Venice in September

In town with a girlfriend and my husband for eight days in September 2014 with a weekend excursion to Latisana to attend a wedding, I wasn't sure how the city would look to me through my grown-up goggles since I'd been here only once before in 2002 for three days just as Venice was engaging with the gross distraction that is the World Cup. Determined to have a less hectic stay this time, we rented a little Airbnb apartment our girlfriend Christina found near the Fondamente Nove ferry dock, a less traversed area near the hospital with a quiet serene view of the floating Greek Orthodox cemetery in front of us. True to Italy's reputation for being unplugged, there is no WiFi in most of the residential areas here so over the course of a week, we navigated via printed maps and orientated ourselves better and faster because of it. It didn't take long to become fully submerged in our surroundings, discovering hidden enclaves and piazzas, fancying what it would be like to have lived here during Casanova's time, and barely glancing at our smartphones--but just barely. 

The cruise ships come in, the cruise ships go out, everybody wants a piece of Venice to take with them. With six days ahead of us, our smug little group scoffed at all the tourists pouring out of the vessels who were grabbing, internalizing, and swallowing all that they could with the few hours they had before rushing back to the ship. However, we soon realized with dismay that a coffee and evening concert at the oldest coffee house in Europe, an afternoon with the golden horses that once gilded the hippodrome of Constantinople, some island hopping, and a few days of roaming the alleys and byways would barely scratch the golden patina of this once wealthy commercial hub and the birthplace of Vivaldi. Venice is old world grandeur and architecture, new world art, and the vaguely familiar feeling of island life all comprising a richly historic labyrinth that is impossible to tackle in a week so our smugness quickly dissipated. And although seemingly tawdry on the surface, it continues to mesmerize below the blanket of tourists on the Piazza San Marco as an ancient monument asking for just a little validation of its once avante-garde stature as the "Queen of the Adriatic." Venice, in contrast to my first impression years ago of an over-embroidered tapestry--fabulous, yes, but old and stuffy with only its canal and glasswork to save it--seemed more like a stunning piece of heirloom jewelry this time around, carefully packed in a velvet bag. You keep wanting to take it out again and again just to look at it and given the chance, you'd take it with you too.

Upon arrival at the edge of the water from where we were staying, you hear nothing but lapping waters and see the Greek Orthodox cemetery looming quietly in the distance. We are two bridges away from the Fondamente Nove ferry stop. Great tip for all European travel but especially for Venice because of all the schlepping over staired bridges and canals--pack light!

We passed this building every day enclosed behind high walls along the maze of passageways leading to the city center.

What we all imagine an Italian villa to be like, only this building has been broken up into apartments with several tenants.

Venetian cuisine is typically something from the sea mixed with something quintessentially Italian like polenta, pasta or pizza. Squid ink blackened risotto and pasta are all over menus here. This ubiquitous dish, baccalá mantecato, is essentially a creamy whipped cooked salt cod atop grilled or sautéd polenta cakes. Delicious for a light lunch, but only if you can handle its fishy taste.

Making our way over to the main drag, the sun and stones are baking hot.

There are no cars here. As a result, dogs run around without leashes. Nights here are an elegant and pretty quiet affair, usually spent dining al fresco and walking around afterward with a gelato in hand.

Mixed seafood fry over polenta cakes while Mario ordered a pizza with mussels, squid and clams.

The famous Cafe Florian, oldest coffee house in Europe and glorious to behold!

Rumor had it, George and Amal were in town just days ago to finalize some last minute wedding details. Wonder if they had any goodies from Florian at the dessert table...

Enjoying hot chocolates and coffee while being serenaded under a night sky like the aristocracy of old.

Italians don't mince words when it comes to signage. On our way to Latisana for the wedding, we noticed this hilarious and very effective little disclaimer for kids on our juice box. I think it pretty much explains itself.

Also this. 

We arrive in Lignano Sabbiadoro and get picked up by Paola and her father and head to Latisana to hang out at her uncle's house where her relatives are preparing for the traditional reception the next day. We met Paola in San Diego as she was doing a work abroad program and was our good friend Christina's roommate for a year.

