Adventures in Italy 8: Venice

In this second-to-last episode, we make our way to Venice. I included both days of Venice (plus the Kartchners other days there) in this one episode, so it's a bit long. There was just too much cool stuff there.

On June 19, 2016, we bade farewell to Monterosso and wended our way towards Venice.

Monterosso in the morning

It was a cloudy day, and the clouds hung low over the hills as we drove. Roger again successfully got us through the narrow, curving mountain roads.

La Spezia

Our first stop was La Spezia, a town on the coast near the southern end of Cinque Terre, where we attended sacrament meeting. A nice lady sat behind all of us and translated. It was testimony meeting, and Sharon bore a beautiful testimony about how we had seen all these depictions of the crucified Christ recently, and she testified that he lived. I felt a very sweet spirit in that little branch.

After the meeting, one of the two missionaries there came up to us and said, "Are you from Riverton?" It turns out that he is from Arizona, but is the nephew of a couple in our ward (Matt & Janalee Laws), and had lived with them for a couple months during a couple summers, so he recognized Erika! So we took this picture with him (he's the one without glasses), and texted it to our friends. It just so happened that his parents were visiting our friends that very day, so they were there when the text arrived. Our friends texted back and said, "Thank you so much! That made us cry!"

Missionaries in La Spezia, including the nephew of a couple in our ward back home.

Roger was excited to finally see a Ferrari on the highway. As you might expect, it passed us.

Red Ferrari kicking our rear.

Verona

Our next stop was Verona, which is the setting for at least two of Shakespeare's plays: most obviously, Two Gentlemen of Verona, which may have been his first play; and most famously, Romeo and Juliet. The town, and especially one little spot in it, were made famous recently by the movie Letters to Juliet, in which people would place love letters between the bricks of the wall in the courtyard below the Juliet balcony.

Shaylee had expressed an interest in seeing the site, so we stopped there along the way.

The first challenge was to park our beastly van...in the spot below.

Roger left it sticking out far enough that he could still just barely open one of the front doors. (When we returned to the van, he actually climbed in through the back door, up and over the luggage!)

Verona has its own Roman arena, completed in 30 A.D. It is the third largest in Italy, after Rome's Colosseum and one at Capua.

The group at the Verona Arena.

The weather was basically perfect during our trip: warm but not too hot, and aside from a little sprinkling in Verona, the only other real rain all week was a long downpour while we drove down the highway that day. There was even hail ("What the...?") and some thunder, but all while we were nice and dry inside the van.

Like many towns in Italy, Verano had cute, narrow streets.

A street in Verona

You are no longer allowed to leave letters in the brick wall at "Juliet's House" (Casa di Giulietta), but you can leave them in a mailbox out front, and there is this graffiti wall that people can attempt to write on.

Graffiti wall, Casa di Giulietta, Verona, Italy

Here is the famous window and balcony, and what Shakespeare had to say on the subject.

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east and Juliet is the sun! 

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief 

That thou her maid art far more fair than she.

Be not her maid, since she is envious;

Her vestal livery is but sick and green, 

And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.

It is my lady, O, it is my love!

O that she knew she were!

She speaks, yet she says nothing; what of that?

Her eye discourses, I will answer it. 

I am too bold: 'tis not to me she speaks.

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, 

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head? 

The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,

As daylight doth a lamp. Her eyes in heaven

Would through the airy region stream so bright

That birds would sing and think it were not night.

See how she leans her cheek upon her hand 

O that I were a glove upon that hand,

That I might touch that cheek! 

On the way out of town, we noticed this sculpture. Finally...pants!

Venice

After searching for longer than you would expect to find a gas station, we drove over the causeway to Venezia (Venice).

And after a bit of anxiety, and after Roger drove 8 stories up the narrow circular ramps to the roof of a parking garage, we finally dropped off our huge van. It had served us well, and we didn't have any accidents or tickets or thefts, so we were very pleased. We also felt great relief to have dropped it off and to be free of it.

Erika had this on her phone.

Here is a view of Venice from the top of the parking garage, overlooking the red roofs of the city.

Below is one of four bridges over the "Grand Canal", the Ponte della Costituzione (ponte=bridge). It was built in 2008 over great protests from some people who thought it looked too modern for Venice. It was supposed to be temporary, but enough people liked it that they kept it.

Ponte della Costituzione

We got a "bus" pass so we could hop on and off the water busses that go down the Grand Canal. There are no cars or roads in Venice once you leave the square where we dropped the van.

Our first water bus was pretty crowded. A lady was directing traffic and was pretty blunt. "You need to get off here?" she said to one guy, "Go away!"

Besides the Grand Canal, most of the canals are small like this.

And most of the streets are narrow as well, being used exclusively for foot traffic.

