability. We were kicking ourselves for not making the reservations but we weren’t going to let it get in the way of our night in Venice. We walked a little further up the Grand Canal and came upon a little restaurant called Carpaggio. Fortunately, they had one table left. The restaurant was very lovely, with soft yellow tones and candlelight. And the food was to die for. Real Italian food is very different than the Italian food we have in the states. The cheese there is lighter and fluffier and melts in your mouth. I had the manicotti and my fiancé had a Caprese salad. Both were excellent.
For dessert, we had the most divine tiramisu I’ve ever put in my mouth. By the end of the meal we were both stuffed. After dinner we decided to do a little souvenir shopping and purchased, among other things, a couple of authentic Venetian masks to wear to the masquerade that was scheduled for the next night on the ship. It wasn’t long though before the shops began closing up for the evening. With little else to do in Venice at that hour we decided to make our way back to the ship
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