DAY 8 (1st December 2023) – Venice Main Island
We booked the van for ease of transport and left Point Hotel at 8:00am. We had decided the night before that the best plan of attack was to go straight to the Marco Polo International Airport and leave our luggage there, and then work our way to the famous canals of Venice. We hadn’t planned on using the water transportation from the Airport to the main Venice Island, but we talked ourselves into it. I mean, how often do we get to try this out, right?
Off the bat, I can say that one day in Venice in not enough. But we always knew that, so this means we will all have to come back for a fuller adventure some other time. We only accomplished a sneak peek of the main island, while there are other islands like Burano, Murano and Torcello still to explore. Still, I am not one to complain. :@
Ferry Ride
If you want to use the water-bus, look out for the signs around the airport that will lead you to the Aeroporto. There are several companies that offer rides into the city, much like bus-rides but on water, with various stops along the way. Make sure you have made your decision on where you wanna get off, as the prices differ from one stop to another. Or, you could always charter a private speedboat – at a price, of course…
Soak in the sights as the water-bus makes very quick stops – we had less than 15 seconds to disembark at Ospedale Station, before the captain set sail again. If you’re on a dine-and-dash type of tour, Ospedale Station probably offers you the best option to start your walk to cover the more famous sites within a day. Although we passed by Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta detta I Gesuiti from the lagoon side, we did not have time to get to the land side (entrance) of the chiesa, which apparently has a very different look than from the lagoon side.
The streets are narrow in-between the buildings and sometimes having the canale in the way, which meant we pretty much had to weave our way to our next destinations. All of us were clamouring for the canal photoshot at the first opportunity – a must-do. At certain points along the way, the streets would end at open squares, one of which has the Parrochia di Santa Maria Formosa, the Church of the Purification of Mary. There is another Last Supper painting by Leandro Bassano inside.
St Mark’s Square
If there was an “it” place in Venice, this would be the place. Stand in the middle of the Piazza San Marco, and you’ll understand why. The sheer grandiose of the surrounding buildings just hits you, and the pictures that I had taken just doesn’t even begin to show you the magnificence of the architecture and the attention to detail that the builders had put thought into.
The Basilica di San Marco may not be the tallest and most outlandish of the buildings, but it still imprints in our minds the majesty of the cathedral with its many arches and beautifully crafted façade. The building is dedicated to St. Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the city. Just beside the basilica there is this imposing 98.6m-tall brick tower called Campanile di San Marco. This audacious chunk of a building probably outshines all the other buildings merely because of its sheer size and vivid bright colours. It is said to be the most recognizable building in Venice – and why not! Originally serving as a watch tower, it collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt in 1912.
Just beside the Basilica is the Palazzo Ducale or Doge’s Palace, where once upon a time, the head of the government of the Republic of Venice, or the Doge, ruled from. The building itself, from bird’s eye view, is actually almost U-shaped, with a courtyard in the middle. Several fires had destroyed one part of the building or another over the centuries, but it had always been restored and added to. At present, it houses one of the museums of Venice.
On the southern and northern sides of the piazza, are two rows of buildings which today, contains the archaeological museum and a modern showroom. The ground floor space of these two buildings have been converted to retail outlets, selling anything from jewellery, Venetian masks, souvenir items to food and coffee. Unfortunately, time didn’t permit us to hang around and enjoy the coffee.
Environmental Note
I know there are some people who don’t believe that the sea water levels are rising due to the melting of the polar ice caps, caused by global warming. Seeing what I saw in Venice, I beg to differ. The leaders of the city had erected platforms all around Piazza San Marco so that people could walk from one side of the square to another to view the buildings that I mentioned above. Some places were simply not accessible due to the depth of the water (above ankle-deep).
The gondolas that were tied to the side of the pier were barely being kept on the water, as the waves threaten to ground them all on the stone walkway. Even a gentle breeze was enough to send the sea waters over the sea wall, consistently entering into the piazza. Good time to stop and think about what we are collectively doing to Mother Earth….
We left Piazza San Marco and walked along the seashore before heading northwest, stopping along the way to view the sights. I would say that we were quite naïve about the island itself – we came face-to-face with an almost uncrossable barrier – the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal meanders through the entire island, and although there are several land bridges across the Canal, we were not anywhere near any of them. Thankfully, an elderly lady showed us where to go, to catch a, err, gondola-ferry! Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like – for a fee of €2.00, the big gondola which can sit 30 adults, would ferry you across the Canal.
We crossed the Grand Canal from a makeshift wooden jetty at the end of Calle del Traghetto O Ca’ Garzon, a very narrow street from our side, to the opposite jetty. A short walk later, we arrived at Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, one of only three churches which retained its Venetian Gothic style. It is also the largest church in Venice, having been expanded many times to accommodate the growing parish, the last expansion to its current look took almost a century to complete.
And then, it was time to go… sadly. We walked toward the bus station via the Ponte di Papadopoli, a small bridge across one of the smaller canals, and waited for the bus. There were several souvenir shops along the way, and it was the last opportunity to make a last-minute souvenir shopping spree. The ride to the airport took less than 30 minutes, and we went to retrieve our bags to put all the goods and prepare to go home.
Summary of Day 8
A quick look at the map of our walking path (approximately 3.6km) clearly shows that we missed out on many of the attractions on the main Venice Island, and I am pretty sure that the path depicted in the map is somewhat inaccurate since there was no way I could’ve retraced our steps through all the small lanes we had to use. Ending our trip with a small taste of Venice was a good idea – make us hungry to be back for more.
The quiet ride to the airport also gave us a moment to reminisce on the adventure we had over the last week or so.
Adventure Close Out
* Add Adventure Close Out: “The world was just coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fact that every member of our family came through this generational event alive and well is really a blessing in itself. To then be able to celebrate our birthdays together was a simply the icing on the cake. Too bad my son OC was not able to be here, and at that moment in time, we were not even sure if we would get another chance to go for a holiday together, since it was so difficult to fit in everyone’s schedule. Chiangmai turned out to be the perfect place for our adventure together – kop kun mah…..
