May 7, 2024
Leaving Croatia was a wee bit difficult—we liked it so much. AND, we very quickly got immersed in the change of scenery as we made the relatively short drive from Rovinj, Croatia to Trieste, Italy. There were still lots of tunnels (mostly shorter) and the divided highway made driving easy the first half of the trip. We saw miles and miles of rolling hills, sweet little villages, vineyards large and small and many home gardens that sometimes included a few grape vines. AND, to get to Trieste, we had to drive through a small bit of Slovenia!
What we found most interesting is that the entire landscape changed immediately and everywhere we looked there were terraced hillsides filled with olive groves (above), often with houses tucked in among the terraces. As soon as we left Slovenia and entered Italy, the landscape changed again and we found ourselves back to the Adriatic Sea, passing through many small towns and overlooking several small harbors.
Trieste, Italy was very easy to navigate and we found our small hotel quite easily—Albergo Alla Posta (its entry pictured below, left). We selected it because it was very close to the train station as well as the return for our rental car. We found ourselves just off a beautiful square with an amazing building right outside our window. As you can see from the photo below right, the building had all sorts of fancy carved stonework and statues…very Italian! We walked around its main square to find a spot for dinner and found several beautiful statues and buildings, but alas both our iPhones died so no photos. Sigh!
The next morning, we took a short taxi ride to the train station and had an easy journey by train to Venice with several stops along the way. It took a little over two hours. The train station in Venice was very close to the Grand Canal and so was our hotel. However, it was quite a long walk and there were many stairs so the hotel instructed us to hire a porter (“look for the orange jackets”) to transport our luggage to the hotel. That was the perfect solution! I wish I’d thought to take a picture of our porter, but I got very distracted by the huge crowds of people everywhere, unlike anything we’d experienced on this whole trip. The good news is, we also took delight in seeing the “real Venice,” with its beautiful Grand Canal and small motorboats of all kinds cruising quite quickly along its main waterway.
It took awhile to get to our hotel…and we weren’t very impressed with its outside…and frankly, we weren’t very impressed with the inside either—the most disappointing choice of this whole trip. Small, few services, less caring, tiny room & bathroom with little space for suitcases, etc. and not as well maintained (that’s stating it as nicely as possible). AND, as I’m usually inclined to do, on the bright side, it was clean, VERY well located and convenient to many transportation options including the bus we needed to take to the airport after a 4-night stay. So we did the best we could with it. There was a gorgeous hotel not too far away that would have been lovely—at $598/night. No thank you. As I told Gary, this entire trip we have stayed in some exceptionally nice hotels with exceptional views (unlike the “garden view” from our Venice hotel below), so 4 nights in something “less than” was fine. Besides, as we like to remind ourselves, it’s APOTA—All Part Of The Adventure!!!
Venice is a fascinating place—built on more than 100 small islands on a large lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has few roads, mostly canals, walkways and bridges (with lots of steps up, over, and lots of steps down!). Venice was first occupied around 450 A.D. and became a major maritime power in the 10th century. Most of the city is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece where even the smallest buildings are said to contain works by many famous artists. There were some magnificent structures and, frankly, a surprising number of smaller buildings that looked very run down (including our hotel)
We planned three days of seeing the sights of Venice and its surroundings and were able to buy a 3-day pass that allowed us to use all the water transportation and get into most of the popular buildings. Day 1 we chose to take the “water bus” (aka “vaporetto”) all the way around the Grand Canal, stopping midway at the famed St. Mark’s Square. Even though we knew it was Saturday, neither one of us was prepared for the monstrous crowds that seemed to be everywhere. Once we got to the Square, there was a little more room to breathe and the line wasn’t very long to visit the Basilica—the most important religious temple in the city of Venice. [When Gary was here 40+ years ago, this Square had 3’ of water in it due to an “Aqua Alto,” (flood) which happens several times a year because it is the lowest point in Venice. As a result, nothing was open, so he was glad we could see more this time.] The Basilica is a stunning blend of Byzantine, Gothic & Renaissance architecture that reflects Venice’s rich cultural heritage.
There was more beauty inside this magnificent cathedral as you can see from the photos below. I was especially drawn to the gold accents and the exquisite mosaic floor tiles. In doing some research (as I’m writing this), I discovered there are more than 4000 square meters of mosaics (that’s 43,055.642 square feet!!), many of them belonging to the 13th century!
We finally began to relax at a beautiful outdoor restaurant on the Square where we had a leisurely lunch and spent most of the time people-watching and listening to beautiful music from a quartet playing there for our enjoyment. We made our way back to the vaporetto (left, below) to take us back to the hotel. Nearby we watched several people riding in the famed gondolas. We’d watched them pass by the sidewalk bistro by our hotel and noticed how bumpy the ride was…the wakes were constant from the steady stream of motor boats going every direction (with no apparent right of way rules in place that we could figure out) so we decided to pass on a gondola ride. But it was fun to ride the larger, sturdier vaporetti and a real treat to go under and see the varied designs of all the bridges, including the famous Rialto Bridge (below).
Day 2 we treated ourselves to the most elegant, delicious, relaxing and enjoyable lunch of our whole trip. Once again, taking the vaporetto, we went over to the nearby island of Giudecca. A very dear friend had stayed at this high end Cipriani Hotel over 40 years ago and highly recommended we dine there. It was a sunny day and we ate at the Cip’s Club overlooking the beautiful lagoon, St. Mark’s and its surroundings. We could have sat there for hours simply soaking it all in. We started with mimosas, had delicious pasta dishes (famous for its Taglioni Gratin—a favorite of opera singer Maria Callas—and absolutely delicious), their own “Cipramusu” for dessert, some port and coffee…and the bill was $249!!! How’s that for a treat?!? AND, the experience was worth every penny/euro! Afterwards, we explored the grounds of the Hotel and marveled at the large lawns and gardens as well as the elegant inside, with. large orchid displays. We still grin when we think about how we spent this glorious afternoon!
Day 3 was also delightful. We went on a guided tour to three more islands, Murano, Torcello and Burano. Gary has a gorgeous Murano plate that he had custom made during his first trip to Venice 40+ years ago, and we both very much enjoyed going to the Ferro-Lazzarini Glass Factory, watching two glass-blowing demonstrations and shopping in their gift store. Gary bought me two beautiful Murano glass necklaces and a pair of earrings.
We stopped briefly on Torcello. It was a long walk to town and I opted to sit on a bench near the boat and watch other boats go by (always a joy!). That worked out well, because we walked quite a bit on the next island of Burano and that was very fun. What a colorful place—a fishing village, also known for its lace-making, with beautiful little shops, stunning laces and linens, little bistros and small canals. And it wasn’t crowded at all!
We’re really glad we spent a few days in Venice. There was lots we didn’t see, but finding the less chaotic, less crowded places made it far more enjoyable. Highlights would be the Hotel Cipriani, Murano and Burano. Gary did a little more walking than I did (my knee didn’t like going up and down so many stairs & bridges) and captured some of the sweeter scenes of Venice. Here are a few of them, including a little park not too far from our hotel:
Meanwhile, I started doing some more research during our rest/stretch-out times and we are getting more and more excited about the next chapter of our trip: ICELAND!
Thanks again for traveling along with us. We’re carrying each of you in our hearts as we travel to so many amazing and beautiful places.
Cruising with Gary & Annie 