Basilica San Marco, Veince
Joern and I decided to go away for our anniversary on June 9th this year. The Thursday before the 9th was a holiday, so Joern decided to take Friday the 10th off from work, so we would have a long trip.
We began our trip on Wednesday, I went to work with Joern, so that we could drive to the Swiss border and take off for our adventure. We spent Wednesday night with Joern´s friend Fabio outside of St. Moritz. This was in an attempt to cut down the long drive to Italy. The coolest part about visiting Fabio was the fact that his wife and daughter, Fabianna, were down for 2 weeks. I adore Fabianna. She is 3 and one of the most amazing little kids I know. We had so much fun together!!! And Fabio's apartment in the Swiss Alps is simply wonderful!
After enjoying some friendly hospitality, we took off Thursday morning for Italy. The original plan was to spend the day in Milan, a 2 hour drive from St. Moritz before heading off to Jesolo, where we would be staying. Unfortuantely, Joern did not bring a map, and Fabio did not consult one when he gave us directions to Milan from his house. He told us to take the pass that we have to drive up to reach the apartment (the Julier Pass,) and then to take the San Bernardino pass into Italy. Turns out that Fabio could have told us to drive back to Stuttgart first, and it still may have taken the same time for us to reach Milan! Sheesh! Unfortunately, the weather was very poor on Thursday, and we didn't even get to enjoy the scenery on our 5 hour drive through the Alps!
Since we were far behind on time, we decided that Milan would have to get cut from the trip. Instead, Joern suggested we stop in Como to walk around for a while. Oh my goodness, Como is beautiful. The lake is amazingly beautiful, surrounded by the Alps and little villages. I could move to the area around Lake Como! Even if George Clooney didn't live there, I would still adore the area! We walked around the lake area, and then into the center of Como. The town has such a relaxed atmosphere! We decided to head back to the car though when it started to rain.
We got back on the road and headed towards Jesolo, where we would be staying for the duration of our trip. The drive was so beautiful! One we cleared the three hours of sitting in traffic nearn Milan, the weather cleared. We drove through the Lombardy region, which is incredibly gorgeous! The autostrade (Italian turnpike system,) goes through beautiful areas, quite unlike I-95 in CT!
We finally pulled in to Jesolo Lido around 8 on Thursday night. We never expected to spend almost the entire day in the car, but in the end, it worked out. Jesolo is a town situated about an hour from Venice, and Lido di Jesolo is the seaside resort area of Jesolo. It was the German travel hotspot in the 70s and 80s before cheap airline travel brought the discovery of Mallorca. Joern and I have stayed in Lido di Jesolo twice in the past, but both times were approximately 5 years ago. It was to me a resort town that had seen it´s heyday, and was in it´s twilight. The hotels were old and there were rarely many people, even during high season. We were shocked when we pulled in to Lido di Jesolo to discover that it has really changed in the past 5 years. The hotels were all newly redone, and there was tons of construction everywhere! The street that runs along the beach, already closed to traffic for the night was full of people! We finally found a hotel, the Hotel delle Nazioni, a beautiful, newly renovated hotel, that was so well designed, that all rooms had a sea view!
Our hotel, and view from our balcony.
After getting settled, we went out for a pizza, in a restaruant along the main street, that is turned into a pedestrian promenade every night. Joern had a ham pizza, and mine was four cheese- yummy! After our pizzas and a good glass of wine, we walked along the promenade, which is really huge! We walked for over an hour before deciding, we would not reach the end of town any time soon, so it was time to turn around.
On Friday morning, we were up at a reasonable time, and had a great breakfast on the hotel terrace, overlooking the Mediterranean. It was so beautiful there! After breakfast, we drove to Punta Sabioni, the closest ferry dock that would bring us to Venice. Because I wanted to buy a day ticket for the Vaporetto, Venice´s public water bus system, we had a little confusion finding the right booth. I highly recommend the day ticket if anyone goes to Venice- it is 13 Euro for 12 hours, which worked out wonderfully!
Because of all the ticket confusion, we got on the wrong boat- oops! We were going to go to Burano, one of the islands, from Punta Sabioni, which would have been a 40 minute trip. Instead, we got on the boat headed for Venice, an hour from our dock, and the complete wrong direction! It wasn´t so bad though, we got to walk into Piazza San Marco (St. Mark´s Square,) while we were waiting for the next boat to Burano.
View of the bell tower and Doge´s Palace approaching Venice.
Clock tower in San Marco Square.
Burano was absolutely beautiful! The houses on Burano are very brightly colored, and it is a wonderful site to pull into Burano from the lagoon! The island is well- known for lacemaking, although little lace is actually made on the island anymore, you still see it everywhere! We walked around Burano for a few hours, enjoying the slower pace and empty streets, as compared to Venice itself. Burano was by far one of my favorite places to visit.
Burano has quiet streets and small canals. You get the feeling of Venice without the craziness of the crowds.
After Burano, we boarded the correct boat headed for Venice. When we started approaching Murano, another of the islands, Joern suggested we spend some time on the island. I had read many bad things about Murano on the internet that I was reluctant to go. Murano is the island famous for Venetian glass, and famous for pushy salespeople. We got off at a vaporetto stop that wasn´t in the main tourist area of the island. There were a couple of glass factories, but few tourists. We walked by one factory that had its doors open to the street, and people could watch the glass being made. It was wonderful! And, there was no pressure to buy anything, as the store was a separate entrance! It was wonderful to walk around Murano though, again, like Burano, the pace was slow and it wasn´t packed with tourists.
Making Venitian glass in a Murano factory.
One of the many, many glass factories on Murano island.
