The Romance of Caffe Florian

Today was the highlight of our stay in Venice. We'd decided to make the most of our travel pass and caught a vaporetto to San Marco Piazza and so disembarked quite refreshed and ready to appreciate the sights.

Caffe Florian

Caffe Florian in the heart of San Marco Piazza opened in 1720 and is one of the oldest (continuing) coffee houses in Italy and is renowned for its grandeur, elegance and impeccable silver service. On my visit to Venice nine years earlier I'd ventured past it numerous times but never sampled its goodies. I'd promised myself if ever I return to Venice I would go there, so this time was a must. Today as we entered the piazza we could here music coming from Caffe Florian and it sounded so inviting...

Caffe Florian orchestra

We could have done what so many visitors did and listen from a distance but decided we wouldn't get the whole experience doing that. We took a seat and waited for the menu...there was a leaflet strategically placed on top of the menu informing all who sat down to eat or drink they would have to pay a six euro surcharge per person for the luxury of listening to the music.

Caffe Florian menu

With great trepidation we opened the menu!...all I can tell you is we both looked at each other when we saw the prices....for a moment or two is was touch and go as to whether we stayed or not. I'm pleased to say we stayed and spent the loveliest two hours eating our food, sipping ever so slowly the free water which came in a little carafe. and totally captivated by the music. Most people didn't stay quite as long as we did.

Here comes our order

Clearly there must have been a smiling waiter charge we didn't pay for!

This little lot cost 44 euros ($66AU) including the music surcharge. Glenn had the iced coffee and I the Florian club sandwich which although nice was nothing special. As the music was so beautiful and relaxing we wanted to stay longer and so ordered an icecream to share...that was 19 euros ($29 AU).

Delicious

Regardless of the expense Caffe Florian was to us SIMPLY DIVINE...a truly memorable experience.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Island Hopping

Today we purchased a 36 hour vaporetto ticket for 25 Euros each which gave us unlimited use during that time. So we took a boat over to the little island of Murano. Here it is famous for its hand blown glassware and if your lucky you'll find a free demonstration of glass blowing.

Vaporetto to Murano island

Murano island - Venice

3 meter high glass sculpture

While some of the glass products were lovely, especially the larger and plainer pieces which commanded big ticket prices I personally found most of the products, particularly the smaller pieces to be gaudy and not my style at all.

Murano's Shopping area

Some of the less Traditional Glass Products

Glass Blowers in Action

With the searing and unbearable heat and only glass shop after glass shop to look at, we found ourselves ready to leave Murano after only forty five minutes, so we sat by the shade of the lighthouse and waited for the next vaperatto to take us to the even smaller island of Burano.

Murano lighthouse

Unfortunately everyone else had the same plan and so we were packed in like sardines, the only views we had for the next 30 minutes were bodies and armpits.

Armpits everywhere, and it was over 35 degrees!!!

Burano is a tiny island know for its fine lace work and very colourful houses. It was very quaint and pleasantly smelt of the sea.

Typical Burano Canal Setting

The Popular Restaurant Area

Pretty Burano - brightly painted houses

After a brief walk round and many happy snaps later we decided that lunch had to be fish and chips, unlike the rest of the island which was delightful, lunch was an expensive disappointment.

Lunch at Burano - 31 Euros... ouch!

Our choice of Cafe

Even though we had had such a good time, the day had been unpleasantly hot and so when we returned to Francesca's house we decided to stay home for dinner. I prepared a typical plate of antipasta from the ingredients purchased at a nearby market that afternoon - cantaloupe, parma ham, pickled vegetables, cheese and crusty bread.

 

Posted with Blogsy

An Italian day in the life of "our mid life crisis gap year'

The advantage of sharing someones home is we have access to facilities much desired...such as cooking facilities and a washing machine... remember I posted earlier about the difficulty of finding somewhere to wash clothes. Have survived mainly by hand washing, although we did have a washing machine in an apartment in Verona. So today I did some washing and hung the clothes out Italian style.

Washing day Italian style

We eat out most evenings, but here in Venice the restaurants and trattorias really do take advantage of the tourists. Not only do they add a cover charge per/person to the bill as is the custom all over Italy, but here they also add a service fee of around 10-12% on top of that. And bottle water can cost you as much as 5 - 7 euros (no choice of tap water I'm afraid), so on top of your food and drinks bill you generally pay an extra 8-12 euros ($12-18). No wonder the guide books advise not to tip.

The best places to eat if you want a drink and a light snack are the tiny bars known as Osterias or birrerias. Generally between the hours of about 6-8pm you can help yourself to bar food. Indeed some are very generous with their food and may even include pasta or rice dishes as well as appetisers and tapas style snacks and all for free. They also serve light meals to purchase as well the cheapest drinks. Our favorite drink at the moment is campari spritz (campari, proseco and soda with a slice of orange and lots of ice). Just the thing to get the appetite going...I suppose they don't call them aperitifs for nothing. Anyway if you have one from a bar you'll pay 2-3 euros ($3 - 4.50) or double that in a restaurant.

Look at all that free food...Yum

You must excuse me, it's now 6.00pm and I can feel a spritz coming on...or maybe a beer. So many decisions to make...umm, spritz, beer, spritz, beer... beer it is...light beer, red beer? Yes red beer, no, no, no, make that a light beer...

Oh I can't stand these major decisions. I'm sure you can appreciate the stress we're under.

Back from the Birreria, its time to get cooking

Francesca's kitchen

Night, night

Posted with Blogsy

A Walk To Rialto Bridge

After a very restful day yesterday we decided we ready ready for another walk. So we decided to walk to Rialto Bridge, but taking a completely different route to previously.

