We have been to Venice several times now, winding our way through the maze of streets, discovering something new at every turn. But this time we were with friends. Because the temperature was in the 90s and the sun very intense, several of us bought hats, applied more sunscreen and bought bottles of water. We also took a ring route around the northern part of the city rather than plunging into the midst of the maze.
Mathiew, who speaks Italian, was fortunate to sit next to a law professor who lives in Venice on the train up from Firenze. She and Mathiew engaged in a great conversation about a whole host of topics, from world affairs to the changing nature of student interests. And when the discussion turned to what to do in Venice she gave him two great suggestions. The first was to visit a certain department store located at T Fondaco de Tedeschi. You may wonder what’s so special about a department store in Venice? The answer is a terrace on the roof from which you have a phenomenal view of the Ponte di Rialto, Grand Canal and the roof tops of St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and Campanile in San Marco, no so far away.
As with anything, there is one part of the visit to the terrace that makes it a planned rather than an opportunistic event. You must register for a time. The rooftop terrace can only hold so much weight and for that reason you are limited to a small group and no more than 15 minutes on the terrace for photo ops that are fantastic. The website for the terrace visit is: www.DFS.com.
The second recommendation she gave was for places to eat. We chose to eat at Birraria la Corte. It is located at Campo di Polo square, which is off the beaten path. The patrons are mostly locals, but the food was well worth the Google maps-guided hunt. Three couples were on this one-day visit and each of us decided we would try the pizzas. Each was different, reflecting the different tastes of each couple. Ours had a crust that included several different types of flour, including a bit of seaweed protein. The topping consisted of two kinds of cheese, pears, walnuts and honey. It was absolutely delicious. It appeared that only one of the cheeses was heated on the crust and the other ingredients added after it came from the oven. Each pizza was different crust types and different toppings, but ours was the most unusual.
The meal conversation was lively and included different movie remembrances, different thoughts about life in Venice, whether any of us would want to live there – all of us would like to, but thought the crowds would make it difficult – and the state of the structures, which seem to continue to deteriorate. We noted interesting sculptures, interesting Murano glass figures, and wondered if we could take more masks home. We finally decided we had no more room in our suitcases, so if we did, we would have to wear them on the plane, just as we do many new articles of clothes we buy on trips.
Taking the ferry from near the restaurant, we traveled the canals to San Marco, where after the required photos, gelato and wandering along the square, we took the elevator to the top of the Campanile tower to get a 360 degree look at the city and most particularly photos of the Grand Canal as it meets the Adriatic. The elevator ride is quick and currently costs 8 euros per person.
After our visit to the top of the city for another view from on high, we walked towards the canal, and took seats in the outdoor café on the right where a small four-piece orchestra played music while we sampled local aperitifs. It was the perfect way to conclude our visit to this city, although there was one more adventure. We decided to grab a water taxi to take us back to the train station. This allowed us to have one more set of photos, one more look at this fantastic city which continues to settle, and the many deteriorating buildings. The sad reality is that the condition of the buildings and rising sea portend this unique city in the sea will continue to fade as the jewel of the Adriatic.
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