11 Austria and Italy 2008 – August 25 – Venezia I

Padova to Venezia

Next day Monday, August 25 we rejected the option to remain here at Padova and keep riding to Venezia on train every day.   We just drove remaining 30km to Venezia.

Venezia is connected with mainland by a long plain bridge or connector.  Several such connectors are going parallel to each other for cars and trains.

The parking that we found right on the bus terminal plaza cost us 24€ per day.  From travel guides I was expecting 18€.  We picked just the cameras and water and embarked on our conquest on Venezia.

From all locations this one was the most exciting.  O boy, o boy!  Do I ever expect to visit Venezia.

We crossed the bridge and we are in Venezia.  The first thing you bound to see are kiosks with masks.  Masks, masks, masks everywhere.  The legend has it, that masks were needed for rich and famous to be able to blend with the crowds.

We found hotel for 55€ for cash for two nights.  This was a simple room with a shower, a toilet, air conditioning, refrigerator, and with a view to … a canal Cannagerio one block away from Grand Canal.  We hit the jackpot!

Our exploration started from Jewish ghetto. Here Jews were allowed to live and congregate.  According to established rules, they could walk around the city to take care of their business, but during night hours they all should return to the ghetto.

It is easy to miss the area, unless you are paying close attention to street signs and notice that suddenly everything is in Hebrew.  In Italian word Jewish spelled Ebraica‎. So you can search Google for Comunità ebraica di Venezia.  It sounds very similar to name of company I work for – Abraic.

Very quickly we discovered a quiet Venezia. With passages and canals going every witch way, there are plenty of places in town, where it is only you and windows.  The only sounds – are sounds from locals, from windows, from radios, from water and wind.

In one of such quiet streets we discovered Residency – a type of expensive hotel.  You entering a absolutely gorgeous halls, and you can only guess how luxurious the room, are and the whole deal is only 150€ a night.

Pretty son we discovered a northern end of the Venezia, where boats leave for St. Michelle and Murano islands.  Here we found a Titian house, or at least a plaque marking the place, where his house used to stand on Calle Larga dei Botteri. And we found it despite the misprint in the guide book. If you search Google “Larga dei Botteri, Venice, Italy”, you will find among other thing, links to youth hostel on that street in Venice.

Now we started to inch toward Rialto bridge.  This bridge is a focal point of the entire city.  Canale Grande has only 4 bridges connecting the city (bridge number four is about to be open this fall – 2008).  Rialto is the central and most famous bridge in town.  [Here in Boston we have a restaurant called Rialto.]  And in addition to regular white street signs you almost everywhere see yellow signs pointing, which way is the Rialto bridge.

It took us quite a few turns, canal crossings, checking with a map, but we finally reached the Rialto Bridge.  Even on the video, you can see that streets are getting filled with tourist as you getting closer to the bridge. The bridge central alley is a trading alley.  Shops and stores are on both sides. You can bypass all the trading fever by using left or right alleys of the bridge.

Venezia doesn’t have continuous pedestrian embankment along Grand Canal and along other canals.  It means that very often the best views of buildings and monuments are from the water.  Water transport is not a luxury, but a necessity.  You can’t move very fast in Venezia even if you a good runner, or have a bike, or scooter.  Streets are crooked, filled with people, interrupted with stairs and bridges.  Water is the fastest and only possible way of transportation in Venezia.  But if you like long inspirational walks – Venezia is the place to do it.

So, we tried to get pictures of some memorable buildings from the other side of Grand Canal, but we had to hunt for possible viewing spots.  We would venture out to a dead-end street to see, if view at the end of the street is any good.  Then, we take next 3 right turns and next street exploration to the end.  And numbers, the street house numbers are ever growing or ever diminishing as you advance.  Houses are numbered not street by street, but through out the entire city.

Closer to the evening we went to the car garage and picked all our things required for the next two nights.  As everybody else, we clicked through cobbled streets on Venezia rolling our small suit cases.

Navigate through the List

1. 12 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 26-27 – Venezia II (2023/11/12)
2. 13 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 28 – Back to Wien (2023/11/16)
3. 14 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 29 – Back to Boston (2023/11/20)
4. 01 European Trip 2008 to Austria and Italy – Preparations (2024/09/24)
5. 02 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 13-14 – First Steps in Wien (2024/09/28)
6. 03 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 15, 2008 – Wien (2024/10/04)
7. 04 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 16, 2008 – Wien (2024/10/08)
8. 05 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 17, 2008 – Salzburg (2024/10/12)
9. 06 Trip to Austria and Italy – August 18, 2008 – Ice Caves (2024/10/16)
10. 07 August 19, 2008 - Crossing Into Italy - Cortina d'Ampezzo (2024/10/20)
11. 08 Austria and Italy – August 20-21, 2008 – Crossing the Alps (2024/10/24)
12. 09 August 22,2008 – Back to the Wild - Rifugio Alimonta (2580m) (2024/10/28)
13. 10 Austria and Italy – August 23-24, 2008 – Overwhelmed (2024/11/04)
14. 11 Austria and Italy 2008 – August 25 – Venezia I (2024/11/08)