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Published: April 24th 2016
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As Bill has been to Venice several times, and I have been once, we knew we weren't going to do the "big sights" on this trip. Our plans only included wandering around the city and visiting Murano. Since we had an afternoon while docked in Venice on the cruise ship, we decided to use that time to visit Murano. It was a beautiful day again, and, while there were mobs of tourists everywhere, it was easy to get to Murano and back, and to find a place to eat there. We ducked into the first glass-maker we saw, and it turned out to be a great choice. We were the only ones there, and spent time talking with the charming saleswoman, who offered me a job based on my English and French, not my Italian! Much of the glass produced is horrible cutesy stuff that apparently sells to tourists. I bought some simple earrings.
Returning from Murano, we wandered to the train station to see about train times the next day to our place in Padova (or Padua), and then returned to the ship for our last five-course Italian dinner and packing...
The next day we were off the
ship by 9:30 and checked into our apartment in Padova before noon! We had stayed here on another trip so the city is somewhat familiar.
A few days later, I went into Venice again on my own, since Bill had come down with a fever. (A repeat of out last trip here!) My only desire on this trip was to get lost...which is hard to do for any length of time, since you always come to the Grand Canal or the Lagoon. I walked for a few hours, avoiding the very crowded tourist routes when possible. the magic of Venice happens for me when I step into a dark, narrow street, walk all alone, and come out on some beautiful little canal in the sun.
I came upon a thrift store in the basement of St. Lucia's church. She is the patron saint of eye sight, and is shown holding two eyes on a plate. She was martyred young, and her body taken to Constantinople, then traded back here...
Later in my walk, I had ended up at the the Fondamenta Nuove , across from the cemetery, and decided to look at my map to chose a
street to head towards St. Marks. As I walked along looking at street names I impulsively took another tiny street. Part way down, I came upon a brighly lit window with no sign, the only shop on the street. The window was filled with exquisite small glass animals, birds, insects, and sea life. I went in, and looked around while a man did lampwork behind the counter. When I asked a question, he carefully finished the piece he was working on, and came out to help me. After a conversation in broken Italian (me) and better English (him), I found out that he was Vittorio Costantini ,a well-known glass artist with ties to Pilchuck, a glass school near our home!
More wandering to St. Mark's and then back to the train station...a gelato, and a short ride back to Padova.....
I forgot to mention in previous blogs that Istanbul smelled of cat pee, but Dubrovnic was scented with orange blossoms and Venice with the sea...
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Venice Canals
Beautiful