The big day and our first Italian wedding! I'm so glad I was given permission to post the lovely photos I took to my blog because I thought it was essential to the Italian culture aspect of the trip.

The intimate and sweet church before the influx of people. The ceremony lasted about an hour and included some beautiful singing.

The church seats only about sixty and with a wedding party of around two-hundred--with around a hundred showing up for the ceremony--everyone who wasn't immediate family took turns standing inside and around the opening to the church.

Congrats all around, Paola and Andrea!

It's official!

This scene struck me as very Italian somehow with all the white against the brick and so many fashionistas standing around.

We felt like we just crashed a GQ photo shoot, there were so many well dressed people!

Trying to make a quick getaway never seems to work out at weddings.

The grand walkway into the Villa Romano in the small town of Case di Manzano.

A warm welcome.

We got a taste of Paola's mad event-planning skills, what she does for a living, when we got a look around the amazing grounds. She effortlessly blended the traditional with the new--take this awesome dragée bar complete with Jordan almonds, a must have at Italian weddings, and different dragées made with different flavored white and milk chocolates for example. There were flavors like strawberry, mint, pistachio and yogurt to name a few.

Rustic and elegant at the same time. Consider us dazzled.

Guest takeaways of different honeys packaged in little mason jars with more Jordan almonds.

Good eye, Paola. This is just magical.

It was great to see the mason jar invitation I designed for Paola repurposed as menus as well for the place settings. 

Wine and hors d' oeuvres after the ceremony. The appetizer tents were so laden with choice it was hard to narrow down a meal small enough to save enough room for the main courses that awaited us later. 

Take this confused party-goer really piling it on his plate. We had mutual friends from Holland that were also at the wedding who thought that this was the actual main meal of the wedding and who can blame them?

In addition to the tents filled with food, there was a guy slicing a giant leg of prosciutto to go with fresh melon as well as a cheese tent. People were also walking around offering additional fresh items from the kitchen.

The grand cheese tent.

Sawing a log as a couple. A tradition in a lot of European weddings and supposed to symbolize teamwork.

Italians like to dine for hours on big occasions and today is no exception. Eating became a half day affair. We started eating around 5pm and continued well into 9pm before the cutting of the cake and then dancing.

Our good friends from Holland, Wes and Janey, Christina, and Mario.

Paola's parents smooching on camera. The room was loud with laughter, talking, and all around good humor without pretense, what an American can really appreciate.

Let the feasting continue! First course of a pumpkin soufflé.

A mushroom risotto.

Fresh made vegetable ravioli with parmesan.

Somewhere in here I missed photographing the steak course that came out as a main. I blame it on the large amounts of amazing Friuli wine I drank that night. This is what came out afterward: a sorbetto of coffee and...

...a sorbetto of grappa. Both cold and creamy little shots.

After the cake cutting, a massive dessert table filled with fruits and cakes greeted any guests who needed a break from dancing.

We wandered the grounds a bit and interrupted this first-rate scene of Italian gentlemen sampling spirits in the wine storage building.

The hurdle of the wedding behind them, Paola's family invite us over for a casual get-together the next day with everyone over some pizza delivery and Italian beer. 

The outdoor tent we took refuge under was plastic wrapped to keep the wind from blowing in the warm rain outside. 

Andrea's dad makes his own cured salami-like ham. A plate of this was going around with the pizzas and beer. It was ridiculously delicious.

The day after that, our last day in Lignano, we crashed after lunch before we headed to the beach for a few hours.

The beach at Lignano Sabbiadoro.

The Monday after that we head back to Venice and have one of their locally made Bellini drinks while people watching at a cafe between the Piazza San Marco and the bridge of sighs. 

Still controversial because of the contribution to the degradation of the city, a cruise ship heading in to dock. 

At a Coop supermarket near our Airbnb, we scope out the pasta aisle to see what the locals prefer.

The best meal we had in Venice was the fresh pasta we got at Pasta Dal Moro. A tiny place whose reputation precedes it judging from the line that stretches down the alleyway where it's located. Pick your fresh pasta shape, pick your sauce, pick your additions like salsiccia sausage or extra parmesan, then eat your dinner looking out from the Rialto bridge.

