On our way from Portoroz to Venice, we decided to drive through the Prosecco wine region of Italy. As one of my favorite types of sparkling wine, I was very excited to see where it came from! We followed the Strada del Prosecco, through some amazing vineyards and narrow roadways and I was surprised to see the grapes growing so well on the many steep hillsides. We passed by many vineyards and small villages, but didn't see any places that we could stop for a taste. As it was early August, a lot of Italians go on holiday for the entire month, so many places were closed. But we enjoyed the views and the drive, eventually getting our fill and turning our car towards Venice airport.
We dropped the car back at the airport, then walked to the pier where we caught the
Alilaguna boat from the airport to our hotel. Both Travers and I had been to Venice before but never together, so we were excited to see what this romantic city had to offer us. The boat ride to the hotel was a great introduction to the city, passing by Murano, where the famous glass making is done, and seeing lots of boats going all different directions, but somehow, all knowing who had the right of way and what pathways to take. The boat dropped us at our stop, and we had a short walk through some narrow passageways and cobblestone streets to
Una Hotel, which is on a plaza called Ruga do Pozzi and right next to a canal.
We settled into our room, and got ready for the rest of the evening. Our hotel offered a complimentary afternoon apertif and snacks, so we sat for a bit, enjoying some Prosecco and Italian cookies while we surfed the web in search of a restaurant to go to for dinner that evening. An hour later, we decided to head out and brave the crowds and the extreme humidity of Venice. We walked towards the
Ca d'Oro Palace on the
Grand Canal, and bought a
Vaparetto Pass that we would use for the next couple days, riding the boats down the canals of Venice. We boarded the vaparetto heading towards the famous
Rialto bridge. Getting off on the east side of the bridge, we were able to walk across it, and take in some beautiful views of the Grand Canal, with the many gondolas and boats steering their way through the crowded waters.
We crossed the bridge, stopping just on the at a little bar called
Al Merca, where we enjoyed a local drink called a 'spritzer', which is aperol mixed with prosecco, white wine or soda. We sat on the edge of the grand canal with our feet barely avoiding the water below, sipping our spritzers and watching the action of all the boats and people go by.
Continuing our walk, we passed by beautiful architecture, went down narrow passageways, and crossed tiny bridges over tiny canals, in search of a restaurant for dinner that was suggested by our hotel concierge, called
Muro Pizza e Cucina. And search we did as this restaurant is situated on a small plaza among a ton of small narrow passageways, many of which are not listed on a map. So we got lost, got turned around, and finally stopped into a store to ask for directions. Finally finding the restaurant, very hot and slightly sweaty, we were happy with the effort, as the food was delicious! So it was well worth the long hunt.
The next day, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at our hotel, then headed out to see some more of Venice! We took the Vaparetto again from Ca d'Oro but this time we took it all the way to
Piazza San Marco. The views from the back of the Vaparetto were amazing, allowing us to see tons of boats and gondolas dodging one another in the Grand Canal, and to see the amazing architecture of all the buildings that line the canal.
We hopped off at the famous St. Mark's Square, and stopping to see the
Bridge of Sighs and
St. Mark's Campanile before heading into the
Palazzo Ducale, the Doge's Palace.
The Palace is a beautiful building, with lots of great artwork, sculptures, and architecture. We walked through several beautiful rooms, seeing some amazing views of the water beyond the palace, and walked through the Bridge of Sighs, where many prisoners had walked before, and glimpsed through the holes of the bridge to see the last bit of water before they were sentenced.
After seeing the palace, we walked through St. Mark's Square, gazing at the large basilica, and the surrounding buildings before being super touristy and eating at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch! After getting our fill of good ol' American food, we walked away from St. Mark's Square, heading towards the
Gallerie dell'Accademia and to see some more architecture, canals and gondolas, and stopping eventually at a small bar called
Osteria Al Squero, for a quick refreshing glass of Prosecco and Spritzer, and across the canal we were able to see a gondola repair shop! From there, we hopped back on the vaparetto, heading back to the hotel to freshen up, before heading back out that evening for some more fun in Venice.
After cooling off, we had an apertif in our hotel again, then went to a nearby locals restaurant for a glass of red wine, where we stood at the bar with a small group of older local men who seemed to down their glasses of wine like it was water! Taking the vaparetto again, we saw the sun setting along the Grand Canal, and this time we hopped off to see the
Basilica dei Frari and surrounding area. We continued wandering through the streets, crossing over many bridges, finding plaza after plaza, and small canal after small canal. We stopped into a few more restaurants along our walk, standing at the bar to have a glass of wine and to share some small plates of food. We eventually ended up back at St. Marks' Square to see it lit up at night and hear the live music coming from a few of the open restaurants.
Our final day in Venice was spent taking a boat to the island of
Murano. We explored the island, gazing in the windows of the many shops selling Venetian glass. After walking around for a bit, we had lunch at a local restaurant, and topped it off with a refreshing beer at a small bar along the main canal of the island, then headed to the glass factory for a viewing of how the Venetian glass is made.
Walking into the back room of a factory, we got to see this guy make a miniature horse and a water pitcher out of glass right in front of us! It was amazing to see what glass looks like when it is hot and malleable then minutes later is turned into a sculpture! He made it look incredibly easy, but talking to one of the salesmen afterwards, we learned that these men go to school for several years and do apprenticeships for a long time in order go become this good at glass making.
Afterwards, we hopped on the boat back towards the hotel to grab our bags, freshen up, then head to the airport. While it was extremely hot, humid, and overly crowded this time of year, we were still so happy to have gone to Venice together, and it will always remain one of my favorite Italian cities.
The next day we hopped back on the train, stopping in Bern before heading home. Bern's river is well-known for floating at any time of the summer, so we thought since we hadn't done the one in Zurich, we'd do it in Bern. We made our way from the station to the river, where a huge grassy area was filled with tons of people enjoying the sun, having picnics, and jumping in the river to do a float. We bought a small beach ball for our floatation device, and started the 30min walk upstream to where we could jump in and then float back downstream to the grassy area.
Our first time down, the cold from the river took our breath away, but sharing time on the beach ball, made the float easy enough and before we knew it we were back where we started. Deciding it was too quick of a ride, we walked even further upstream before hopping in the water again. This time, we floated for what seemed like ages, getting a bit winded at times, but eventually making our way down river to the exit point. It was so fun to have the river just push us along, and seeing so many people enjoying themselves too made it all the more fun. We did it one more time before deciding we were too tired and cold to go anymore. But it is a definite must on a hot summer day. After warming back up on the grassy area, and munching on some schnitzel for lunch, we got back on the train and headed back to Geneva. A perfect quick weekend getaway!
