Italy - Day 8 and 9

Italy - Day 8 and 9 - Venice

Before we left Venice on Sunday night....

On Monday morning, we left our hotel in Mestre on the mainland, for the short ten minute bus ride to Venice. It was overcast and threatening but the forecast indicated that it would clear up in the early morning and then be spotty the rest of the day.

We had been to Venice in 1984 and at that time had visited the Murano glass works, the shuls and the Ghetto. Back then there was no kosher restaurant and as far as we can remember no Chabad presence in Venice. This would be a visit after an absence of 32 years. It would be interesting to see how much we remembered and how different Venice would be be today from the way we remembered it. Here is a picture from our first visit.

Back then, if I remember correctly, the only way to get to the 117 islands that make up Venice was by train or boat. The rail bridge that did connect the islands to the mainland was built in 1846. Surprisingly, when we went in the '80s, the causeway road that was built beside the rail line, which had opened in 1933, was already in existence. But I guess we did not know about it.

Today busses using the 2.39 mile causeway, deposit thousands of tourists and workers at the Piazza Roma throughout the day. And from there you make your way throughout this city of 177 canals and 409 bridges, to explore one of the most tourist frequented cities in the world.

Venice is part of the Patreve metropolitan area, encompassing the cities of Padua, Treviso and Venice, with a total population of 2.6 million people, with just 60000 of them living in the archipelago city of Venice.

Venice is Europe's largest urban car free area. Venice is unique in Europe, in having remained a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

Even though this was a relatively quiet period of the year, there is always tourism here and wanting to explore a lot on foot rather than boat, we decided to get there early to beat the tourist traffic on the small meandering lanes and streets.

Over the more than three decades since we last visited, it was clear to us that the tourism had become much more organized and developed. There were thousands of quaint little touristy shops lining the streets and the canals, and yes, all the big name shoppes had now discovered Venice.

After a very busy week of visiting small towns and shuls in Piedmont, Verona and Padua and a couple of days touring around Lake Como, we decided that this day would be a day with no itinerary and no organized tours. We spent the entire morning walking through the lanes and shopping districts, slowly winding our way past the Rialto Market and the Rialto Bridge, towards Piazza San Marco, the tourist hub of Venice.

This is how it looked in 1984

This vast square was constructed in the 9th century and was laid out in front of St. Mark's Basilica, which at the time was the small chapel of the Doge's Palace. Over the years the square was enlarged and important government buildings and other facilities central to the goings on in Venice were located here.

The bell tower that stands 98.6 meters tall (323 ft) and is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks was originally built in the 9th century and the current version was rebuilt in 1912 after the original tower collapsed in 1902.

Besides tourists and important buildings, Piazza San Marco is best known for its pigeons. And we got to know them on our visit to this amazing square.

The other thing that people like to do is to sit at a coffee shop or restaurant in the square and have a delicious Italian Cappucino while watching the other visitors to the square. We sat down to enjoy a well deserved Cappucino but when the waiter told us that the cost was 16 euro each, we decided that coffee, though very important, would have to wait.

We took a vaparetto (water taxi) back in the direction of the ghetto and it was good to be off our feet and to enjoy the breeze and the sun.

We continued exploring and made our way back to the Jewish area for an early dinner at GamGam, the Chabad owned fleishig eatery. We had passed it earlier and it seems like it is constantly busy. The food was very good, and like the previous night, we ended up playing Jewish geography with a couple from London England, who, as it turned out had a son married to the daughter of a first cousin from Manchester.

We then walked up to the kosher bakery and bought some pastry and cheese for the next morning, and outside the bakery met a couple from LA who were friends with the Korobkins.

And then we bumped into two other couples with whom we had spent Shabbat in Sirmione and another couple who were traveling with their grandchildren and who were connected to a family from Toronto.

As they say, it is a small Jewish world, or, if two Jews are talking and find that they are not somehow connected, then it is a sign that they have not talked long enough.

It was a long and enjoyable day of shopping, walking, boating and good food and we slowly walked back to Piazza Roma and caught our two stop bus ride back Hilton Garden Inn, Mestre.

The next morning, we left quite early for Piazza San Marco and before the crowds had gathered, we got speedy entry into the Doge's Palace. It is one of the main landmarks in Venice and was the palace and residence of the Doge, the supreme authority when Venice was a republic. It was opened as a museum in 1923 and today is one of 11 major museums run by the city.

We got in early and spent a couple of hours walking thru the vast grounds and huge meeting rooms that make up the palace. Unfortunately, the apartments were not open for viewing.

We also toured the famous jails underneath the complex and the bridge of sighs, so called because it was from there that prisoners had their last view of civilization through the windows on the bridge before their incarceration.

We returned to the mainland, packed up our things and began our lengthy drive up into the Dolomites, a mountain range located in Northeastern Italy that forms part of the Southern Limestone Alps.

We had booked two nights in a boutique hotel in a town called Valdidentro just beneath the famous Stelvio Pass, which we will cover in the next post.

The view from our hotel in Valdidentro