The morning is leisurely. We have decided to go into Venezia in the early afternoon, and have dinner there tonight. After yesterday's slow transit, we are back to our original plan of driving to Mestre, parking and taking the train. But for once the Italian road signs, normally so good, let us down: we can't find the train station, while instead there are lots of signs for Venezia, and so we drive across the causeway. We park, and discover that there is a vaporetto stop right at the parking lot, which is at the top end of the Canal Grande, so we head down the canal, passing quickly from the non-magical modern Venezia into La Serenissima, that most beautiful of cities. We feel so lucky to have always, till now, come to Venezia by boat right to San Marco (even if the boat was a bit overcrowded).

The vaporetto deposits us at the Rialto, and we head into the San Polo quarter, a district we have never explored. We walk through the streets, not knowing where we are, but not caring. Everywhere, we see the work of the INSULA, the authority that is, finally, taking steps to deal with the acqua alta, by rebuilding the canal fronts and raising those in the lower areas to a tide level of 120 centimetres. They estimate that this will reduce the number of occurrences of acqua alta in Piazza San Marco from 220 annually to 5. As we learn to recognize what the rebuilt canal fronts look like, we realize that a lot of work has already been accomplished since the project began last year. Somebody must have learned something from the disaster of rebuilding La Fenice.

We didn't get to 1 of the churches on my agenda yesterday, the Redentore, another work by Palladio, located on the island of Giudecca. Yet another church built to commemorate the end of the plague, this one in 1576, during which over 1/3 of Venezia's population died, including the artist Tiziano. Greg is more interested in just strolling, so I leave him to San Polo and take the vaporetto to the Giudecca, where few tourists ever head. Not only am I rewarded with the magnificent Redentore, full of Tintorettos and Bassanos, but the view back to Piazza San Marco is spectacular. The church is magnificent, its space perfectly proportioned, and on the fondamenta outside the INSULA is hard at work, giving me hope that Venezia may truly yet be saved.


Chiesa del Redentore

When I head back to San Marco to meet Greg as planned, I drag him back to the Giudecca, to a quiet cafe on the fondamenta, and we sit with a few Venetians, listening to them gossip and tease each other, all of us enjoying a late afternoon rest, basking in the brilliant sunshine and drinking in this spectacular view of Venezia.


From left: la Salute and San Marco from the Giudecca; on the fondamenta



La Serenissima!

I do not sleep well in Noventa di Piave. This will prove to be a recurring problem over our 4 nights here. Interestingly enough, John, who woke very very early every morning at Neil's house in London while I slept like a baby, has no trouble sleeping here in Italy. I awake with sand in my eyes and slowly, ever so slowly, get up. John has already been up and gone down for breakfast: orange juice, fresh croissant and coffee. I opt for the pillow.

Stephano, one of our hosts, has told us of one of the many options for traveling to Venezia. We had been planning to drive into Mestre and then taking the train, to avoid the parking hassles. Stephano suggests that we drive to Punta Sabbione, the tiny finger-like peninsula which is across from Venezia, and then take one of the many ferries into the city. Noventa di Piave is already halfway there, and we quickly agree that that sounds like a wonderful idea. When we came to Venezia 4 years ago, we took the shuttle boat from the airport to Piazza San Marco and it was wonderful to approach the magical city by water. We anticipate the same.

On the road and out of Noventa di Piave by 10 a.m., we expect the 40 kilometre drive to the ferry to be fast. It is, after all, a Tuesday and who would be travelling these roads this early in the week? Stephano neglected to tell us that this is major beach country, that the lido along the coast is lined with hotels and pensions full of summer beach tourists. Our road is crammed with not only beach tourists but also all the tourists who have been told of this wonderful alternative for getting to Venezia. We are bumper to bumper for an hour and three quarters before we arrive to find expensive parking and even more expensive ferries to San Marco. We cram onto a boat with everybody else and head out for a slightly overcast trip to Venezia. As we round the point and see our first glimpse of the spires of San Marco and San Giorgio Maggiore and La Salute, the impatient and curious tourists surge to the top of the boat, cameras, video cams and squawking children in tow, blocking all attempts at picture taking. The sun breaks through, hot and intense, welcoming us to Venezia.


