To try and keep Venice as relaxing as possible, we woke up with the church bells, had breakfast and then went back to bed for a later sleep in!
We hopped on the vaporetto and headed out on our adventure for the day. Through different neighborhoods, you see Venice change along the way.
When we got there, we decided to grab some lunch.
First we had lunch and this touristy place – it was just ok with MTV blaring. We shared this pizza and left straight away –
We then got on a vaporetto and headed out to one of the most interesting places I have visited. The cemetery!
The main cemetery for Venice is located on an island that is just one whole cemetary. There is a church there and a caretakers cottage but that was it. We were not permitted to take photos which is understandable – but this place was unbelievable to visit. From the number of graves of religious to the serenity of the grounds. Of course, if you visit any cemetary you will see that many Italian graves will have a photo of the person. This is what kept us at the cemetary for so long – rather than just seeing names you are seeing the faces of the people that have died – young, old – it didn’t matter. There was always a story to read. Some graves were amazing. There was one girl who was a dancer, there were amazing family chapels and rosary beads left hanging over so many tombstones. If you are ever in Venice, you really must visit it. I couldn’t wait to visit the church but unfortunately, it is only open for a short time in the morning. As we spent way longer there than we envisaged, we quickly jumped back on the vaporetto and headed to the glassmaking island, Murano. Here we wandered around in the afternoon sun.
This is the view looking back to il cimetero –
When we got to Murano, it was so peaceful and idyllic and we wandered into another church –
Shopping wise, I bought a pair of earrings and Bill got a pair of cufflinks. Here are some other photos from the beautiful island –
We then got on the vaporetto again to go back to Venice proper. We walked for what seemed like miles. First, I took Bill to San Geremia, where the relics of St Lucy are. It was a busier than usual church because of St Lucy, but still a peaceful retreat from outside.
Across from the church is the place where I stayed when Fiona and I were backpacking in Venice, Alloggi Gerotto Calderan.
I quickly emailed Fiona with a picture of where we spent our time – it is awesome being able to share things instantly with friends and family while away!
By this time we were hungry and it was time to search for dinner. I suggested we just walk until we found something. We did and we found nothing appealing – we wanted to find some small. Something that didn’t have an English menu… just somewhere cute. I pulled out my guide and it had a recommendation for a place that served basic fare but had a good atmosphere for locals. I can’t even remember what it was called now. So we walked. And walked. And walked. We got lost in a myriad of little walkways. Somehow we were stuck in a neighbourhood and kept walking around in circles. I ended up stomping my foot and threw some kind of “Let’s just forget getting dinner and go back!” tantrum when we decided to give it another go. Eventually, we found it and getting lost was actually fun because we saw so much of the lovely neighbourhood in that district!
While wandering, here was some of what we saw.
Venetian Fire Engine –
Tobacco vending machines in the street –
NYC Crispy at a McDonalds!
A casino –
Most random product I saw on the trip was… Australian Kraft Block Cheddar (my favorite cheese in the entire world) for sale in a speciality store. Strange!
Dinner though – oh my gosh. It was terrible. We were so hungry we would’ve eaten anything. But check out this… blah. This was reheated in a microwave. So much for guidebook recommendations. Sigh.
After that meal, we hopped on the vaporetto, cruising down the Grand Canal in the dark – the lights from the restaurants and homes along the water were sparkling on the water. It was such a full day, but so great to just take in Venice at night.
We grabbed some gelato (which was not just any gelato… it was KIT KAT GELATO) and headed back to Don Orione in the peace and quiet of the surrounding neighborhood. Gorgeous!
