Arrival in Venice is quite different than that of other places we have been. It starts the same as other European travel with a flight to a major US airport, then an overnight flight to Europe. This time, the third leg of our flight was Frankfurt to Venice. There was a lot of cloud cover obscuring the view of the Alps, so we tried to catch a nap. After a valiant napping effort, we looked out the window in time to see a spectacular and clear view of the Alps. With the earlier cloud cover we hadn’t even bothered to bring the camera down from the overhead storage, and there really wasn’t time now. A little later, when we were on approach for landing, we enjoyed a nice view of Venice from the air. Did we mention that the camera was still in the overhead?
The Marco Polo airport is located on the mainland; from there, an express bus took us across the causeway to Venice. This is when the arrival really distinguishes itself. We hopped on another bus to get to our resort. That doesn’t sound different, until you remember that Venice’s roads are canals. Busses and taxis are all boats, and the water bus is called the vaporetto. Venice has a fairly extensive public transportation system, it just happens to be on water so vaporetto stops are boat docks.
The skill of the vaporetto drivers is obvious. They maneuver the vaporetto up to the dock with great precision, and in a matter of seconds the boat is tied off against the dock and people are getting on and off. Just as quickly the boat is off again, headed for the next stop. They manage to get the boat in and out of the dock so quickly that one can easily forget that it isn’t a regular city bus, well, unless your eyes are open; because you are in Venice after all. Everywhere you look is beautiful and romantic.
A resort representative met us at a vaporetto stop and guided us the rest of the way to our unit, a beautiful 2 floor apartment in a residential area of Venice. It is just enough out of the tourist area that we feel like we are a part of Venetian life, but the walk back to the nearest vaporetto route isn’t too bad. We are only a few feet off of a canal so we could take a water taxi, but for now we prefer the walk.
With the long journey behind us, it was tempting to just relax a while and wait for tomorrow, but we were in Venice on an absolutely gorgeous sunny day. After freshening up a bit, we latched on to the camera and headed out for lunch and our first sightseeing. Walking next to water is nothing new, but here the roads themselves are water. Many of the canals have sidewalks but many run right up against the buildings on either side, and the buildings themselves have entrances with posts to tie of the boats and step off into the building directly from the canal. We found a restaurant which was recommended and enjoyed fresh sea bass lunch before making our way to the vaporetto.
There is no greater way to start exploring Venice than to cruise the Grand Canal. And it is definitely the most spectacular bus ride we’ve ever had. The Grand Canal of Venice is the Venice’s “main street”. It is lined up with beautiful palaces that were constructed over hundreds of years.
We interrupted our cruise for a stop at Rialto. Rialto was the commercial center of Venice for much of its history. Rialto Bridge is the main bridge crossing the Grand Canal in the heart of Venice. It is over 400 years old and for centuries was the only place allowing to cross the Grand Canal on foot. It was built with the arch high enough to allow galleys to pass beneath it and is wide enough to accommodate the shops.
We walked on the bridge for a great view of the canal and then around the Rialto area before getting back on the boat and continuing to San Marco. Piazza San Marco, known in English as St Mark’s Square, is the principal square of Venice. And it is the only square in Venice deemed worth of the “piazza” title. The others, regardless of size, are called campi.
San Marco is dominated by St. Mark’s basilica, Doge’s Palace and Campanille.
We walked around briefly knowing that we will return on another day for a more thorough visit. Fatigue from the journey started to catch up with us so we took the return trip on vaporetto back and walked to our apartment. We stopped along the way for cheese, bread, pastries, fresh fruits, and really great Salami sliced so thin that you can read thru it.
