Rome - Venice

 “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” – Wendell Berry

With so much going on in Rome, it seems as though we just arrived and now we are departing for our next destination. Rome was an interesting place to visit with things like the Vatican, museums, the coliseum, the Pantheon, etc.  It’s hard to do them all justice in the short time that we have.  So far, I’ve taken over 2600 pictures, attempting to keep them on multiple sources just in case something happens to one of them.

Being a travel day, there is not too much to report.  We spent most of the day in the coach making our way to Venice, Italy.  Once we arrived, we were immediately taken to a water taxi that shuttled us from our stop just across the lagoon from Venice – to Venice itself.  Venice is everything you’ve seen in photographs.  It is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. These are located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site.

The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wooden piles. Most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion. The foundations rest on plates of Istrian limestone placed on top of the piles, and buildings of brick or stone sit above these footings. The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand and mud until they reach a much harder layer of compressed clay.  Submerged by water, in oxygen-poor conditions, wood does not decay as rapidly as on the surface.  Most of these piles were made from trunks of alder trees, a wood noted for its water resistance.

Venice is also sinking, and it may be sinking faster than people realize.  Kassie had indicated that recent studies have shown that instead of sinking 5 cm in 100 years (which was the previous rate), they now believe it is sinking at about 20 cm in 100 years.  Maybe it’s a good thing that we are visiting now!

After arriving on the Isle of Venice, we were taken for a ride on a gondola around the city.  It was a little rough out in the lagoon, but once you got back into the city itself, the water was calm and the noise of the crowds was far less intense.  On one of the 4 gondolas that we used, there was a guitar player and a singer to add some ambiance to the trek.  It was a little surreal to be sitting in one of these boats floating down the canals, wondering how people lived there.  Kassie had indicated that at one point there were 120,000 residents – now there are less than 60,000 and the number is getting smaller every year.  Some contribute it to the fact that it is sinking.

Look how busy Venice is in the summer.

St. Mark's Cathedral

St. Mark's Monument (Lion with wings)

After the gondola ride, we went for a short walk around St. Mark’s Square and saw the outside of the cathedral where St. Mark’s remains are said to be entombed (oddly enough the cathedral is called St. Mark’s).  We also saw the hotel were Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie filmed a scene in the movie “The Tourist”.  We all recognized the balconies that they were standing on as Kassie played the movie on the coach just this morning on the way over here.

Hotel seen in the movie "The Tourist"

We stopped at a restaurant for a drink while we waited for the appropriate time for our private water taxi to take us to the Hotel on the neighboring island, Lido.  Kassie had arranged for us to get either a Bellini or a Spritz for 5 Euro each at this place.  A Bellini is a mixture of Prosecco sparkling wine and peach purée or nectar; and a Spritz is a wine-based cocktail commonly served as an aperitif in Northeast Italy. The drink is prepared with prosecco wine, a dash of some bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, Cynar, or, especially in Venice, with Select. The glass is then topped off with sparkling mineral water. We both had a Bellini – and it was very nice on a very hot day in Venice.

Our water taxi arrived and we took the short (10 minute) ride to the isle of Lido right in front of our hotel (which is on the Lagoon).  We had about an hour before dinner at the hotel so we did a little laundry and hung the stuff to dry (since we are going to be here for two nights).  Dinner was another three course meal with a piece of Lasagna as the appetizer; chicken, potatoes and some steamed zucchini as the main; and, an apple strudel as the dessert.  We chatted a bit with Collen and Joan (who we sat with tonight) and then went upstairs to get some sleep.  Not too early tomorrow – breakfast is at 8:30 and the boat for the tour tomorrow is at 9:30.

We grabbed our laundry off the balcony as it looked like it might rain tonight.

Curt & Laureen in Venice, Italy.