Chess on an Island

When Vanessa and I were getting ready for bed the night before, we had agreed to wake up at around 8 am. I woke up at 9. Haha, so much for that. I was tired, I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep on Wednesday night due to our crazy travel schedule. We decided to spend the day riding the vaporetto to the islands in the Venetian lagoon because the islands are sweet and we both truly loved riding the water buses. We started walking toward the correct bus stop (the bus stops were floating rooms with an open door where the bus saddled up next to, picture 2) and along the way I took some pictures of churches and statues (picture 1) in the morning light which made them look very good. Also along the way, we stopped at a grocery store and Vanessa got yogurt for breakfast and salad for lunch. I got some chocolate croissants which I ended up eating for both breakfast and lunch (very bad of me to do). We hopped on the bus headed for Murano.

Murano is an island just off Venice. It was only a 7 minute ride. The island is known worldwide for its glass production. There are a ton of glass making shops on the island. When got off the bus and sat on a dock and ate our breakfast. Vanessa dropped her spoon into the water somehow which, at the time, was just completely hilarious. It was incredibly beautiful looking back over the water at Venice and our feet dangling off the end of the dock (picture 3). We adopted the strategy of walking around and seeing what we find. We ended up finding a free glass-blowing demonstration. There was a very well dressed young guy directing people into a room where three older men were doing stuff with glass (picture 4). He explained (mostly in Italian) what the guys were doing. One guy started to make a bowl and then handed it over to the "master" of the shop who finished it off. The bowl was really wavy around the outside and was medium sized. It was really cool to watch it be made. It was just a big blob one minute and then a wavy bowl the next! Vanessa bought a glass flower from the shop. We walked along the main street of the town which had about a million glass shops along it. There were some "designer names" just like with clothes.

We walked along the Murano Grand Canal and came to Santi Maria E Donato (picture 5). It was a church built in 1100 but a church has been on the spot since 700 or so. The relief that is on the pulpit is from 500. The most famous part of the church is the swirling mosaic patterns on the floor. Behind the altar are the bones of a dragon that St. Donatus killed. I hope someone realized that dragons never existed... The outside of the church was cool too with little arches all the around. We walked to the bus stop and hopped on again. It was so nice to be able to do that. I know that it is sort of like stealing but everyone was doing it (not a good excuse but oh well) and we won't have been able to ride it as much as we did if we had to pay. In front of the church there was a giant glass abacus which was really sweet.

Our next stop was the island of Burano. More like Brrrrano. It was pretty cold on the island especially in the shade. I should add RELATIVELY COLD. I realize the temperature in MN but when one is used to 50s and sun in London, 30s and breezy is cold. Anyway, Burano is about 30 minutes away by vaporetto from Murano. It is known for its beautifully colored houses (picture 6). The story goes that the fisherman's wives back in the day painted the houses very vibrant colors so that their husbands could still see their house from out in the lagoon. I love that story. The houses really are amazing. They were so easy to take pictures of. Just hold up the camera and its a fantastic picture (I really like picture 7). The island is small and easy to walk around. We ate lunch on the edge of the island looking out over the lagoon. Fantastic. Vanessa said that Burano was like Disneyland. It just felt like someone set up the houses but they were so out there and so cool that they couldn't be real. Almost right at that moment, a door opened and a kid came running out just to prove her wrong. Still, it felt that way. Burano was really sweet though.

We hopped on another vaporetto to the island of Torcello which was only 10 minutes from Burano. Torcello used to be the main place of the lagoon in 1200. 60,000 people lived on the island but the plague hit and everyone either died of left. We walked to the focal point of the island, Santa Maria Assunta (picture 9). It was founded in 800 and rebuilt in 1008 because the bishop was scared of the millennium. I think it was finished a little late if that was his concern. Anywho, we walked by Atilla's Throne which both Vanessa and I had our pictures taken sitting in (picture 8). I thought it was funny because we had both read the book, Atilla, by that point. Legend has it that anybody who sits on the throne will be married in 1 year (gahulllll). We didn't go into the church but did venture inside the chapel next to it. Other than the church there is not much on the island, other than a few restaurants and shops.

We were walking back from the church to the water bus when an older man called me over and started pointing at a chess board. I tried to communicate that I was flattered but not good. He insisted and Vanessa urged me on. There was a small stone table with three stone seats around it that we played on. Vanessa took a picture of us playing but I don't have it at the moment, when I do, I will put it up. The man was really nice. Here would give me hints and say things like "bella" and smile or "no bella" and shake his head. Sometimes he would point at a specific piece so I knew to move that one. He let me win but we continued playing anyway. I felt kind of embarrassed for being so bad (I should have gotten some pointers back home from Greg). We ended up playing for over an hour. The sun was low in the field behind us and it was just amazing. Definitely the highlight of the whole trip (or at least tied). It was so much fun.

I watched the sun go down from the water bus back to Venice even though it was pretty chilly. It was great (picture 10). The sunset reminded me of so many things (Grand Teton and Crater Lake for sunsets on water; Seattle, San Francisco, New York and Boston for the ferry). We made the long, freezing cold walk back to the hotel. We ate dinner at Brek, a cafeteria style place like McGlynn's or Sexton. I had a noodle dish that tasted like a hamburger hot dish thing that my mom makes and Vanessa had a mix of a bunch of different weird stuff. After that we went back and I read some more.

