Travel: Easter In Venice
Such a beautiful city that my mum used to visit with her family many summers in succession when she was younger. I've heard stories of cheap ice cream and how she got two lira (the currency they used back then) and could either get one cone with two scoops or two cones with one scoop each, odd as she was, she always picked the latter option (I'm not a fan of the cheap cardboard-like cones).
I'm way late with this post but life has done a bit awry lately, as has been indicated by some posts before this and the one I'll post right after this one. Still, I don't want to bail out and I want to write down little random things about my family Easter holiday this year and share my photos. I promised myself I wouldn't forget or give up like with our US trip in 2014.
So here goes...
We got up early Sunday morning, drove to the airport and got on a plane. I feel like I've been in airports rather frequently lately and by now I've gotten a good routine down to the tee. Though, Mum usually tries to get us all there in her high-brow tempo but we managed. Even if in true family dynamics, a discussion of where to eat breakfast already occurred before we had left Denmark.
We had a layover in Frankfurt and after a short wait and a short flight, we were in Venice. At the airport, we bought 72 hour tickets for the airport bus as well as the vaporetto (a special kind of water bus used in Venice). It was 187 EUR per person but considering how much we used the vaporetto to get around, we definitely got our money's worth.
We arrived in the afternoon and checked into Hotel Continental, which was right down the road from the train station. Our first day was pretty chill, so we walked around the Jewish quarter and took in the beauty of Venice. Unfortunately, it was a bit overcast but thankfully, it got much better over the next couple of days. Below is a sample of the first snaps I took of Venice, just walking around the area near our hotel.
For dinner, my father spotted a place called Vesuvio, which he thought was funny because that's also the name of our favourite Italian resutrant back home. It actually turned out to be the very best food we'd have during our holiday, so for lunch on our final day we went back for seconds. I ordered spagetti carbonara both times, though I picked off the bacon.
We went to bed fairly early but had a bright start the next morning, where we after the complimentary buffet breakfast, jumped on a vaporetto and sailed to the little island called Murano, on which the famous Italian Murano glass comes from. Both my mother and I were very captivated by the whole ideal of sailing to the island and practically hung out the window as we watched the passing islands and the light blue sea.
We started by heading to a show where they showed us how they made different glass objects all handmade; a vase, a horse, a fish and lastly, a surprise. The surprise consisted of the glassblower making glass splinter in front of us. I tried taking photos throughout the process but unfortunately, they got a bit grainy.
Afterwards, we took a gaze in different glass shops around the island and ended up buying six glasses and I also bought a little red scorpio that had been hand blown and uniquely made. I thought it only fitting as Venice is famous for their glass and it's my star sign.
We also sat down for a little break and in general just enjoyed looking at the architecture of this small but pretty famous Venetian island.
My mother and I joked that we would just be clumsy/inattentive enough to walk down the stairs on the photo above and slip into the water. Probably true to be honest.
We got the vaporetto back and stopped off near the Piazza San Marco. Fun fact (or not fun really) this is most likely the place where my mother first got so scared of birds and pigeons in particular. Having seen it I don't actually blame her, they just don't care and they fly so close. We took a browse around and admired it nevertheless, though my mother stuck firmly to the edge. My little brother kept going on about being the Dodge (a Venetian "ruler" of sorts back in the day, mostly symbolic power though) as we walked around right outside his palace.
It is a pretty impressive area but one thing I felt drawn to was the Bridge of Sighs. Mainly because I've heard stories thorough my mother about how she used to talk with her father about it when she was a little girl and how fascinated she was with it. Even though we lost him in 2007, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside to think how much he'd love that his stories still lived on through his daughter to his grandchildren. Below is a photo of the bridge and the following day we actually went into the museum and I got to see it from the inside as well.
We walked around the area near Piazza San Marco and enjoyed exploring and seeing a different part of Venice.
Then we went for dinner, where I opted for risotto. One would think that maybe we'd get tired of Italian after eating it for both lunch and dinner but I honestly didn't see that happening. They have so many delicious recipes and there's nothing quite like eating Italian in Italy.
After dinner, we had to go to a play of Vivialdi's Four Seasons but it didn't quite start yet so we stopped in and got a couple of drinks on a pub like place to kill the time. I got a Mojito, though it tasted a little too strong, it's still one of my go-to drinks. I was pretty tired by this point and just wanted to go home and definitely didn't feel up for listening to violins for over an hour. It isn't really the kind of music I enjoy.
When the performance started and the lights dimmed, I actually went in and out of consciousness, drifting off sleep. Earlier on the vaporetto, I had felt a bit anxious and calming myself down had taken a lot of energy as well as being out and about all day.
