Venice

2/9 to Venice

Bad sleep. Jeff still sick.  Dogs barking (Spain?)

Woke nonetheless to 10BX in parking lot - a bit conspicuous with low rise unit blocks all round, curious Italians waking and noting the 2 idiots in the parking lot throwing themselves about.

An Italian lesson as only school, then about a 1 hr drive to Venice where we stopped at Park San Guiliano, on the mainland, close to the land bridge to the islands, next to a huge recreation park.  Bus stop one way, ferry stop the other as means to get to Venice - no safe way to ride the bikes there.  There are clean showers/toilets/washup areas, grey and brown water dumps and fresh water, but no power, E20/night!

Packed the camera and snacks and water and headed straight to the ferry for Venice, E38return!  Welcome to Venice!

The camera went wild as we approached the islands and the boat traffic got denser - all manner of craft whizzing about in somewhat organised chaos, some carrying full loads of dirty laundry, others with the shirtless gut at the helm while the baking bikini speadeagles across the polished rear section (of the boat), water taxis and Vaporetto everywhere fully loaded with our fellow tourists - the ocean boils with washes.

Got off at the Osperdale (Hospital) stop and wandered with a loose plan, past the Osperdale with the ambo boats lined up outside the ED (entry under the bridge), and in no time the plan went awry as we were wonderfully lost in the quiet back streets on this beautiful sunny and breezy day.  

We were able to peek in on peoples’ lives as they cooked, listened to music, scolded the kids, hung out there washing on pulley lines strung between buildings, effortlessly stepped in and out of boats to get from A to B, we wondered how hard it must be to move house.  Overall despite the crumbling buildings it was clean, devoid of the pong we’ve come to expect from cramped Euro-Medinas, very quiet/serene and tastefully decorated with earthy colours and flowers spilling over the window sills.  On the other hand the water was a bit gross - as we weaved our way hopelessly deeper into the maze we found ourselves at wet dead ends on a few occasions - no warning, just a slippery step and then the canal.  Found ourselves at a military dead end, no entry allowed - the Arsenale - so sat with the legs dangling over the edge and enjoyed a bag of nuts and a chat as the buzzing traffic passed us by on the water.

That was our 1^st impression of Venice, different to what we’ve heard and read, different to what was to come when we got the plan back on track.  Met some fellow lostees, only they had a map and soon we were back on track to Piazza San Marco - there were shops and shops and shops and more and more people crammed into the lanes, bottlenecking at the bridges, then the famous gondolas appeared, the restaurants got going and then we were in the Piazza - wow!  As crowded as anywhere we’ve been, the oh so plush and overdone buildings speak of a time of unspeakable wealth - the stone of all types and sizes - gargantuan blocks - on an island!  You can be sure many thousands of peasants suffered or died getting those here across the sea.

From the Piazza then next goal was tourist info for better directions to GROM, highly recommended (by Anais and Eliah our Belgian buddies) ice cream store.  And it seemed every tourist in Venice was heading there, across the L’Accademia Bridge teeming with people amidst the fanfare of a major regatta - 1^st Sunday of September - explains the crowds.

men's 20

junior mens pair

All sorts of gaily dressed gondoliers in craft from singles to a 20!  Followed by the serious racers.  But it’s icecream for us, not gondolas, so we press onwards to be rewarded with triple scoop tazas, seated by the canal, where the kids inspired by the culinary delight arrive at a profound conclusion - our individual flavour choices might actually represent our genetic relatedness, or not……... 

Wil:  

The best gelato in ... town? The city? The region? The country? The world? THIS UNIVERSE? The last one is probably the most accurate. Grom was our main priority as we went into Venice for Kel’s, Mum’s and my first time. Dad’s second. We found it after hours of being lost, backtracking, marveling at what the city might have been, and being shoved along by crowds. Venice has two sides, the grungy, residential, quiet side and the port area, which is clean, krillions of people, and it has lots of grandeur. Grom was located in a more locally known area, but there were slightly more people. It was in a little square that fronted onto a little canal with houses on the other side. It was perfectly charming. Quiet, but not deserted. We walked through an archway that led through to the square with our eyes peeled keenly, looking for Grom. I looked around and said ‘there it is!.’ We all walked over to the little shop feeling relieved. I thought Mum had been replaced by some alien woman when she let us all have THREE SCOOPS OF GELATO. It seemed to good to be true. But it was true. There was no denying the wonderful tastes that exploded into our mouths five minutes later. It took us another five minutes for Kel to have this profound enlightenment. Every cup of gelato we had was related in at least one way, except for Mum and Dad. Here’s the table:

