Schiphol airport
Mountains
My room
Window with flowers
Construction near Accademia bridge
View South from Accademia bridge
Venice canal and houses
Ca' Rezzonico ballroom
Floating market
House from the Dorsduro neighbourhood
Near the Ponte Traghetto
Reflection on the water
Laundry day
Me and Venice
Window, balcony and flowers
Teatro La Fenice
Canal view
View of where I ate dinner
Church by the Canal Giudecca
Sun is setting by the Canal Giudecca
Santa Maria della Salute church
View towards Piazza San Marco
Doges Palace, San Marco Basilica and empty café
Procuratie Nuove at San Marco Piazza
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So I left the house early at about 5h45 to get the first metro at 6h03. Then a train at 6h16 and 5 minutes later I was at Schiphol airport. I checked in which went fine. I realized I forgot to bring the PIN number for my mobile phone. It's needed to switch it back on...! So I would not have a phone in Venice. The flight to Munich was late leaving the airport. I was scared I'd miss my connection but there was little I could do. We got a sandwhich and drinks, the Lufthansa service was alright. Once we landed at the airport in Munich I heard something being said on the speakers of the plane about Venice. I asked the flight attendent on my way out and she said I could transfer express and a minibus was waiting for me to bring me directly to the plane! Yay! The driver didn't speak English but with my Dutch I was able to understand a bit what he was saying and respond to his question. I made it on time, arriving just as passengers were boarding the little Air Dolomiti plane. With both flights I had no one sitting next to me which was nice. In Venice I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane to be able to see the city...! But I was still able to see a bit...
Then at the airport I picked up my Venice card (pre-booked, allows travel on boats, toilet use, museum entries, etc). The woman noticed the French name on my reservation and switched from English to French which was nice! I also bought a Alilaguna ticket. That's the boat shuttle into the city. It took about 1h10 to get to San Marco Place. I liked the view of the island of Venice from the boat... I liked that there were no skyscrapers and that the tallest buildings were the church towers... Very different from North American cities!
After arriving at 14h30 I followed the hotel's directions and made it at Hotel Anastasia within 5 minutes. I checked in and got my room, #105. It was a single room, so a bit on the small side but with a complete bathroom, TV, 3 windows, etc. Very nice furnishings too. It didn't feel small because of the windows. I liked the room.
Then I went out. Not to the Piazza San Marco but in the Dorsduro neighbourhood. I quickly noticed all the men selling fake designer bags (Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc). It's stupid that people buy the bags. It will only help the black market continue. And these men were everywhere which was annoying. I walked along the Venetian streets.
Every so often the streets lead you to a Campo, a place with a church, a drinking fountain, benches, etc. Many little bridges and canals on the way. I passed by Campo San Maurizio, Campo Santo Stefano (where I bought postcards), Campo San Vidal and crossed over one of the two Venetian Grand Canal bridges, Ponte dell' Accademia. I visited the Accademia museum which was filled with religious paintings. I bought cherries from a floating market but the shop keeper was not in a good mood, very grumpy. Nonetheless 1kg of cherries for 2.50 Euros was a great deal I thought! And they were delicious!
Then I continued on walking going North, came to Campo San Barnaba and went to the Ca'Rezzonico. The entry price for the palace turned into a museum was included in my prepaid Venice Card so I took advantage of it! It was really nice to see the inside of one of the huge canal palaces. The decoration was grand. High ceilings. Painted with frescoes. Velvet on the walls. Beautiful curtains. After my visit there I continued North to the Campo Santa Margherita with the big huge church.
Then I crossed the Rio di Ca'Foscari and was in Santa Croce neighbourhood for a little while, Campo San Pantalon (funny name I thought) was very cute place and Campo San Tomà. I then walked to reach the San Tomà-Sant' Angelo traghetto crossing. As there are only 2 bridges accross the Grand Canal families operate traghetto crossing points. These are converted gondolas. You pay 50 cents. Venetians stand but I sat as it was quite rocky! I'm glad I used the traghetto as it gives a different feeling than the Vaporetto (motored boats on the canals, water busses).
Back in the San Marco neighbourhood I slowly made my way back to the hotel, passing by Campo Sant' Angelo, Chiesa di Santa Maria del Giglio (church) and the Teatro La Fenice. The aera near the famous theater was very crowded as there was a show that evening. Then I went back to the Campo San Maurizio. There was a take away pizza place near there so I bought a slice of pizza and a Fanta soft drink. I sat on the steps to the water well in the middle of the San Maurizio place and had dinner there. It was quite nice because I was surrounded by very pitoresque old houses. After that I crossed Accademia bridge again and walked towards the Canale della Giudecca which is South of the Venetian island. There I walked along the boardwalk and bought a gelato ice cream at what is said to be the best gelateria in Venice, Nico. I got strawberry flavored ice and it was delicious!!! Then I walked east along canal until I reached a huge church, Santa Maria della Salute. It's was very majestic. It was late so I couldn't see the inside but I was curious... I sat there for a while on the church's steps. A man leaving the area wanted to give me a rose he had. I said I didn't need it... And he just left it on the step besides me. When I left I didn't take the rose along, leaving it behind for someone else.
I took the Vaporetto boat to the Piazza San Marco and saw the beauty of the area for the first time up close. The San Marco Basilica was beautiful. The Doges Palace also. Everything. In the cafés small orchestras were playing nice music. There was a lot of people. Then I went to the hotel and asked them to wake me up at 7h. I had a nice shower before going to bed. I could feel my throat starting to get a bit sore... I was hoping I would not wake up with a cold in the morning...
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