View from the Rialto bridge by day.

Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo which is a short walk from our apartment

Relief of a lion on the Scuola Grande di San Marco at the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

Heading away from the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo.

So many pretty flowered balconies against colored buildings.

Off duty gondolas.

Libreria Acqua Alta, or what they call the "high water" that floods the city each year in Venice. We stumbled upon this unusual and must-see shop with mountains and furniture of books old and new. 

The shop even has an exit out to the canal and this cozy little reading nook in front of it.

The gondolas and bathtub full of books lends a mysterious ambience to this well-loved shop.

At the Piazza San Marco, the Byzantine influence clads the ancient city in intricate tile work and patterns reminiscent of the east. 

Tiles inside St. Mark's Basilica. These had to be the work of a restoration at some point.

I love the optical illusion and graphic look of pyramid grommets they achieved using different colored tiles.

Nickname back in the day, "Church of Gold." Who would have guessed? The Basilica was built mainly to house the stolen relics of St. Mark the Evangelist in a place of worship in 828. Later in 1094, the body of St. Mark would be "rediscovered" and enshrined in the altar of the church.

Although initially more Byzantine in style at the outset, later restorations to the church after a serious fire were more Italian in influence contributing to the church becoming one of the best examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture.

Now restored to nearly the original luster, these four still continue to wow visitors of St. Mark's Basilica day after day. It only costs €5 to see them and gain entrance to the church as well as the terrace on the outside of the Basilica where the replicas stand and a separate area detailing the mosaics tiling process with additional artwork--well worth it!

The original horses that stood guard on the outside terrace of the Basilica, they were replaced in 1980 with replicas when they began to erode due to pollution and weather. The collars you see them wearing were fabricated to conceal the fact that their heads were severed for ease of transportation when they were looted as spoils from Constantinople in 1204. Later they would prove irresistible to Napoleon as well when he took them for the Arc de Triomphe du Carousel in Paris in 1797.  

They were finally returned to Venice in 1815 as ordered by the Emperor of Austria after Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo.

The view I was talking about included in that €5 entrance fee as seen from the front terrace of St. Mark's Basilica.

The original creator of St. Mark's Clock, Giovan Paolo Rainieri, became the first clock-keeper for the clock and the tradition was continued with often multiple generations of the same family maintaining the clock in good working order throughout the years until 1998. 

The latest restoration project on the clock, backed by famous watch company Piaget, was controversial as the methods used were not as conservative as some would have liked. Many even considered the job a sloppy one that damaged many inherent aspects of the original clock.

St. Mark's Campanile, the famous bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica. Damaged and demolished on several occasions by lightning, fire, and earthquakes, this tower still stands today due to diligent and carefully repeated reconstruction. It is the inspiration of many other structures around the world including the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower in Manhattan. Chances are, if you see a clock tower or tower somewhere that even remotely resembles this one, it is probably fashioned after it.

Piazzetta Giovanni XXIII looking out toward the lagoon with the symbol of St. Mark, the winged lion, atop the left pillar and St. Theodore of Amasea on the right.

The Piazzetta, or little Piazza, with the Bridge of Sighs between the two buildings flanking the bridge you see on the left.

How many artists have painted this scene I wonder?

Rialto bridge at dusk.

Standing on the pier in front of the city hall of Venice.

A regal view of Venice's most famous houses lit up along the Grand Canal from the Rialto. You can't help but feel a touch romantic in the city of Casanova and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

Found a grand piazza to dine in via Rick Steves.

Bruschetta with cherry tomatoes and basil on grilled baguette slices was at the peak of freshness.

My seafood lasagna, however, tasted like a frozen dinner version but at least the other dishes were tasty enough.

Mario's truffled parma ham pizza was a good choice.

Murano with Christina.

A very pretty walk toward the heart of glass-making masters.

The city showing off it's signature skill at every possible opportunity.