See? Dad and Mum shared no flavour, Kel and I shared two, I shared two with Dad, so did Kel, Kel and I shared one each with Mum. Our gelato was all related like the biological family we are! How cool! I was really very sad by the time all my delicious gelato was gone. It was absolutely stunningly good. I’ve never found better. The caramel was smooth with the burnt taste caramel usually has (mmm), the stracciatella was creamy with big chunks of dark chocolate, the lemon was, well, lemony, the vanilla was creamy and lovely, the coffee was strong and delicious, and I didn’t taste the joghurt. I haven’t stopped wishing Grom will be in every other major Italian city we go to. Good luck for when you ware in Italy, and try to find Grom. 

Fully satiated we head north thru more delightful alleys, campellos (squares) and over bridges to our ferry stop for the ride home to Ed.

Back at Ed the kids skate in the park, admiring the big fat friendly water rats all about, then a sandwich for dinner which Kel declined - unusual, the showers and bed before Kel complained of a sore tummy, feeling hot, then puked, then spent till about 3 am on the toilet with diarrhoea.  Bugger!

3/9 

Kel awoke with no appetite but no further GI losses and now keeping fluids down and with rain we decided to have a day in to recover, sleep, read, find out about the bus to Venice (boat too $!!).

Kel’s spirits wonderfully buoyed by her recovery and the lazy day, late afternoon run/walk for the olds, followed by a storm,  and then a light dinner before early bed.

4/9

2nd DAY in VENICE!

Kel woke declaring she is “A1” but just a bit tired - what spectacular bounce back!

The sun was bright, and whilst not raining, the weather had returned to hot and sticky.

Puffs of Adriatic wind kept it all very manageable. 

We took a short walk to the bus station and then for E10 rather than the E38 for ferry boat, made our way to Venice full of excitement & anticipation.

The day was characterized by very long queues, tedious age-long waits for the vaporettas only to be squeezed in so tight making the cocktail of musty body odour, halitosis, smoker’s pong, vigorous aftershave & diesel fumes (not to mention our trailer trash stink) overwhelming!  So much for seeing Venice by water! It seems the only way is by ridiculously overpriced gondola (E100+), top line tour boats (even more), water taxi (even a bit more) and private charters (for monarchy!)

Our first long wait was at the bus stop for a HelloVenice day pass allowing unlimited vaporetta rides & return bus tickets (E72!).  So that’s A$100 for a day of travel from our motorhome within a 4km radius!  Wil ‘babysat’ Kel outside in the heaving crowds for  ~ 1 hour.  What does that tells you about the pull & charm of Venice despite the impediments to easy access….

laundry boat

So, we finally moved a few steps to the jetty to await the vaporetta ride to Murano. It’s an island off Venice where the glass artisans were sent as their furnace fires posed such a threat to the old and valuable buildings of Venice itself.

We spent hours bobbing in & out of gorgeous shops, some terribly trinkety (& probably supplied by China) & others, simply breath-taking.  The viewing of actual glass-blowing was abundant with peep-holes into factories behind larger showrooms, dedicated demonstration areas, artisan/owners making small jewelry items whilst shoppers browse and between sales to larger more organized demonstrations.  We sampled all of the above and smashed some Christmas shopping. 

The kids (and dad) were troopers waiting for Mum who was besotted with the stuff.  (Kel did love jewelry & Wil the glass objects and factories)

Had a hat snack in a deserted campello on a shady bench, wandered past countless gaudy glass public sculptures  and then back on a packed vaporetta ride to San Marco

Gorgeous Basilica - more pics; 

unfortunately closed only 5 mins earlier so couldn’t get in.

E1.50 for a pee, some of us held on, then a wait for vaporetta as a cruise ship was tugged by, onto a ride along Grand Canal to Rialto - grand but crumbly.

Off for the walk through the Medina to GROM 2, where Jen partakes but is feeling queasy, then in the early evening light we wander to the bus station and head home.

At home after a hot day Jen is more unwell, the fridge hasn’t coped at all, a very light snack for some, and then Jen spends most of the night on the porcelain throne all night, the plus being she met a German camper & wife (of Greek descent) and got lots of info re Italy, Venice & how to get to Greece.