Gondolas, Glass and the Grand Canal

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.

"Kevin Costner was here?!!"

"You're damn right he was. It's the bleeping Adriatic!"

To take advantage of a Swiss holiday, Travers and I flew to Venice, Italy, to spend a few days in a nearby city, called Portoroz, just on the opposite side of the Adriatic, in a small country called Slovenia. We picked up our rental car and drove the short 2 hours to our hotel, the Kempinski Palace Portoroz! We strolled the small town that evening, passing by some live music being played out by the beach, then walked the boulevard lining the sand (having some fun with our shadows), eventually stopping at a restaurant and cocktail bar called Alaya, where we had a couple drinks and some local cuisine.

The next day was spent sitting poolside at the hotel. We were lucky enough to get a cabana, so we parked ourselves for several hours, me reading my kindle, and Travers using the ipad to watch the slingbox.  We were in heaven and were so happy to have some sun and relaxation! Travers even spent some time in a nearby hammock. And if we hadn't been hungry, I think he could have stayed there all day long!

Eventually, we made our way out of the hotel and took a brief walk up the coast.  The views were fantastic, with amazing blue water and sunny skies.  We made our way back through town, stopping again at our new favorite place, Alaya, for some refreshing cocktails and tasty burgers!

That evening, we hopped on a bus to the nearby town called Piran. This is a much larger town but still quite small, and lots of people from Portoroz go to Piran for a visit.  We arrived just before sunset, so we quickly strolled into town, past some cobblestone buildings, through a large plaza with a mariachi band, and headed towards the water to catch the sunset.






















After the sun set, we explored a bit more of the town, and eventually settled on a restaurant for dinner called Restaurant Pavel Piran, where we had tasty food and a really friendly waiter.  After dinner, we walked one or two doors down and found some live outdoor music and lots of people, so we stopped for a drink or two to watch, dance, and enjoy the warm summer night.

The next day, we started again by the pool, getting another cabana and spending several hours soaking up the sun.  We decided to go back into Piran that evening and wanted to get there a bit earlier so we could explore the town while it was still light out.  So we eventually left the cabana, got ready for the evening and headed back on the bus to Piran.  Unfortunately, seeing Piran during the day, also meant that it was going to be hot out and we would certainly start sweating. And even more unfortunately, we were wearing some nice clothes to be in for dinner. So after we climbed up a fairly steep hill to see the popular church and fantastic views of the town from above, lucky Travers was able to 'air-out' so he didn't get his shirt too sweaty. It was all worth it though to see the breathtaking views of the ocean and town below.

After we made our way back down the hill, we stopped for a refreshing beer at a local pub, befriending the waiter who suggested we go to his friend's restaurant for dinner that evening, Casa Nostromo. At first, we weren't sure we would go, but after walking by and seeing the fun but nice ambiance, we decided to check it out. And we are so glad we did as it was one of the best meals we have had, ever. And we've eaten in a lot of restaurants in a lot of countries, and this was by far one of the best.  We started with two oysters, followed by 4 scallops, finishing with a whole fish. You could tell that everything was fresh and expertly prepared. We savored every bite and were able to chat up the wife of the owner afterwards and hopefully express our delight at this delicious meal!

After dinner, we went to a nearby bar where the waiter from the local pub, as well as the owner of the restuarant were hanging out and listening to the live music that was being played.  We drank and we danced, but eventually had to leave as the next morning we would be driving through the Prosecco region of Italy, before dropping the car off and taking a boat into Venice!