A Walk Around Venice

A Walk Around Venice

Before we travel I create a budget so we know how much we are going to need to save.  As time goes on these budgets are getting more and more detailed... The first few were a vague listing of what we might do and approximate costs, then Lance kept getting grumpy at me because we always went over budget... This time the budget was planned to the nth degree and I could see how much absolutely everything was going to cost, and it was kind of scary so I was trying to keep costs down a little while still doing everything we wanted to.

Our first day in a new place we like to walk around and get to know the place, if you talk to locals you can often get the down low on where to go and where not to go.  In light of this I found a free walking tour of Venice.  There's a lot out there, some are only held on specific days.  This company has 3 tours held on various days of the week.  This is the link to the one that suited us, it starts in Cannareggio and you go through the Jewish Ghetto (first one in the world) and you wander through the streets of Northern Venice.  It was a great experience and one I highly recommend.

By the end of the day we had walked 17 000 steps, covered 11km and I don't know how many flights of stairs (all those bridges!)

But before all this we went for our first ride in a water bus along the Grande Canal, the day before we had looped around and missed the Grand Canal entirely (which suited us then as it was quicker).  Our meeting point was near the train station, so the opposite end of Venice to where we were staying, which was fine, we had plenty of time, were well rested and looking forward to exploring a new place.

When we met our tour guide he took us down an alley and into a small 'parc' where he showed us how Venice was constructed and gave us a brief rundown on the very early history of Venice and why it was constructed (to escape the Barbarians who were invading).  I haven't been able to find an image as simple as the one he showed us, but if you're interested, try this website, it also explains how they are trying to prevent Venice from sinking further.  Unbelievable what could be achieved so long ago!

Interesting fact #1... the word ghetto is a Venetian word meaning 'throwing steel' as it was built were canon balls were originally made.  

The ghetto is also the home of the tallest apartment in Venice, it's 7 stories high.  Of course, during the second world war the ghetto was hit hard.  There is a beautiful memorial along one wall with the names of all those taken.  All through Venice you'll find small brass plaques on the ground outside some doors, these plaques provide the name of the person taken, their age and where they were taken.  It was heartbreaking to see so many of these plaques all over Venice, but of course, a higher concentration within the ghetto.

From there we headed East through the Northern part of Venice.  We saw so many places, including where Wagner and Marco Polo lived, we went into a beautiful shopping centre with a 'red carpet' escalator, up on to the roof overlooking the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge.

Only the poshest shopping centres have 'red carpet' escalators ;)

Madame had been told off by the security guard up there...
We'd told her off for the same thing 5 seconds earlier and she hadn't listened...

What a view!

Being June, it was quite toasty at this stage so our guide took us to a bar that he frequents with his friends and we had a refreshing Spritz.  Even Lance took the plunge to try one.  I hadn't been a big fan up until now, but this place did a Ginger Spritz, so we tried that and it was tasty!  Connor found a piano in the corner and tinkled around for a bit before our guide showed us how it's really done ;)

We finished up at the Libreria Acqua Alta, the water library, which in high water, floods.  The damaged books have been turned into a staircase out the back, while the books inside are protected by being stacked in bathtubs and other waterproof objects, even a gondola!  So many books!  But when we were in there there were also lots of tourists so I didn't get to look around as much as I would have liked... And I think Lance wouldn't have been too happy if I'd bought ANOTHER book to take home.

When the tour finished we discovered we were only 700m from our apartment, so we went to grab some lunch from a pizzeria we had passed earlier...  I think it was called "Peterpan" and the pizzas were between 5 and 10 Euro each, we got 3 to feed the 7 of us...

Kids were tired again...

Each slice quite literally bigger than her head...

Here is our video of our walk, there's a quick look at our gondola ride at the end, but more about that in a later blog.

Until next time, CIAO!