An Engineer and A Globetrotter: April 2016

Ponte Di Rialto at Night

This visit to Venice wasn’t my first. The first time I set foot to this beautiful city was back in 2008. And from that first visit, it was love at first sight. Venice definitely is in my top five of the places I’d visited.

The Famous Canals of Venice

Fast forward, I found myself browsing the net and doing our itinerary for my second visit to Venice and first for E. In my opinion and without bias, Venice is one of most unique cities that I'd been to. No city in the world has been copied and recreated in many places other than Venice. Las Vegas, Macau, China and even the Philippines has its own little Venice. But nothing beats the original of course. Venice has been known to many names, The City of Bridges, The City of Masks, The City of Canals but the most suited name I guess are “The City in Waters” and “The Floating City”. Having visited this island and walked through its maze-like streets, Venice indeed is a city in the waters. Under every canal and bridge and every building, it is surrounded by waters.

Venice At Night

Continuing our 8-city European tour with E, we left Paris Orly Airport Terminal after our 4days stay in France and arrived 1h40minutes later at Marco Polo Airport in Venice, Italy (10 minutes past eight already). The air terminal is on the mainland and we still need to commute via a bus or water taxi to reach the Venetian Islands. We took the 25minutes bus ride for convenience. When we arrived, the next challenge was to locate our hotel. As we get-off the bus, the familiar view immediately flash backed, the Central Train Station, the wide canal which separates the main terminal and the inner city, stone bridges and the Venetian buildings. All those good memories started to come back. I never thought that I will be able to come back to this gorgeous city but I am glad I did. After all it is one of my favorite cities. It was already dark and navigating Venice especially at night was not an easy feat knowing how complicated the narrow the streets were. I already anticipated this scenario so I kept a map with me. I also booked our hotel close to the Central Train Station for this very reason. The plans worked well and we did find Hotel Caprera quickly. After checking in and resting for awhile, we decided to look for a restaurant to take our late dinner. It can’t be an Italian trip if not having an authentic Italian Pizza for our first meal and a platter of grilled seafoods. It was a full meal so we decided to go for a walk before we decided to rest.

First Meal in Venice (Seafood Platter)

Italian Pizza

Our first day was actually not a day tour in Venice. We decided to make a 2.5hour trip to one of the world’s fashion capitals, the city of Milan (see link (http://yourglobetrotter.blogspot.kr/2016/03/european-tour-series-2013-milan-italy.html)

Narrow streets of Venice

After that memorable tour in Milan, we get ourselves ready for yet another exciting adventure in the city of Venice. I knew already what to expect, the maze-like narrow streets, the numerous bridges, impressive architecture, throngs of tourists and a lot of walking. Getting lost to the complicated streets of Venice was actually the fun part. There are tons of places to see but with a very limited time, we cannot be in all places. So we set three goals to accomplish: Ponte de Rialto & Grand Canal, Piazza San Marco and the Gondola ride. After having our breakfast we started our city tour.

Venetian Mask

Our first destination was the visit to the iconic Rialto Bridge and the Grand Canal. Following the street signs was easier said than done. As we trace our route, we saw numerous shops lining up the streets selling different merchandize from souvenir items, clothes, jewelries and not to be missed are the famous Venetian Masks. I already bought one before which is now an elegant centerpiece above my piano but I was immediately smitten by the one I saw in one of shops we visited. So I bought it right away. And that’s the thing with me, when I love it, without second guessing, I just buy it. The regretting part comes later but luckily it never happened in any of my past purchases. As we follow our route, we stopped at some shops which sometimes confused us of our exact location and correct direction. We eventually reached the famous Ponte di Rialto and the Grand Canal. The bridge dates back in 1181and one of the four major bridges that divides the districts of San Marco and San Polo. The concentration of shops lining up the streets became more dense as we

The Grand Canal (viewed from the Rialto Bridge

approach the stone bridge. Rialto is not only a bridge but actually an important market place in Venice. It made sense because the Grand Canal is an important gateway to the city. The view of the Grand Canal from the Ponte di Rialto was something I would never forget. I’ve seen this view many times in magazines or travel books but seeing it with my own eyes was a surreal experience. Standing at the center of the bridge and seeing all the boats and gondolas passing underneath was a sight uniquely Venice. The Grand Canal looks like the main blood vessel and then branching out to hundred more narrow streets which gives life to the city. The busy and crowded scene during the day at the Rialto was entirely the opposite during night. I didn’t want to miss my only chance of capturing one of the architectural icons of Venice illuminated at night so even we were already tired from the day’s stroll in Milan, we decided to take a quick tour to the Rialto. The bridge is less crowded at night thus making it ideal for night photography.

