Venice Day 5
Venice, Torcello, and Burano, Italy
April 17th 2011
For our final day in Venice we wanted to return to San Marco Square and take in the Epicenter of Venice which we had only seen in the dark when we first arrived three nights ago. We hopped on Vaporetto #2 which cruises through the Grand Canal to take in the phenomenal beauty of Venice once again.
Yesterday we walked to the Rialto Bridge and fish market and saw it from the less charming back side. Today we cruised under the bridge and caught glimpse of the more becoming side of the bridge with white arcades, staircase and grand arch framing two gondolas on the canal.
We also cruised past this Cathedral which we also saw yesterday by foot. This view from the canal was perfect. So many leaning towers, Pisa is so overrated!
Our exit from the Vaporetto dock was night and day from our original evening visit to San Marco Square. Literally NIGHT and DAY! When we arrived here three nights ago we were among only a handful of people in the square. Today when arrived we entered an ocean of people. Thousands upon thousands of international visitors flooded the streets along the Docks and the Square itself. We wove through the droves of people to take in the San Marco Cathedral, the Bell Tower, and millions of pigeons. We then decided to get in line for entrance to the Doge’s Palace, which forms the main entry to the square and served as not only home to the Doge but also home to the three major seats of government and all important government functions for hundreds of years. In addition, it housed the Venetian Prison and the famous Bridge of Sighs which connected the palace to the Dungeons through an enclosed bridge.
Stepping into the Doges palace was like stepping back in time and we absolutely loved the insight into the cultural and political history of Venice which had extreme financial and cultural power for a long period of time because of their domination as a port for water trade. Some of our favorite bits of education included the following:
· A close look at some of the original columns of the Palace façade to reveal that into each and every stone column was carved a different scene depicting very specific pieces of history and world culture.
· San Marco Cathedral was originally the private Church of the Doge! It is actually connected to the palace at one point with a private viewing window into the apse. San Marco did not become a public Cathedral until the Napoleon invasion. At this time, a bishop was moved into the Palace, and the Venetian Doge had to downsize his living quarters in order to share space with the Catholic Bishop.
· The extensive congressional rooms included one expansive space that was the largest uninterrupted space without pillars for hundreds of years. This room held the important meetings of a huge congress of over 1500 of the who’s who of Venice.
· One of these political rooms housed the private meetings of the famous Council of Ten. This was like the Venetian Secret Service. Rumors of the high secrecy and private intelligence of the Council of Ten still enthralls conspiracy theorists today.
· The adjacent prison at the Palace had a seemingly endless maze of thick stone walled cells. This prison was known for the extremity of tortures performed on the criminals housed there. We could only imagine the darkness, the fright, and the awful smell that would have permeated these dungeons in their days of use. Fortunately they are now lit and quite clean for tourists to wander through.
After San Marco Square and the Doge’s Palace, we bravely tackled the Venice Maze to the opposite side of the city where we were to catch our boat: Next stop on the itinerary… the small islands of Torcello and Burano in the Venetian Lagoon!
Torcello:
If you decide to visit Torcello, about a 30 minute vaporetto ride from Venice (first to Burano), be sure to head out by at least 4:00. The famous 7th Century Church, Santa Maria, closes its entrance at 5:30. We missed didn’t arrive on the island until 6:00 and unfortunately did not get to enter the Church. On the bright side, Torcello is a beautiful little farming island and the stroll to the church along the main little canal on a sunny day was charming enough to make it worth the trip. Fields with lounging cats and crowing roosters accompanied our walk to the Church. The church’s interior is supposedly adorned with more extensive mosaic work than San Marco which we were sad to have missed, but it was magical to see a church, nearly 1400 years old still standing with strength and grace. We wondered if the grape vines pictured above and this guarding statue which were adjacent to the church share the centuries of age with the structure. These grape trunks certainly are massive and look like they have been around awhile and the statue looks as though he may have been one of the founding monks from the 7th Century turned to stone to weather Time with his sacred place of worship.
Burano:
From Torcello we to a five minute boat ride to Burano, our favorite part of a wonderful day. We had saved for last this little island of rowhouses, each painted a different vibrant color. We read that if you want to paint your house in Burano, you must choose from a special palate of paint chosen by the town council and your house must be painted a different color than that of your neighbors. This has resulted in an exquisite composition of color along each street, of course paired with tiny Venetian style canals for travel through town. Bliss!
After a leisurely stroll through rainbow colored streets, we sat down at Restaurant Principe for a sunset dinner at a table right alongside a canal.
We ordered their house Rose Spumante, which came to the table a fiery Orange Red, the color of our table’s umbrella, the color of one of the houses on the street, the color of Principe’s Awning. The flavor was even more vibrant than its color, quite a feat! The flavor was ripe strawberry with a bit of sugar and perfect acidity on the finish. Our efficient and friendly server assured us it would pair wonderfully with our pasta dishes, one being a cheese filled ravioli with just caught whole prawns and a beautiful sauce of tomato, cream and fresh herbs, and the other being perfectly al dente spaghetti in a rustic tomato garlic sauce with mussels, clams, whole prawns, and calamari. The pairing with the entrees was great, but our dessert choice was a no brainer. Pannacotta with crème and fresh STRAWBERRIES. We enjoyed a refreshing explosion of strawberries and cream for dessert and reluctantly left Principe Restaurant and Burano grateful to have experienced a little slice of heaven.
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