I was very thankful when we made it back to the hotel and I immediately crawled into bed. The next morning began the same way the last did. While being there I had taken to habit to have three drinks with my scrambled eggs on toast and fruit breakfast; tea, pineapple juice and water. If that's not living the life, then I don't know what is.
We headed to Rialto by the vaporetto to attend the market that was taking place there on certain days. We didn't really buy anything but it was interesting to have a walk around and look at the different stalls and to explore that area.
Afterwards, we got the vaparetto to Piazza San Marco to go into the museum that's been made of the Dodge's palace. It was something my little brother really wanted to do and thought the prices were pretty steep and we had to wait nearly half an hour to be able to rent audio guides, it was really cool. I actually didn't take too many photos as I was busy listning and absorbing the history but below are a couple, including the view from inside the Bridge of Sighs.
We took a vaporetta back to the stop near our hotel and enjoyed one last look at the Dodge's palace as we sailed away. I just almost wrote drove there... it was a struggle for me in Venice too. I kept saying we drove everywhere, which we obviously didn't but the fact that they had a water bus was so foreign that my subconscious didn't seem to grasp it. (Sailed, you sail on a boat, silly - me speaking to myself).
The rest of the day we just spent strolling around Venice and when dinner time came my father almost pulled us along for a walk across one of the many bridges over the canals in Venice. Since my mother has been ill, stairs hasn't been her best friend and we took a quick turn around and ate around the corner from our hotel. It turned out not to be the best meal ever, it was okay but all other meals had been amazing so far.
Our last evening was affected by a a bit of trouble as the terrible, terrible terror attack in Belgium happened that very morning. We were supposed to have a lay-over there on the way home but thankfully my dad pulled out his limited but effective German skills and managed to skip the queue of rebooking and get us a layover in Munich instead.
The attacks felt very real because within less than a day and a half we were supposed to be in the very airport that got hit. It unsettled me quite a bit and stayed with my mind for the following day. Thankfully, we made it home okay the following day after having spend a chill morning and early afternoon browsing around on the Venetian streets and saying goodbye to Venice.
It was quite a good holiday, though my mind still buzzed with way too many things for me to properly indulge in it. I felt connected to it already before we went because of my mother's childhood holiday stories but it was so lovely to actually see it with my own eyes. Oddly, for someone who isn't the biggest fan of public transportation, one of my favourite bits was to sail in the vaporettos as well as the great food, amazing scenery and culture and spending time with my family.
There was just something calming about that city and I loved the way no one seemed to be in any hush. It was a breath of fresh air for someone who thinks their everyday life have gotten too hectic, hence why this update is so late. But I managed to write it now and that's all that matters!
Beautiful city, calming waters, gorgeous sunsets and the best company - what more could you want in a holiday?
I'm way late with this post but life has done a bit awry lately, as has been indicated by some posts before this and the one I'll post right after this one. Still, I don't want to bail out and I want to write down little random things about my family Easter holiday this year and share my photos. I promised myself I wouldn't forget or give up like with our US trip in 2014.
So here goes...
We got up early Sunday morning, drove to the airport and got on a plane. I feel like I've been in airports rather frequently lately and by now I've gotten a good routine down to the tee. Though, Mum usually tries to get us all there in her high-brow tempo but we managed. Even if in true family dynamics, a discussion of where to eat breakfast already occurred before we had left Denmark.
We had a layover in Frankfurt and after a short wait and a short flight, we were in Venice. At the airport, we bought 72 hour tickets for the airport bus as well as the vaporetto (a special kind of water bus used in Venice). It was 187 EUR per person but considering how much we used the vaporetto to get around, we definitely got our money's worth.
We arrived in the afternoon and checked into Hotel Continental, which was right down the road from the train station. Our first day was pretty chill, so we walked around the Jewish quarter and took in the beauty of Venice. Unfortunately, it was a bit overcast but thankfully, it got much better over the next couple of days. Below is a sample of the first snaps I took of Venice, just walking around the area near our hotel.
For dinner, my father spotted a place called Vesuvio, which he thought was funny because that's also the name of our favourite Italian resutrant back home. It actually turned out to be the very best food we'd have during our holiday, so for lunch on our final day we went back for seconds. I ordered spagetti carbonara both times, though I picked off the bacon.
We went to bed fairly early but had a bright start the next morning, where we after the complimentary buffet breakfast, jumped on a vaporetto and sailed to the little island called Murano, on which the famous Italian Murano glass comes from. Both my mother and I were very captivated by the whole ideal of sailing to the island and practically hung out the window as we watched the passing islands and the light blue sea.
We started by heading to a show where they showed us how they made different glass objects all handmade; a vase, a horse, a fish and lastly, a surprise. The surprise consisted of the glassblower making glass splinter in front of us. I tried taking photos throughout the process but unfortunately, they got a bit grainy.
