Venice – the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.
We took the train from Trieste to Venice where we had booked a VRBO right in the center of town. We decided to walk the 20 minute distance from the train to station to main square near our room where our host agreed to meet us to help us navigate the maze of streets and allies to our room. The walk was fairly easy but we had about bridges to cross on the way and with Esther’s 40 pound suit case it was a workout.
On our first and only full day in Venice we took the ferry out to Burano an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy, near Torcello at the northern end of the lagoon, known for its lace work and brightly colored homes. The primary economy is tourism and the current population of Burano is about 2,800
On our way to a museum we noticed a special Vivaldi concert at an old church that had been converted into a music venue. The museum was closing when we got there so we decided to check out the concert. They were performing Vivaldi’s concerti The Four Seasons – which is a group of four violin concerti each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718-1723, when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua. They were published in 1745 in Amsterdam in what was at the time the Dutch Republic. Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Republic of Venice. GREAT CONCERT!
Venice was amazing and I’m really glad I got to see it in person – but it was hot and crowded so I think the day and a half we were there was enough. I’m now ready for our third and final destination of this trip – Padua. Especially since Jeff Bezos is coming into Venice for his wedding in a day or two – glad we missed that.