Arrivederci Venice

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Arrivederci Venice



Already I miss the sounds of the gondoliers in the canal beneath our hotel window. In the morning we heard their easy banter as they prepared their gondolas for the day. Later in the day and in the evening, there was often the sound of a piano accordion playing and a tenor singing, “O Solo Mio” to rousing applause by the onlookers. There was always happy chatter and laughter from the constant flood of tourists being taken for their 40-minute ride around the canals.



Our home for the past four nights has been the Hotel Lisbona, an old Venetian hotel with velvet wallpaper, tapestries and chandeliers. We were on the third floor and as these hotels don’t have lifts, it wasn’t easy getting the luggage, or ourselves up and down. This is definitely not a hotel for the disabled or slightly incapacitated. I was grateful for the long gold handrail to pull ourselves up on.



The advantage of the high position was the view over the canal below. It joined the Grand Canal to the right and we had clear views of the water taxis or vaporettos going by and to the left we could see the little bridge over the Canal. We were a five minute walk from Basilica di San Marco and the hustle and bustle of the Piazza San Marco full of tourists from the many cruises docked there.



During our time here, we’ve walked and explored alleyways, crossed bridges, explored museums and churches and come to dead ends, only to find we were back at the Grand Canal. We heard students from the Conservatorium of Music rehearsing in San Stefano for a concert to be performed that night. We tracked them down to Chiesa della Madonna, a church on the top of the island and had a wonderful night being entertained by the upcoming musical talent in Venice.



We visited out of the way places like the Scuola Grande of San Rocco, a building full of exquisite artwork by Titian and Tintoretto. The ceiling there is said to be Tintoretto’s Sistine Chapel. Wherever we go, we hire the audio tours and find out about the building, the artwork and the history of the place.



After walking to the Rialto, we found the local market, a bustling place full of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. The atmosphere was loud and vibrant and busy and we bought more apples, oranges and strawberries here. We paid 1.50 Euro for 1kg of strawberries, washed them and sat down beside the Grand Canal to have them for lunch. What a treat!



On our second day we went out to both Murano and Burano Islands. We saw the glass making and had a guided tour through the gallery. The work was exquisite, but we didn’t see anything we wanted except a $3,000 sculpture, which we walked quickly past. Burano was very pretty; an island of pretty colourful houses and it’s where the ladies make lace. The boat trip was interesting and when we got back to Venice, we decided to stay on the vaporetto and ride the Grand Canal and go right around the island. This was a fabulous day, topped off with a local chamber orchestra playing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the glorious old church called, “Chiesa San Vidal.” We found out the Vivaldi was born in Venice so this was very special music for the place. We decided that we would continue to ride the vaporetto to see Venice at night and I videoed the magic of Venice at night.



On our last day we got up early to avoid the crowds and went through St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace and were completely blown away by the mosaics, paintings, sculptures and architecture of these places. We took our time and didn’t finish until the afternoon. This was all we did on our last day, except go back to our favourite restaurant “Artbleu,” in San Stefano Piazza. The food here was wonderful and it was fun to meet a musician who played the bassoon and who was to perform that night in Chiesa San Vidal. We were sorry we couldn’t hear him as well, but we had to pack for an early start the next day.



Here we are in France, after a 4.30am start, a waterbus to the airport, a plane ride and two train rides to get to Gard du Nord, Paris’ huge station. We have arrived to find there is a train strike, so I am sitting writing this blog in a café at the station. The next train to Amiens comes at 5.00pm and we arrived here just before 1.00pm, expecting to catch one of the regular intercity trains, but this was not to be.



Travel is not for the faint hearted.



PS …. We are now in Amiens after a crazy trip. The platform number went up on the board and literally everyone started running. The train strike meant that trains were cancelled and there were many desperate people wanting to get home. After sitting waiting for 4 hours you’d think we’d be first on, but it wasn’t to be. I was lucky to get a seat, but John had to sit on a step for the whole 70 min trip. Looking on the good side, we are here ready for the trip tomorrow and we’ve had a beautiful meal. Time to sleep.

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Photos

Stairs to our room.
This represents 2 flights, there is one more to go.

The Grand Canal
The super water highway with the train station behind.