We also sat down for a little break and in general just enjoyed looking at the architecture of this small but pretty famous Venetian island.
My mother and I joked that we would just be clumsy/inattentive enough to walk down the stairs on the photo above and slip into the water. Probably true to be honest.
We got the vaporetto back and stopped off near the Piazza San Marco. Fun fact (or not fun really) this is most likely the place where my mother first got so scared of birds and pigeons in particular. Having seen it I don't actually blame her, they just don't care and they fly so close. We took a browse around and admired it nevertheless, though my mother stuck firmly to the edge. My little brother kept going on about being the Dodge (a Venetian "ruler" of sorts back in the day, mostly symbolic power though) as we walked around right outside his palace.
It is a pretty impressive area but one thing I felt drawn to was the Bridge of Sighs. Mainly because I've heard stories thorough my mother about how she used to talk with her father about it when she was a little girl and how fascinated she was with it. Even though we lost him in 2007, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside to think how much he'd love that his stories still lived on through his daughter to his grandchildren. Below is a photo of the bridge and the following day we actually went into the museum and I got to see it from the inside as well.
We walked around the area near Piazza San Marco and enjoyed exploring and seeing a different part of Venice.
Then we went for dinner, where I opted for risotto. One would think that maybe we'd get tired of Italian after eating it for both lunch and dinner but I honestly didn't see that happening. They have so many delicious recipes and there's nothing quite like eating Italian in Italy.
After dinner, we had to go to a play of Vivialdi's Four Seasons but it didn't quite start yet so we stopped in and got a couple of drinks on a pub like place to kill the time. I got a Mojito, though it tasted a little too strong, it's still one of my go-to drinks. I was pretty tired by this point and just wanted to go home and definitely didn't feel up for listening to violins for over an hour. It isn't really the kind of music I enjoy.
When the performance started and the lights dimmed, I actually went in and out of consciousness, drifting off sleep. Earlier on the vaporetto, I had felt a bit anxious and calming myself down had taken a lot of energy as well as being out and about all day.
I was very thankful when we made it back to the hotel and I immediately crawled into bed. The next morning began the same way the last did. While being there I had taken to habit to have three drinks with my scrambled eggs on toast and fruit breakfast; tea, pineapple juice and water. If that's not living the life, then I don't know what is.
We headed to Rialto by the vaporetto to attend the market that was taking place there on certain days. We didn't really buy anything but it was interesting to have a walk around and look at the different stalls and to explore that area.
Afterwards, we got the vaparetto to Piazza San Marco to go into the museum that's been made of the Dodge's palace. It was something my little brother really wanted to do and thought the prices were pretty steep and we had to wait nearly half an hour to be able to rent audio guides, it was really cool. I actually didn't take too many photos as I was busy listning and absorbing the history but below are a couple, including the view from inside the Bridge of Sighs.
We took a vaporetta back to the stop near our hotel and enjoyed one last look at the Dodge's palace as we sailed away. I just almost wrote drove there... it was a struggle for me in Venice too. I kept saying we drove everywhere, which we obviously didn't but the fact that they had a water bus was so foreign that my subconscious didn't seem to grasp it. (Sailed, you sail on a boat, silly - me speaking to myself).
The rest of the day we just spent strolling around Venice and when dinner time came my father almost pulled us along for a walk across one of the many bridges over the canals in Venice. Since my mother has been ill, stairs hasn't been her best friend and we took a quick turn around and ate around the corner from our hotel. It turned out not to be the best meal ever, it was okay but all other meals had been amazing so far.
Our last evening was affected by a a bit of trouble as the terrible, terrible terror attack in Belgium happened that very morning. We were supposed to have a lay-over there on the way home but thankfully my dad pulled out his limited but effective German skills and managed to skip the queue of rebooking and get us a layover in Munich instead.
The attacks felt very real because within less than a day and a half we were supposed to be in the very airport that got hit. It unsettled me quite a bit and stayed with my mind for the following day. Thankfully, we made it home okay the following day after having spend a chill morning and early afternoon browsing around on the Venetian streets and saying goodbye to Venice.
It was quite a good holiday, though my mind still buzzed with way too many things for me to properly indulge in it. I felt connected to it already before we went because of my mother's childhood holiday stories but it was so lovely to actually see it with my own eyes. Oddly, for someone who isn't the biggest fan of public transportation, one of my favourite bits was to sail in the vaporettos as well as the great food, amazing scenery and culture and spending time with my family.
There was just something calming about that city and I loved the way no one seemed to be in any hush. It was a breath of fresh air for someone who thinks their everyday life have gotten too hectic, hence why this update is so late. But I managed to write it now and that's all that matters!
Beautiful city, calming waters, gorgeous sunsets and the best company - what more could you want in a holiday?
Comments
Post a Comment