After our late night foray into Venice, we returned the next morning en masse. The Cosmos bus dropped us at Tronchetto Station, where we caught a vaporetto (water taxi) direct to the main lagoon, just east of St. Mark's Square.
In daylight it was clear - Venice was sinking. The city floods about ten days per year, when wind, rain and tides conspire to raise water levels over the canals and into the "streets". We were lucky enough to witness such a day.
St. Mark's Square was actually too flooded to visit early in the morning, so we attended a glass-blowing demonstration at the Laguna Murano Glassblowing Factory, where we purchased some fine red Venetian blown glass tumblers. Following the tour, we wandered the wet streets of Venice, eventually finding delicious gnocchi and the usual house red at a random restaurant.
As the tides subsided, more of the streets and alleys became passable, thanks in part to the omnipresent walking platforms. We strolled to the Rialto Bridge, and shpped various merchants along the narrow lanes. Just across the bridge, we met Franco, a friendly gondolier.
Franco took the four of us out in his gondola, up the Grand Canal for a ways, before taking into some smaller and quieter side canals. He was very funny and extremely knowledgeable, and luckily spoke very good English. After an enchanting tour of the city as it was intended to be seen, from the water, he returned us to the base of the Rialto.
From there we navigated the maze back to St. Mark's Square, where the drying cobblestones allowed us to visit the impressive Basilica and main square. We enjoyed drinks at a canal-side patio before strolling along the lagoon under sunny skies. As all good things must end, we eventually met up again with our tour group and caught a vaporetto back to Tronchetto and the bus.
Back at Hotel Poppi in Mira, we attended a group dinner buffet, followed by an informal and raucous group meeting in the hotel bar with the fun-loving Australians, who comprised roughly half of the Cosmos tour populace on our bus.
Quaint Canal 
St. Mark's Square and Basilica under siege
"If Venice is Sinking...."
The Grand Canal
View from the Gondola
O Sole Mio.....
The Rialto Bridge
The Venetian Lagoon
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2 comments:
Hey guys it's Maria from Oz. Great blog and fantastic photos...so professional looking.
Just got home tonight. Didn't want to leave London. Was as surreal standing under Big Ben and walking over Tower Bridge as it was standing on a bridge over a canal in Venice. I have to say driving up to my house it all looked strange to me, so unfamiliar...how weird eh.
Hope you guys are well.
Cheers
Maria xoxox
I've read that nobody (or hardly anybody) lives in Venice anymore, that the expense of living there and the lack of practical transportation makes it nearly unliveable. Only the omnipresent tourists keep it "alive" and prevent it from sinking due to their generous spending in the romantic city...
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