So Nice in Venice

So here we go with the story of our spring break. As usual, I'm sure each post will be lengthy so pace yourself if you're reading them. I will go day by day just like usual. Hope you enjoy!

We started the trip like I said we would, at around 3:15 am Vanessa and I walked to the bus stop to get a night bus to Victoria Coach Station. The bus didn't come for a while and then it went by a longer route than I thought it would. Plus it dropped us off two blocks from the Coach Station. It was 4:03 am when it dropped us off and the coach left at 4:10. We basically ran there with all of our luggage but made it just in time. That made me think of the time in the Grand Canyon when my mom and I wanted to catch a bus and she had me run ahead and tell the driver that my mom was coming but we had to wait for her (mom, you know what I am talking about). If we would have missed that coach, we probably would have missed our plane which would have been VERY bad, obviously. Anyway, we made it. The coach ride to Stansted Airport was uneventful. We got to Stansted and went through the whole check in process. Vanessa had to have her bag looked through beacuse she had forgotten that she had a fork in her backpack. She had brought a bunch of broccoli with her in her backpack to eat and I was hoping that the guy would pull all of it out, but he didn't which was extremely disappointing. So we got on the plane and flew over the Alps which was really sweet. I can't wait to visit them later.

We got to Treviso Airport which is still 40 minutes away from Venice so we took another bus. The bus passed by very Italian looking houses and then went across a really long bridge into Venice. We got off the bus and made our way to the hotel. It was €50 per night and was pretty much the smallest room I had ever seen (picture2). There was only one bed (a little awkward for the two of us but we made due). Our bathroom was across the hall. We got the only room with a balcony over the square outside the hotel which I was happy about. The balcony overlooked a church and stuff (picture 1). Vanessa ate some of her broccoli for lunch and I had a panini sandwich. That is a sandwich with some kind of bread (foccacia, a bun, baguette, whatever) with some meat (usually proscuitto, an Italian type of ham) and some cheese warmed up. I had them just about everyday for lunch and they were fantastic. I ate it on our balcony over looking the square.

Anyway, we left and just went strolling around the area just south of our hotel (picture 3). The paths are like mazes and there were canals all over the place and it was fantastic. The neighborhoods we walked through were called San Croce and San Polo. It was really hard for me to not look at a map and just walk around. It was fun to walk into a campo (small square) where people congregate and then suddenly walk into a small alley which was dead quiet. We got lost a bunch of time and seemed to be walking in circles so we decided to make our way to the Rialto Bridge. This is a bridge over the Grand Canal that has shops on it and is very cool to look at (picture 4). We looked at all the shops and seemed to find a lot of the same souvenirs. Those being Murano glass and Carnivale masks. Murano is an island off Venice and Carnivale is a festival that happened a week before we got there which is like Mardi Gras. We trudged over to Piazza de San Marco (St. Mark's Square). This is the most famous part of Venice. St. Mark's Basilica is here (picture 5) which has some of the most famous mosaics in the world on the ceiling. We walked inside of it but only at the free parts. I loved the mosaics. We talked about going into Doge's Palace (another super famous building with a ton of history located on St. Mark's Square) but it was an art museum and we both were feeling tired. Amy, you will be happy to know that St. Mark's Square is famous for its copious pigeons. Seriously there were just tons of them. Vanessa was scared that one would poop on her (I was too). People were feeding the things and stuff. I thought it was kind of disgusting but to each their own. We rested for a bit on the Lagoon facing Isle de San Giorgio (our view is picture 6 with some gondolas in the foreground). There was a painting in the Wallace Collection (a museum we visited for Art History) from this exact spot. I thought about going up to the top of the bell tower of the square but it €8 and I wasn't all that into it. I wish I would have now. Oh well. I will come back some day and do it. That and ride in a gondola. The gondolas were €70+ for like an hour and neither Vanessa nor I have that kind of money so we didn't do it.

A girl at the hostel in Edinburgh told us not to pay for the Vaporetto (water bus) because they never check so we didn't. No incidents to speak off. So many people were getting on it would have been impossible to check. It took off from right by St. Mark's Square (behind Vanessa in picture 7 is the square with the bell tower and Doge's Palace). The bus continued on the entire length of the Grand Canal from St. Mark's Square up to the train station which was by our hotel. There were a lot of Palazzos (Palaces) along the canal and they started to all look similar by the end which was bad but true. The ride was kind of cold in the shade. This was Vanessa's favorite part of the day. We sat in the back with the sun setting on the Grand Canal (picture 8). Back at the hotel, Vanessa napped so I walked around which was nice because it was dusk and most of the tourists had left so it was real Venetians walking around.

I came back and got Vanessa and we walked around and found a place to eat. I had a polo patty (polo is Italian for chicken). Vanessa had an olive wrap. We walked around for a while looking for some chocolate and wine. This took a long time because of indecisiveness on both our parts but we eventually got some and had it back at the hotel. I loved the white chocolate we got. It was a nice Valentine's Day (Vanessa with chocolate and wine in a plastic cup picture 9, classy). I also got some strawberry gelato for €1 which was amazing. I LOVE gelato. Its sort of like ice cream but better. I read a little bit then went to bed.