Day 11

Wed, 26 Oct 2022

Day 10

Venice and the Magic of La Serenissima

(p.s. I never found out what La Serenissima was/where/how/what?)

Breakfast at the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice Hotel

Everyday our tour director
posted notices of the day's
activities.

The clock tower near St. Mark's Basilica

Getting ready to go on our Optional Experience called

"Hidden Venice"

From the guide book we read,

"To only experience Venice's big set pieces - St. Mark's Square; the Rialto; the Grand Canal - is to miss out on a hidden world full of surprises! Join a Local Expert for a fascinating walk through some of the lesser known quarters of Venice. The back lanes and 'campi', small squares, where tourists seldom tread are full of history and great places to sample local life."

Our "Local Expert" will be Anna.

Anna explains many treasures of Venice.

Symetry and straight lines are evidence
of the architecture in the (how do you spell Borook?) period. 

Instead of "plaza" or "piazza", how we call the open
area "campo" which means "field".

Love these skinny alleys...

Roof gardens. Another treasure unseen
by most tourists of Venice.

When we walked by this bridge Jan said,
"That's my kind of bridge."

One of the back lanes reaches this 'campi' which means "field"

Duration: 00:00.22 sec.

Talk about hidden treasures of local life?
Here is how they take care of garbage pick up.

Rising Tide...look closely

Duration: 00:00.09 sec.

Gondola Ride

Duration: 00:00.05 sec.

Gondola Ride w/Music

Duration: 00:00.14 sec.

Sally, Jan, and David.
Sally and David are from Singapore.

Riding a Gondola in the Grand Canal.

Gondola Ride in Grand Canal

Duration: 00:00.19 sec.

After the gondola ride we were surprised by a treat
from Elena, our tour director.

Back at the Piazza San Marco.

Piazza San Marco

Duration: 00:00.21 sec.

We stopped by a local shop and bought something
for the Christmas gift exchange for the book club.

We had a very nice visit with the shop worker.
He gave me permission to take his picture.

Back at the St. Mark's square.

One last look at St. mark's Basilica.

Leaving Venice and on a boat to the island of Murano.

From the travel handbook:

"Experience during a visit to a traditional arts centre, where you can see how beautiful handcrafted glass is made by expert glassblowers, safeguarding traditional skills."

I didn't see many basketball hoops anywhere in Italy.
However, if you magnify this photo you'll be able to see
four rather hefty hoops on display.

I was so impressed with this ship, I had to take a picture.

In the distance you can see the white/gray striped lighthouse.
This marks the island of Murano.

And her is our local expert, Michael, to tell us about
the expert glassblowers and their traditional skills.

Island of Murano - glass blowing expert, Franco.

Duration: 00:00.27 sec.

Glass blowing a vase

Duration: 00:00.30 sec.

Topping off the vase

Duration: 00:00.25 sec.

Making a glass horse

Duration: 00:00.30 sec.

And here's the finished product: a glass horse.

Outside the traditional arts centre, Fornace CAM.

Leaving Murano.

Again, impressed by the machinery.
I had to take another picture.

Approaching the island of Burano via the Venetian lagoon.
Home of doily-making fabric.

Another leaning tower, showing proof of the ever-
moving islands.

Pausing our stroll for a picture.

Walking down a narrow alley to the main street

Duration: 00:00.27 sec.

Where we will eat our "Celebration Dinner"
Our "Last Supper"

Dang!
I forgot to take a picture of the food items.

Here's how it looked when we were finished.

Arriving back at our Hotel 

Getting closer

Tonight is our last night in Italy.

Tomorrow morning we leave Venice airport for JFK airport in New York.

What a trip!

So glad I took the time each night to blog and keep you up-to-date.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Italy with us.

Tomorrow will be a travel day and I will have one more Day 12 post for you.

See you tomorrow.

Curt & Jan