We passed an artisan by the name of Cesare Toffolo and I was immediately smitten by this most impressive display of glass artistry. Check out his studio's website for the work of what I consider to be some of the highest skilled glass masters in Murano: http://www.toffolo.com/en/gallery/toffolo_studio/  Cesare is a very talented and well known glass artist with a prolific body of work and the disciples who work for the studio include his sons. See more about him here: http://www.cmog.org/bio/cesare-toffolo

Waterfowl in flight.

What glass experience would be complete without the work of a worldwide favorite, Dale Chihuly.

Crossing the big bridge to the quieter side.

Lunch in Murano: just a little spaghetti alle vongole.

An unexpected solicitor at lunch.

Near the main pier for the ferry on Burano, the island known for its lace. This is the last day of our trip and since we don't have to leave until late in the evening we send Christina off in the morning and then head off to the island for a quick look around. The people on Murano actually highly recommended that we visit this island, claiming it is actually what the locals consider to be the prettiest island near Venice.

Although the island no longer produces lace due to the time consuming aspect of the work, it is still known for its collection of colorful buildings that get painted and organized under a sort of HOA, or Home-Owners Association, that regulates what colors are allowed for a specific house in a specific location. If you want to paint your house you have to submit a request to the city and they send you a color palette. 

What a pleasant surprise! In Cesare Toffolo's Burano shop, we watch his son create one of their beloved beetles. I couldn't help but go all fangirl with excitement to see a master like him at his craft, and the fact that we kind of stumbled upon this by accident added to the overall Venice experience since I had purchased one of the glass beetles in the Murano studio.

Emanuel Toffolo following in his father's footsteps and doing what he does best. He would heat up the end of a spear of glass and touch it to the glass body of the beetle so that the end "stuck." Then, he would pull the spear of glass slowly away while the end is still stuck to the body. The resulting tendril of melty glass is elongated and hardens, becoming the beginning of one of the delicate legs. Really magical to behold, I highly recommend you stop by and check this out if you get the chance. On the work table are remnants and the odds and ends of various bugs in creation as well as small frogs, all amazingly perfect in detail.

The beauty of Burano.

The main touristy drag with restaurants and gift shops.

A piazza leading up to the other side of the island. Burano is a lot smaller than Murano with only 2800 inhabitants versus the more than 5000 on Murano.

If the buildings weren't painted, I don't think the town would be as pretty as it is since the architecture is relatively plain. Burano really didn't start becoming popular as a destination until the 16th century.

The number three Tripadvisor restaurant recommendation for Burano, we try out Riva Rosa for a fresh take on traditional Venetian cuisine. I got the mixed seafood plate. Clockwise left to right: Lemon wedge, baccalá mantecato with white polenta, steamed shrimp and local langoustines with fresh olive oil and lemon, marinated cooked octopus was buttery soft and so flavorful, cooked marinated squid with pine nuts and a marinated and poached local fish I could not identify in the middle.

Homemade pasta dishes are not to be missed here. Mario got the paccheri pasta with yellowfin tuna and a bright caper tomato sauce.

A beautiful last meal on our last day.

Heading back to Venice it's already late afternoon and we also wanted to fit in a Grand Canal ride at dusk on the Vaporetto, or water bus.

What luck! Snagged a seat with Mario at the front of the open air Vaporetto. There were only three people on the boat with us so it was gloriously empty. If you don't do the gondola ride, this is the other option you have for seeing the Grand Canal in hi-def. It is definitely a must in Venice as you can't view the front facades of the many famous villas along the water without cruising through the canal. The Palazzo Civran with mooring poles that you can tie your boats to colored to indicate the family the palace belonged to.

Ca' d'Oro or House of Gold, the palace of the once highly influential Contarini family. Most of these palaces have beautiful little courtyards just on the other side of the doors facing the Grand Canal. Just imagine the parties they used to throw in these places!

The Santa Maria della Salute church dome in the distance. The palace owners along the canal used to get major cases of "keeping up with the Joneses" and built bigger and better palaces across from each other to spite the other family.

Nearing the main train station of Venice on the right side where the bridge is, you see more of the famous palaces converted into hotels. We stowed our luggage near here when we checked out of the apartment that day. Hate to have to leave all the prettiness so soon!

"A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him." ~ Arthur Symons