Before we left we heard hell of a lot of noise coming from the canal, looking out the window we could see it was the garbage collection boat emptying all of the communal bins, people do not have there own in many Italian cities they all have to walk to the communal bin area to dump their rubbish!

Garbage Collection

After breakfast we were on our way. We headed towards the rail station and crossed the Grand Canal using Ponti degli Scalzi and from there we would weave our way towards Ponte Rialto (Rialto Bridge).

When you walk around Venice you seem to be constantly going up and down steps and bridges to cross a canal, and just about 400 metres from Francesca's house we had already crossed 4!!

Ponte Guglie Coming Up, Our Fourth Bridge For The Day

Ponti degli Scalzi - Our Crossing Point

San Simeone Picolo

After crossing Ponti degli Scalzi we were into a new part of Venice that we had not seen yet.

View Along The Grand Canal

We may not have been able to avoid the heat, but for a while we seemed to be avoiding the crowds!

The lane ways and the canals seemed to be a lot narrower here, and gave the area a really nice quaint feeling, it was also a bit easier to find shade.

Narrow Paths Alongside Narrow Canals

Lots Of Lovely Bridges

Every so often the lane way would open up into a small Piazza normally with a small church or other grand type building. The first one we come across was Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, an old religious school containing many works of art.

Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista

As we continued to weave our way in the direction of the Rialto Bridge the small lane way we had been folloing suddenly opened into a very large Piazza with a very grand looking church on one side, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and Bell Tower

As we got closer to the Rialto Bridge the crowds were getting bigger and we were doing the old one step forward one step sideways routine again, this tires you out very quickly.

We decided to stop in a small shady piazza for a gelato each before the final couple of hundred metres to the Rialto. Without knowing it we were sat underneath the 24 hour clock of San Giacomo di Rialto.

24-hour Clock, San Giacomo di Rialto

I sat looking at this for a while before I realised it was a 24 hour clock, then it took me a little bit more time to work out the time, approximately.

After a bit of a rest we moved onto get some photos of the Rialto Bridge. I must say that the heat at this time of year (it was over 35 degrees every day we have been in Venice) drains you of energy pretty quickly so you need to plan your walk arounds pretty well so that you can see everything you want to see.

Ponte Rialto, finally!

It was actually nice near the bridge as there was just a hint of a breeze coming down the Grand Canal which gave a little bit of relief.

We were now faced with two longish journeys back to Francesca's house, however, while watching all of the coming and goings on the canal Lesley noticed a Gondola service that crossed the canal and would save us quite a bit of time.

Gondola Ride Across The Grand Canal

Our turn!

On The Other Side Safe and Sound

So for the total cost of 4 Euros we crossed the Canal in record time. I think in this case it was good value for us as it saved us so much walking, and with about 10 people in the boat each trip, 40 euros for a couple of minutes paddling was excellent income for them, basically we were all happy!!

The Gondolas seem to have right of way over all other vessels, which is just as well as we were the slowest and smallest boat on the canal.

From the other side of the canal we were soon back resting our tired feet and drinking as much water as we could lay our hands on.

So a tiring, but a very good day....and we had been in a Gondola, not as romantic as we had planned though.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Not Much Today

Sorry folks, not much to report today, we just sat around the house chilling out today. It was time to recover after the last few hectic days.

Just after lunch we took a short walk around the corner, literally, to Fondamenta Sacca San Girolamo. We bumped into a few of the older residents doing exactly what we were there to do.....sit under a shady tree, with a lovely sea breeze blowing in, and watch the day go by.

Watching All Of The Comings And Goings

Sitting Under The Shady Trees

The Very Small Isola Campalto

A Distant Train Coming Into Venice

After a few completely chilled out hours we went back to Francesca's house.

Decided we will eat in and get an early night......Not everyday in Italy can be exciting!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Foot pounding Saturday

I'd been to Venice October some nine years earlier and although expensive back then everything else seemed ideal...the temperature a pleasant and sunny 25 degrees, the tourists not too many, opera in a tiny theatre, stood only meters away from Heath Ledger and witnessed the filming of Casanova (for real) and finally the vaparettos (water buses) were not too crowded, making it very easy to move around Venice.

I couldn't wait to hit the footpaths again and explore this beautiful city, so we did the touristy thing and spent the day checking out major sites...San Marco Square, Rialto bridge, food market and many of the shops.

Rialto bridge

San Marco's Piazza

San Marco's Piazza

Rialto bridge

Grande Canal

Just one of the many crowded streets

Although Venice is still beautiful, it didn't quite have the same relaxed feel this time round. Coming to Venice in July was not such a good idea...too hot and too many tourists. Apparently it normally takes 20 minutes to walk from our apartment to the Rialto bridge and market or 30 minutes to walk to San Marco piazza, however by the time we dodged and wove our way through all the tourists, contended with the heat by searching for shady spots, ascended and descended the steps of so many bridges, we found it took much much longer. By the time we arrived at our destinations I was over it!...hot, tired, sore knees, aching back. Also notice there were no seats along the way, not even in the many little piazzas, so once you started you're journey you had no option but to keep on walking. We'd concluded this was probably intentional with the purpose of encouraging tired and weary travellers to have to sit at one of the many cafes along the way. Of course you take a seat...you buy and here in Venice wass not cheap.

We arrived back at Francesca's apartment late afternoon... ready for a nap. Too exhausted from all the walking we decided to dine at a nearby restaurant that evening and were pleasantly entertained by some buskers playing lively Italian music.

A starter for two

300 meters from Francesca's house

 

Posted with Blogsy