Approaching La Serenissima by water: from left: the spires of San Giorgio Maggiore on the left, and of La Salute on the right; the mouth of the Canal Grande between La Salute and San Marco

Our return ticket says 6 pm so we walk with purpose and knowledge of where to go. We leave all the Venetian Virgins behind to let them savour their first glimpses of the rolling gondolas and the tacky paintings, the Doges' Palace and the prize of all, the Piazza San Marco. As we pass through the Piazza, I hear an American woman say to her family, wide-eyed and full of wonder: "Can you believe that we are actually here?" We both stop and realize how lucky we are to be travelling the way we are and remember our first time in Venezia. We consciously slow our pace, trying to see this magical place through a Venetian Virgin's eyes.

John wants to see 3 churches on this trip, San Giorgio Maggiore, La Salute, and Redentore, which we didn't get a chance to explore when we were here before. We agree to do the 1st 2 today, and grab Vaporetto 82 to start with San Giorgio, the masterpiece of Palladio. The inside is a cool, calm white interior, so understated and peaceful, and we enjoy the quiet.


San Giorgio Maggiore: from left: exterior; interior; the Palladian Cloister

We join some English tourists in the lift to the top of the campanile for a spectacular view of the city and the lagoons. From this vantage point you can clearly see how Venetia is situated and its dominance of the water. It is a lovely view punctuated by a single but very loud bell clap, announcing the half hour.


From left: Piazza San Marco; Canale della Giudecca; islands in the laguna

We make our way down and back across the canal to San Marco, and walk to la Salute, the Cathedral of Health, built to celebrate and commemorate the end of one of the many plagues that devastated Venezia. We walk through familiar streets, finding our way around easily to cross the Canal Grande at the Ponte di Accademia, and so are now in Dorsodura. There are two major canal restorations on our way and we stop and watch in amazement the painstaking process of renewal.


A canal in the process of reconstruction

We walk past the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and finally the campo rises up to greet us. Soon we are inside. Like San Giorgio, la Salute is a clean, white interior punctuated with works of art by great Venetian painters like Tintoretto, Titian and Tiziano. It has a round interior and is not like a standard roman cross style of church. In fact there is no seating available to its parishioners.


Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute

Slowly, we roam the streets and campos as we make our way back to San Marco to catch our ferry. We come across La Fenice, still not totally completed despite the reopening ceremonies held last Christmas. 4 years ago, on our last trip, the theatre was still in ruins years after it was devastated by fire, the huge sums spent to restore it disappearing into the pockets of politicians and builders, with little making its way into the actual building, until Rome took control of the project, after which it moved forward quickly.



La Serenissima!

At the ferry stop we look at the crowd and there are so many of us that we think it will be an unpleasant, sardine-like, trip home. But halfway through boarding it becomes apparent a 2nd ferry is waiting and will take 1/2 the crowd, so we end up with seats on the bow, enjoying the sun on our faces and the views of the Lido as we head home.

N 45
E 012

Trieste Airport to Noventa di Piave: 87 kilometres

Venezia beckons us and we arrive back in Trieste with not a whole lot of help from Ryanair other than the actual usage of the seats on the airplane. We have flown Ryanair twice; we do not need to go there again.

It is hot and sunny in Italy and we drive the hour to our next destination, Noventa di Piave, which is about 40 kilometres from Venezia. The hotel we are staying in is a small, family run albergo and ristorante/pizzeria that is located not too far away but just far enough away from the autostrada. We ring the bell and the pizza cook lets us in and shows us our room for the next 4 nights. We settle in, unpack and go downstairs for dinner about 8 p.m. They offer good, solid home cooked food with a fresh, slightly bubbly vino rosso della casa to wash it all down. It still amazes me that in the space of 2 hours we can escape the hustle and bustle of London and have the tranquil canals of Venezia enticing us. Ahhhhhh, the wonder of travel.

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