Sunday, 31 October 2010: Venice


Leaving ms Queen Victoria

We are really happy that we had a beautiful day for our gondola ride and visit to Murano yesterday, because the rain has started and will continue off-and-on until we leave Venice on Tuesday morning. But this morning our task is to leave the ship and head to our hotel, the Carlton on the Grand Canal, not very far from the pier—as the crow flies. But in Venice nobody pays attention to the birds, and getting to a hotel five minutes away is just as complicated as getting to a hotel on the farthest island in the lagoon. Money, of course, solves all problems, so we enjoy a water taxi ride from the ship to the private landing outside the hotel, conveniently located across the canal from the train station and two minutes walk from the new, elegant Calatrava Bridge, the first to be built across the Grand Canal in 150 years

The hotel’s newly-painted façade and marble lobby provide a warm welcome, and our room opens onto a lovely patio in the back of the hotel. The walls are padded (?) and covered with garish striped fabric, but the bed is comfortable and the bathroom is roomy and has a heated towel rack. In spite of the rain we don’t waste much time in the room, but head out for our first walk, torn from the pages of the Cadogan guide to Venice that I first used in 1993. It’s too bad this series of guides are out of print; they provide excellent maps and walking directions along with informative descriptions—all leavened by a slightly wacky sense of humor and an attitude that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

A Late Morning Walk with Tintoretto for Reward

The route for the first walk will take us from our hotel through the Sestiere of San Polo (one of the six districts of the city), stopping for a late morning latte and chocolate croissant at a small café. Although Sunday morning services are still going on in some of the churches, others have just reopened to visitors, and we happily fall upon the back entrance to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, housing a display of 54 monumental paintings by Tintoretto. Lunch is a warm bowl of minestrone and a club sandwich—not the most exciting gastronomic treat, but perfect for a cool, wet day.

An Afternoon on the Grand Canal

After lunch and a brief rest back at the hotel we take a slow vaporetto ride down the length of the Grand Canal all the way to San Marco. The open back deck is a perfect place for taking pictures of the monuments and grand homes that stumble one after another along the waterfront, as well as for getting a sense of the life-on-water that is the daily routine of the Venetians. Passing under the Rialto Bridge I get a glimpse of the Hotel Marconi, where I stayed in 1993. (I won’t report on the more primitive places I stayed in on earlier, student-day trips to Venice.) We reach San Marco just as dusk is falling and the soft lights of the city are emerging from the mist. We have salad and pizza for dinner at a quiet restaurant not far from the Piazza and then return to the hotel by vaporetto, ready for a good night’s sleep.