Touring Venice with the Locals

What a fabulous day for us!

It all began with us boarding a train to take us into Venice.

Morena's cousins, Marcella and Kristina,  arranged their schedules so that they could be our personal tour guides of this famous city.

Kristina attended University in Venice, as well as her husband, Victorio.  The original plans included Victorio as lead guide, but he was feeling under the weather and could not make the trip.  

He was so disappointed!

He made up for his absence by calling Kristina nearly every hour to be certain that she was showing us the top spots.  How funny is that?

The train dropped us off right at this bridge and we didn't waste any time getting a group photo.

With Kristina leading the way, we crossed the bridge and passed St. Rocco's church

the only wooden bridge in Venice

and the University which Kristina and Victorio attended

She showed us Lo Squero di Son Trovaso where the Gondolas are made. 

Every one of the Venetian gondolas are made here.   

We took some photos near St. Marco square with St. Georgio in the background.

And one of Marty and myself in St. Marco square.

Near here was the "Bridge of Sighs," named such because the Prisoners would be transported under the bridge to be kept in the underground prison, without any sign of the outdoors, for the rest of their lives.

The name stems from the sadness in knowing that this would be the last light of day that a prisoner would see again. 

We walked by the School of Music where we were entertained by the operatic sounds emanating from the building as someone was practicing.

Near this spot stands a statue that appears to be a man thinking.  Kristina told us that the statue was somewhat of a joke, because it appears that books are coming from the man's underside.  (Actually, we were given a much more descriptive word, but I'll leave that up to your imagination.)

We were delighted to be able to walk through Maurizio Martire Church which now is the home of the Vivaldi Museum of Music

The place gave a fascinating history of music in Venice and had some unusual items as well.

Here you see a Medieval Ghironda dating from 1850

An antique plucking instrument from 1600 and an old liturgical Catholic Music book.

I cannot tell you how many bridges we crossed, each offering a charming view.

But I should be able to get you up to date on that number since Marty took a photo on his phone from every single bridge that we walked over.  I'll keep you posted on that one.

Marty also decided to drink from the fountain since he read that Venetians pride themselves on having the cleanest spring fed water in all of Italy.

So far, he hasn't contracted any diseases.  I'll keep you posted on that account as well.

Kristina took us to the Jewish Ghetto, something of which I had been totally unaware.  There is a synagogue in the far right building of this photo.  

Once again, the horrors of war were made obvious while reading a plaque devoted to the Venetian Jews who were deported to Nazi concentration camps on 5 Dec. 1943 and 17 Aug 1941.

Despite this horrid tragedy, there appears to be a vibrant community in this place as the streets were filled with stores selling Jewish items and restaurants and bakeries were geared toward Jewish customs.

With Kristina as our guide, we were able to see parts of the city most tour groups avoid, making our visit so much more pleasant!

Our last stop was near the train station where Kristina pointed out the Calatravi Bridge, the last one built in Venice.

It is apparently an engineer's nightmare, having steps that are uneven, and some with glass tops, making them extremely slippery.  Kristina also told us that the bridge has actually moved since it was constructed.

Marty, of course, ran up to the top so that he could check out the steps himself.

See him waving up there?

He managed to make it up and back down without any harm.

Soon it was time to go and we were once again on the train headed back to Cittadella.

It was our last evening here with Morena and Dennis, but we certainly made the most of the evening.

We had a delightful dinner with "the cousins" and were invited to Kristina and Victorio's house where we found ourselves among two extremely talented musicians, Victorio, an accomplished pianist,  and his son, Andreo, a very talented drum player as well as guitarist.

Honestly, we couldn't ask for a better ending to this special week.  It was one that, surely, Morena and I will never forget.

Good times....great food....and superb Spritzers!

Could you ask for anything more?