The Iconic Buildings Along the Grand Canal

The popularity of the canal and bridge can easily overshadow the other architectural treasures of the city. But what should not be missed are the iconic palazzi lining up on both sides of the canal dating back its construction from the early 13th to 18th centuries. These buildings were owned by Venetian nobilities who spent huge amount of money to showoff their wealth. Having seen some of the architectural designs around Europe, Venice’s style is definitely unique in itself but with strong influence by the Byzantine empire. This influence can be traced back in the 11th century when Byzantine empire provided a huge concession with Venetian’s help in their wars with the Normans. Characteristic of which were the large loggia with round and elongated arches and the golden mosaics found inside St. Mark’s Basilica. But the long history of Venice had its architectural influences grew and integrated in later design of its buildings such as the Venetian-Gothic, Renaissance, Venetian Baroque and Neoclassical. All these styles made Venice one of the unique treasures Italy possesses.

Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square)

Basilica Cathedral Patriarchal di San Marco

Moving on and checking one item from our list, we continued our tour towards the Piazza San Marco or known as St. Mark’s Square. This public space cannot be missed as this is one of the most visited places in Venice and more importantly the location of the famous Basilica Cathedral Patriarchal di San Marco (Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark). To the south east corner of the square is an extension know as the the piazetta (little piazza) leading towards the lagoon. Around this square are some of the iconic buildings such as the Campanile, The Clocktower or Torre dell ‘Orologio, Procurator Vecchio (home and offices o

Torre dell 'Orologio

f the Procurators of St. Mark high officers of state in the days of the Republic of Venice) and next to the basilica is the Doge’s Palace. At the time of our visit, the square was full of people mostly by tourist of different races and colors. The church is the best known example of the Italo-Byzantine architecture and symbol of Venice’s wealth and power. It was actually known by the nickname Chiesa d’oro or Church of Gold. During my first visit in 2008, I had the chance to get inside the basilica and I still remember how impressive the gold mosaics intricately laid in its wall and ceilings. The altarpiece of the church, the famous Pala d’Oro is an absolute masterpiece which incorporates 1,300 pearls, 300 sapphires, 300 emeralds and 400 garnets. The long queue to get inside the church made us decide to just appreciate it from the outside. With variety of things around the square, I can definitely stay for a day just appreciating the grand architectures at St. Mark’s Square. It was about lunch time when we completed our stroll around the square and decided to head back to Rialto to find a good restaurant. We chose the spot right at the foot of the Rialto Bridge.

View of Venice & St.Mark's Basilica Dome

St. Mark's Square viewed from The Campanille

Gondola Ride in Venice

We’re not much in a hurry as we had the luxury of time to accomplish our last and final goal of the day, the gondola ride. I thought I’ll never had the chance to actually ride the gondola in Venice. The last time I tried, the price was too limiting for me and so I decided not to. I was alone then and I had nobody to split the cost. This time, am traveling with E. There were several routes and ours was passing the Grand Canal and through the famous Rialto. Aboard a well upholstered boat with velvet seats, for 40minutes we had the opportunity to view Venice in a different perspective and see some of its hidden treasures accessible only when riding the gondola. Our gondolier though not singing an Italian song was in his signature stripped shirt and black pants attire. It was a memorable experience and definitely the real gondola ride.

It was a mission accomplished! We still had few hours left to spare so we just used the time to buy some souvenir items, see some unexplored spots and just enjoy the beauty of Venice. One day is not enough to see the whole of Venice but with one day, we managed to achieve our goals. Early evening on that same day, we left Venice and travel southward to the birthplace of the Renaissance, the city of Florence.