Lubertadventure: Venice!

Well, into everyone's life a little rain must fall, and no, it is not raining, but Lorraine and Missy both have had terrible colds, and my back has been in spasm for over a week. It has made sleeping quite difficult, and I am sure you can imagine what it was like to take the train from Mestre to Venice on a day when the mercury was doing its best to blow off the top and escape the thermometer. We had to struggle with all of our bags up and down staircases to the train. The train's air conditioning was not working, and while the temp outside was pushing 40 C (104F), it was over 50C in the train. Apparently, we are setting records for the hottest days ever in Venice.

VENICE! It is a city of 118 small islands linked by canals and bridges. The buildings sit upon wooden piles that rest on limestone, brick and stone. Amazingly, these alder wooden piles do not decay quickly in the oxygen-poor water. So, basically, it is a city built on stilts in the marshy Venetian Lagoon. The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon. It is also the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

The Black Death devastated Venice in 1348 and once again between 1575 and 1577. In three years, the plague killed some 50,000 people. In 1630, the plague killed a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens. But the Venice that we explored was peaceful, quiet and absolutely beautiful. With a lack of groundspace to work with, the Venetians seem to compensate with beautiful balconies overflowing with trumpetvine, impatiens, geraniums and other colourful plants decorating the already beautiful pastels of the buildings.

Get lost in Venice. That is my advice and that's what we did. Don't bother with the free maps, although the one from Alilaguna is not too bad. Get yourself a reference point – like the train station (La Ferrovia, or the Ponte Rialto, or the Piazza San Marco – and figure out where the spot you are going to is in relation to one of these. The signs for all of these major attractions are everywhere, and are clearly marked. The free maps will just frustrate you. We wandered through the alleys and over the bridges, sometimes hopping on a vapporetto (a waterbus) to enjoy the sights, and sometimes just sitting to people watch and drink in the views.

Is Venice sinking? Yes, but more slowly now that they have realized that the artesian wells they were drilling for drinking water were the cause of the drastic descent of the city in the 1960's. Studies indicate that the city continues sinking at a relatively slow rate of 1-2mm per annum.

We took a day trip to Murano, famous for its ornate glass-work, known as Venetian glass. It is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skilfully made. Some of the most important brands of glass in the world today are still produced in the historical glass factories on Murano. They are: Venini, Barovier; Toso, Pauly, Millevetri, Seguso. Barovier; Toso is considered one of the 100 oldest companies in the world, formed in 1295. We took a waterbus across and strolled (well, I kind of limped, staggered, and hopped with my bad back) and – yes – this is the island known for its glass-work. Almost every single store front proudly displayed beautifully crafted pieces made by world-class artisans and proclaimed “NOT made in China!” We were treated to a glass-blower making coffee cups, wine glasses and vases, and we began to appreciate how much work went into each individually-made, hand crafted piece. I felt guilty but did not pull the trigger on a “bargain” that my salesfriend offered me. $1000.00 for a set of 6 drinking glasses.

We dined by the canals, drank Italian wine and watched the sunset on our last day. We will miss beautiful Venice.