The Grand Canal is the one wide canal through town that handles most of the serious transportation.

As much as we wanted to explore Venice, we thought we should feed the children.

We like to repeat the story that when Erika was little, we asked what we should have for dinner, and she said, "Why don't we have something that everybody likes—you know, like, noodles...pasta...." Apparently things haven't changed much, according to this picture from her camera.

I thought it was funny to have stairs that lured you down into the canal.

I had sort of thought of skipping the gondola ride, as it seemed so touristy. But Ralph and Julie said they always regretted not riding it, and their new mantra has become, "Ride the Gondola." (I believe they use it metaphorically at this point.) So we did.

They were strict about allowing only 6 people in a gondola, so we had to take two. The Kartchners went in one, and Erika joined her cousins there, leaving me and Linette in our own. So we had a nice little romantic ride.

So there was the party boat...

...and the "Love Boat."

Our gondolier told us a lot of interesting information. Frankly, I didn't quite "get" Venice before. I think I had been misled by a James Bond movie and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" to believe that all the buildings were resting on piles, high above the ocean floor. Nope.

The guy informed us that Venice consisted of 117 naturally-occurring islands in a lagoon formed by deposits from the Po and Piave Rivers. People have lived on the islands of Venice since 1000 B.C. Piles were of course driven into the soft ground to strengthen the foundation of some buildings, but not to create whole new islands.

(In this picture, I'm not sure if our gondolier is smiling so big because he's photo-bombing our selfie; or because he's so excited to be on a gondola ride in Venice!)

Randy & Linette on a gondola, with the Rialto Bridge in the background.

So fun!

It was actually cooler than I expected.

Fortunately, we went at a time that was not crowded at all, so the side canals were eerily silent as we glided through them, which made for a magical atmosphere.

The foot bridges were low enough that the gondoliers had to duck.

Ours had both of us sit on the same side so the boat would lean enough to prevent the tip from scraping in the low tunnel.

So although expensive, we all thought the gondola was worth it, at least for us. (Apparently you can pay extra to have them sing; but instead the girls started singing Bella Notte: "This is the night, what a beautiful night, and they call it bella notte!")

One of the things our gondolier told us was, "Don't follow the other tourists around, or you'll just see malls like they have back home. Get lost in the back streets."

So that's just what we did. If anyone felt like going "that way," that's promptly where we all went.

As a result, we avoided the crowds and saw lots of adorable little places.

And we stumbled across a gelato stand called "N. Ice Cream".

Things seemed to get even more picturesque as night fell.

We some some cool colored glasses through a store window. The nearby island of Murano is famous for its amazing glass blowers. Apparently many glass blowers fled Constantinople when it fell a few hundred years ago. And then the hot furnaces they had to use kept burning Venice down, so they were all banished to the island of Murano. But then, since they were all concentrated in one place, they all learned from each other (and competed with each other), causing an explosion of innovation that caused them to become the best in the world.

This cafe looked so cute at night.

There was an occasional square where one could spread one's wings.

And we peeked into a small church in one of the squares.

Finally we made our way back out to the Grand Canal. (Fortunately I had told Google Maps to pre-download maps of everywhere we went in Italy so we could have maps that worked offline, with a blue dot showing where we were. Sort of like a Harry Potter map.)

I loved how things looked at night.

Erika started down the steps...! (Watch out for that last one! It's a lulu!!)

And she climbed Venice's tree.

And she got put in jail, naughty girl.

Gloves! (Those could come in handy. Sharon gives it a hand. Gotta hand it to her...)

We were traveling light (no water bottle), but they had a fountain here and there.

This looks like just a normal door...

...but inside there's a restaurant. Locals would know it was there, but tourists would probably never suspect it. That was part of the charm of the back streets.

And here's another cute cafe.



I love this shot of the pink and white buildings, gondolas in the foreground, and the full moon looking on. Bella notte!

After all that walking, we finally wore out and headed for the hotels. We played a quick card game at the Kartchner's hotel.

And then Erika got her fix of Face-timing siblings and that one boy.

The next morning we got breakfast set up specially for us in the wide hallway, since the old building we were in didn't have room for a dining area.

Linette gets all ready for another day of exploration!

Linette at the Hotel Goldoni.

This hallway had the double reflecting mirror thing going on.

We met up with the Kartchners and finished our tour of the "Grand Canal" through the heart of Venice, accompanied by Rick Steve's audio guide.

The "water taxis" are more expensive than the "water bus", but take you right where you need to go in a hurry. I loved their beautiful natural wood finish.

Venice experienced an especially devastating outbreak of the plague in 1630, killing nearly a third of the population, so they vowed to build and dedicate a church to "Our Lady of Health", or Santa Maria della Salute. Construction began in 1631 and completed in 1681. Over 1 million wooden piles were driven into the soft ground to support the weight.

