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September 28th to October 6th, Venice, Italy
Venice!!! A
magical city, sitting at the northwest corner of the
Adriatic. It was once a mighty power to be
reckoned with, ruling over much of northern Italy,
Croatia and beyond. The majesty of her past is
reflected in every building, church and canal in the
modern day city, very much alive, thanks to tourism.
Navigating to our
marina, right past the Piazza San Marco, drinking in the
sights of the city, we could hardly believe we had
arrived. Sailing to Venice embodies one of our
first dreams about cruising.
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The allure of this
timeless city built on water captured our imaginations
from the beginning. Finding a spot that could
accommodate us on the south island of Giudecca, right
across the Canale di Giudecca from San Marco, we were
ideally located to make the most of our visit.
(The dark spots on the chart below are
shallow parts of the lagoon, and the beige is dry land.)
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Greeting us on the dock
as we arrived on Friday afternoon were David and Tamsin
on Twice Eleven. It warms the heart to pull into a
completely new city and to have good friends there to
catch your lines.
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As we discovered nearly
a year ago in Badalona, we had scheduled visits to
Venice around the same time, although they had budgeted
a whole two weeks whereas we only had one. We also
quickly met the folks on Dark Horse, a 60 foot monohull
that formerly belonged to Lloyds of London. Mike
and Lola live onboard with their two children Orlando
(8) and Allegra (4). Lola is a true Venetian.
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They have been living
aboard for five years now, cruising during the summers
and stopping in one place for school for the kids.
They have budgeted three years in Venice, this being
their first. The kids go to the local school just
a few blocks away. Venice was clearly going to be
a special place for the Zia crew.
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Of course the highlight
of the visit was the much anticipated visit of Alison
and Holly Cunard. We had planned for the Cunards
to come see us in Venice for almost a year.
Originally, Bruce, Alison and Holly were going to come,
leaving the teenagers, Sam and Kari, home with friends
and relatives. It truly broke our hearts when the
daunting logistics of it all overwhelmed our deepest
desires and Bruce had to sacrifice his place on the trip
to keep things going at the ranch. Alison had
already marked off the days as vacation on her Microsoft
calendar, and much to our joy, decided to make the trip
with Holly herself.
Armed with a map and a
rough idea of how to get to the Treviso airport via
public transportation, we all took off in the dinghy to
drop me and the girls at Piazzale Roma, the only place
in Venice where vehicles are allowed and where the bus
terminal is located. This was our first dinghy
ride through the canals of Venice and we were elated.
Although it was less of an exploration and more of an
errand, we had a ball. Winding through a narrow
canal that apparently dead-ends into a building, we
turned the corner to discover a quaint little piazza
with a bridge and beautiful old homes lining the edges.
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Riding down the Canal
Grande, even the girls stopped reading for a few moments
to take it all in.
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Once we had
successfully acquired Alison and Holly at the airport, I
don't think it mattered one bit where we happened to be.
The girls were over the moon as "their best friend" was
here for a whole six days of fun together. They
didn't waste any time making plans.
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First on the agenda was
a show. They spent hours choreographing a dance
set to "One, Two, Step" by Ciara.
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They set up spectator
seats, had lighting technicians assist throughout the
performance, and provided a wonderful theatrical
interlude for their eager audience. Tamsin's
mother was down from England for a visit and joined the
fun.
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The girls also managed
to convince us, after over a year's worth of stalling,
to finally let them paint the bow locker. I don't
know if you remember
the story,
but Joe had sold it to them in exchange for them getting
their haircuts way back in Tortola. The deal was
that they could paint it for their clubhouse. Joe
made himself scarce for the occasion which was better
for everybody. The three girls managed not to
spread paint all over the boat and what they got on
themselves was well worth the effort and the water it
took to get off considering the fun they had with the
whole project.
Joe and I were just as
thrilled to see Alison as the girls were to see Holly.
We met the Cunard family when they were cruising on
their catamaran in the summer of 2002 (is that right?).
When they came back to Annapolis to settle down and
build a house, we became fast friends. They helped
us with our cruising plans all along the way and we keep
hoping that one day soon they will decide to come back
out so we can cruise together. In the meantime, we
treasure the time we can squeeze in with them between
visits back home and them coming to see us on Zia.
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Alison settled right
into the cruising life, even though Venice isn't your
typical cruising location. With the other "boat
people" living on the dock, however, it really did feel
like cruising despite the urbane setting. The
marina we stayed at,
L'Altra Venezia, was right next door to a rowing
club. That Sunday they were having a gondola
rowing regatta down the Canale de Giudecca and around
the island. We went to observe the race and hopped
the fence to join the party afterwards. The club
made it known that everyone was invited to the party; it
was just easier to go around the fence rather than walk
all the way around to the front door!
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We enjoyed a balanced
mix of hanging out with our cruising friends on Twice
Eleven and Dark Horse, and exploring the city.
Lola generously offered to take the girls with her to
pick up her kids at school one afternoon and then to a
fiesta being held for children in a square in the city.
Joe, Alison and I took the opportunity to bring a bottle
of red wine along with us on a proper dinghy cruise
through the canals of Venice.
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It was definitely the
highlight of the trip. We took turns choosing the
canal we would turn down. We usually would wind up
back at the Canal Grande. In a calculated
oversight, we forgot to bring a map with us so we just
meandered and enjoyed the sights without trying to
follow along on a piece of paper. I have a hundred
pictures so I will have to put together some photo pages
soon.
The highlight of the
trip for the girls was feeding the pigeons. They
couldn't get enough of these nasty little birds landing
on them and eating popcorn out of their hands. The
adults finally decided to give up and let them have fun
without worrying about the diseases and filth they were
exposed to with these birds landing on their hands, arms
and heads.
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The pigeons in Piazza
San Marco were the best because they were the only ones
that were brave enough to land on you, but that didn't
stop the girls from feeding them in any piazza we
stopped at for a refreshment. We had nearly as
much fun exploring Venice by foot and water bus.
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The water bus service
is wonderful, although expensive if you actually pay for
it. Since we were there for a week, we opted to
get an eighty Euro pass that allowed us unlimited rides.
At 6 Euros a ride, I'm sure we got our money's worth,
although not once did we see anyone checking for
tickets. I can pretty much guarantee that on our
next visit to Venice, Joe will opt to risk it rather
than springing for the passes! At any rate, we
soon became experts at the water bus, hopping on and off
at various spots and just getting lost in the winding
streets of the city. It isn't a very big place,
and I don't think there are any "dicey" areas, so we
wandered at will.
We took a day trip to
the island of Murano, famous for its glass blowing
industry. The girls wore their Heelys and drew
stares from all around. We enjoyed a little less
frantic pace walking the streets without quite as many
tourists as in Venice proper. Of course, we did a
little Christmas shopping at the glass shops too.
The weather cooperated for the entire week.
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I was looking at our
entry from the last time the Cunards visited us on the
boat and the difference in the girls startled me.
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Time marches forward
but friendships last forever.
Next Entry >>>>>>>>
Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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