2022-07-16: Venice Day 2

Today was a quieter day. We didn’t have anywhere we had to be in the morning so we let the kids sleep in. We all got up around 9:00am. The kids were slow this morning so we didn’t get out of the apartment until closer to 11:00am. We found a restaurant nearby and had some lunch to start the day. After lunch, we made our way to St. Mark’s Square to catch a water bus over to Murano to check out the glass factories. Once we were at the square, we realized we didn’t grab our masks which are required on the water bus. So, back to the apartment we went. Luckily, our apartment is only about a block from the square.

Once we retrieved our masks, we continued past St. Mark’s Square to the water bus stop Darrell thought we needed to catch our bus at. We discovered he was mistaken and we needed the stop on the other side of the square. Whoops. On our way to the other water bus stop, we were stopped by a gentleman who worked for the City of Venice. He told us they were offering a promotion for visitors to visit Murano. They would provide free transportation to Murano and a glass factory tour at an authentic Murano glass factory. We decided to take the offer and a few minutes later we were in a water taxi on our way to Murano.

When we arrived in Murano, a worker at the Vetreria Estevan Rossetto glass factory met us on the dock and escorted us into the glass factory. They had a glass worker doing demonstrations in their factory. We watched him make vase and then a horse from glass over the course of about 5 minutes. It’s very impressive how fast they can sculpt the pieces. After the demonstration, we were escorted into their glass showroom where they had many beautiful pieces that were well above our price range. They took us to a different showroom with pieces much more within our budget. After looking around for quite a while, the kids each picked out a couple of pieces they wanted to buy and Amanda found a vase that she liked. After purchasing the items, we were prepared to make our way back to St. Mark’s Square by bus as the promotion did not include return transportation. But, our escort said he could get us on a free taxi back to St. Mark’s square with a few other people. We didn’t say no to the free ride and we were shortly on our way back with two other groups of people from the US. During the trip back, one of the couples mentioned there would be fireworks in St. Mark’s Square tonight but not until 11:30pm. This piqued the kids’ interest of course. I guess we’ll be having a late night tonight…

Once we arrived at St. Mark’s Square again, we returned to the apartment to drop off our breakable goods. We spent a few minutes hanging out in the air conditioning before Darrell and Amanda headed back to the Square. They wanted to go see St. Mark’s Basilica. The kids weren’t really interested so they stayed back and hung out in the apartment.

There was a bit of a line to get into the basilica, but it moved quickly. Within about 10 minutes we were inside the basilica. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to take pictures inside the basilica. The basilica dates back to the year 829 but was expanded and the current layout has been in use since 1063. There were several areas undergoing restoration after unusually high tides in 2019 flooded the basilica and caused damage. It is an impressive building with gold mosaics all over the place and intricate tile mosaics on the floors.

Once we had explored the basilica, we returned to the apartment and grabbed some cannoli along the way as a snack. We hung out in the apartment for a bit before heading for dinner around 6:00pm. We went to a restaurant just around the corner from the apartment. After we told Michael he wasn’t going to break the bank by ordering lobster that he wasn’t entirely sure he liked but wanted to give it a try, he decided to order a grilled mixed fish dish instead. He enjoyed the scampi and fish, but decided he didn’t like the grilled calamari. His face was pretty entertaining when he tried to eat the calamari.

After dinner, we wandered the streets until we found an available gondolier. We hopped on his gondola and went for a ride through the canals. He pointed out a few of the old palaces that line the canals. He showed us where Casanova lived before he was imprisoned, the palace that was Europe’s first 7 star hotel where George Clooney held a wedding celebration, and another palace that is over 1400 years old. There is just so much history here.

When the gondola ride ended, we grabbed a few more sweets from one of the bakeries for dessert and headed back to the apartment to pack up our gear as we leave for Florence in the morning. We relaxed in the apartment until it was time to find a spot to view the fireworks. We headed to St. Mark’s Square which we expected to be packed with people. Surprisingly, it wasn’t. The area by the canal was pretty packed.

The fireworks started at 11:30pm as scheduled. We soon discovered why St. Mark’s Square wasn’t so full. You couldn’t see most of the fireworks from within the square. We could only see the higher fireworks. At this point, there was no way for us to find an alternate viewing spot on the other side of the building so we enjoyed the fireworks we could see. After about 20 minutes, the square was getting pretty smoky and the boys had had enough so we headed back to the apartment. We could see that the smoke from the fireworks had set off the fire alarm in one of the buildings we walked past on our way back. The fire alarm lights were flashing and we could hear an automated voice saying there was a fire in the building. A bunch of the windows were propped open so the smoke from the fireworks was wafting into the building. We made it back to the apartment at about midnight and everyone quickly went to bed. It’ll be a short night as we have to catch the train to Florence in the morning.