Santa Maria della Salute

Near St. Mark's Square, the canal opens up into a wide area that seems to be a free-for-all.

Shaylee, with Santa Maria della Salute in the background.

Approaching St. Mark's Square, we could see the campanile (bell tower) soaring above the other buildings.

Shortly after getting off the water bus, we stopped to take a picture with the famous "Bridge of Sighs" (Ponte dei Sospiri) in the background. It was built in 1600 and was said to be the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. Local legend says that "lovers will be granted eternal love and bliss if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the Bridge of Sighs as the bells of St Mark's Campanile toll." That seems very specific. (Plus, already got that covered. ;)

The whole group in front of the Bridge of Sighs

(This couple be like, "Well, worth a try!")

Gondola under the Bridge of Sighs

Selfie time!

 Photo bomb!

There were lots of gondolas around, ready for the crowds.

Gondolas at St. Mark's Square, Venice.

Campanile at St. Mark's Square

St. Mark's Square is the epicenter of tourists. In the evening, beautiful music is played from the cafes all around it. We got to hear a little bit that morning.

St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco)

St. Mark's Clock Tower has full-sized guys at the top that swing their hammers to ring the bell. It was built in the 1490's. (About when Christopher Columbus was discovering America, to put that in perspective).

St. Mark's Clock Tower

St. Mark's Basilica presides at the square. It was originally built in the 800s, to house relics (i.e., bones) of St. Mark, stolen from Alexandria. It burned down in the 900s, and was rebuilt about 1093. Unfortunately, St. Mark's relics were misplaced until they were rediscovered inside a pillar in 1094. That was sort of embarrassing. (Wait, I thought you had St. Mark's bones!)

St. Mark's Basilica

We weren't supposed to take pictures inside, so don't look at this one.

St. Mark's Basilica

Once again, even the floors were cool.

Floor of St. Mark's Basilica

I am so glad we got to spend time with these wonderful girls. I feel like I got to know Shaylee and Mikayla better than I had before, and it was of course great to have Erika experience all of this with us.

Shaylee, Erika and Mikayla to the side of St. Mark's Basilica, Venice.

The Lion of St. Mark is the symbol of the town of Venice.

Lion of St. Mark and Love of My Life

After visiting the square, we explored some more of Venice. Some of the alleys were narrow enough to do Spider-Man on the walls.

It was good to have a map so we could find our way through the maze of streets and bridges.

Linette and Erika looking over a gondola

In order to provide a destination for our otherwise random wanderings, we worked our way over to the Phoenix Theater (Teatro la Fenice), so named because it has been rebuilt after 3 fires. It was the site of premieres of operas by people like Rossini and Verdi.

The Wilsons didn't have much more time before we had to head out, so we decided to take the tour here to finish things up, while the Kartchners went off to see other sites.

The theater was ridiculously ornate.

Teatro la Fenice

Here are Linette and Erika in the very fancy box seats.

Dramatic poses, please!

There was a cool chandelier.

Do you like my hat?

Erika saw this Fazioli grand piano and just really wanted to play it.

So she did. And then people clapped. (And then another lady sat down to tinker around and was asked to knock it off. :)

Gondola traffic jam! (I'm glad it wasn't like this when we rode it. That just might have felt all touristy like I feared).

At that point, we busted a move (which is tricky in a maze) to grab some lunch and pick up our luggage for a boat ride to the airport.

We tried the canolis while we wanted for our bus. They were ok, but I prefer the gelato.

Holy Canoli!

Here is a view of Venice as it fades in the distance.

Poor Erika, all tuckered out.

At the airport, I saw more evidence that the Italians were really into soccer.

As we flew over the lagoon where Venice is located, we saw this smaller island of Berano. (Venice is up to the right, out of this picture).

Burano

We flew out at 4pm on Monday, and the Kartchners stayed for another two nights. They visited museums, the Bridge of Sighs (the inside), the prisons there, and heard the music at St. Mark's Square in the evenings.

Here are a few pictures that the Kartchners took. I don't know exactly what they are, so you'll have to ask Sharon or Roger. But it all looks really cool.

St. Mark's Square

A convict's last view of Venice from the Bridge of Sighs on the way to prison.

St. Mark's Clock Tower

St. Mark's Square at night

And here is a picture of Venice from the air that Roger took on their way out. You can see the causeway on the right; the backwards-"S"-shaped "Grand Canal" going from the end of the causeway through the city, and the beaches on the left that separate the lagoon from the ocean waves.

Thanks for sticking with this long episode. Venice was visually stunning and so charming. Even though we had less than 24 hours there ourselves, I felt like I at least got acquainted with the area. Hopefully you have gotten a taste of it as well.

In our last episode, the Wilsons spend the night in Istanbul, Turkey on the way home.