Venice…and the SoF is officially over.

Sorry to be so late with this post. Jeni and I celebrated our seventh anniversary on September 12, and in true Summer of Fun fashion we went back to Venice where we were first married. Yes, that Venice! Aside from wandering through the living-post-card that is Venezia, Jeni and I have been relishing in the Indian Summer Luxembourg has been experiencing of late. Now that I've written this down for posterity, I am certain the rain and driving winds will return by sundown ;)

One of the many fantastic benefits of living in the Grand Duchy is the fun new words we have added to our lexicon. For example, Summer-Sweater is a term I'd never heard of as a native Washingtonian. Summer in DC is a hot and muggy affair and can only truly be appreciated by those lucky enough to walk the National Mall on the 4th of July with 250,000 of your closest compatriots. Never in my life would I imagine that I'd be wearing layers in August, and yet here I am. 

Me with an enormous gourd (zucchini?) of unknown variety. It was a gift from the neighbor lady who feeds the dogs cakes in the morning. Yet another skill I've mastered…walking two dogs while balancing a 5 lb squash on my hip!

Piazza San Marco under stormy skies :-/

Going into our third winter here I've observed that the good folks of Luxembourg take such delight in pulling out the winter coats, popping on the wellies and finally stashing the Summer-Sweaters away until next June. This all culminates in a crescendo of scarf layering like nothing you've seen before. The end of summer is somewhat of a mild celebration here. So this is where I apologize the good folks of Venice where I imagine summer will be missed. As is often the case, Jeni and I brought a little bit of traditional Luxembourg weather with us. While the Luxembourger's were enjoying a bit of late summer sun and some warm breezes, Jeni and I were thanking our lucky stars we had the foresight to bring our Summer-Sweaters to the Adriatic coast. Many other tourists did not have this foresight. I saw a girl in flip-flops in St Mark's square with feet so blue the poor thing looked like a water-logger cadaver. 

Venice is a city made of over 100 islands nestled in a emerald green lagoon protected from the Adriatic sea by a barrier island known as the Lido. The main 'center' of town is connected with over 400 bridges, each one unique and more beautiful than the next. Venice has a rich history far too long and complex to get into here. Suffice it to say the mixture of Roman, Byzantium and uniquely Venetian architecture weave a tapestry that is so beautiful words simply fail to describe its grandeur. The Republic of Venice has been electing its leaders since Roman times, and because it is the only true pedestrian city in the world, a sense of equality and pride can be seen through this maritime community.

Obviously without a boat of your own, the best way to get around Venice is by foot, and that is just perfect for me and Jeni. We absolutely love getting lost in the labyrinths that make up Venice's various neighborhoods. There were, however, a few occasions we decided to take the local water bus. On the night of our anniversary we booked a table a a fun little restaurant recommended to us by the hotel concierge, Caffé Centrale. Jeni and I donned our fancy clothes and headed toward St Mark's Square aboard the local public transit. Thank goodness for google maps because I have no idea how people navigated this city before the internet. After we disembarked, we managed to find our little restaurant perched on a skinny canal on a side street not more than ten feet wide about 300 yards away from the world-famous Piazza San Marco. The food was great, the wine was better and the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant.  I must say that the world's longest aquatic bus ride was certainly worth it. 

Those would be Porcini Mushrooms and Potato Mousse!  And, why do I always look like a doofus in the dinner pics???

Well perhaps our ride to dinner was the world's second longest aquatic bus ride. The next day the sun began to peek out of the steel gray sky, so we took the opportunity to head over to Burano, a sleepy little borough on an island just north of central Venice. Unlike its better known sister island of Murano, Burano is a sweet, calm, quiet slice of old world charm completely electrified by shocking colors straight out of Timothy Leary's waking dreams. We spent the afternoon on Burano enjoying the sunshine and the scenery, but alas it is a small island. After an afternoon coffee we hopped back aboard the water bus and bobbed our way south to the main islands of Venice…or so we thought.

No travel tale of ours would be complete without a small amount of drama, so here goes. It must be said that the water busses may be slow, but they are certainly prompt. The pilots are somehow able to keep to the time tables. That said, if you miss your connecting bus, you may find yourself with some idle time on your hands. Alas, it would be in one of the most picturesque cities on the planet…right? As we pulled in to the floating bus stop we saw that our next bus (the 4.2 - not the 4.2 which in another line completely…don't get me started on the numbering system. This is not a typo. There are two lines with the exact number!)  was just letting passengers off. As we made our mad dash over to the next floating platform, we screamed past a sign showing this bus (the 4.2 - not the 4.2) actually goes around the island of Murano before heading back to the canal on which our hotel was situated. 

LONGESTBUSRIDEEVER!!

 

Now, let me take a brief side trip and give you my thoughts on the island of Murano. Murano, as you may know, is home to the world renown glass forges that have been creating glass and glassworks of art since the Middle Ages. Jeni and I visited this island back when we were in Venice for our first visit. Been to Murano. Check. While there are certainly fine works of well crafted glasswork being produced on the island, the vast majority of the stuff is worthy of any carnival midway. In fact, as you walk the narrow streets of the island the glass-hucksters try to persuade you into their stalls. Peering out of dim doorways these street vendors try to entice by scooping handfuls of glass tchotchkes and pouring them back into the punch bowl from whence they came. This clattering and clinking follows you all through the streets, and does not stop as long as there is a tourist within earshot! Been to Murano. Check. Done.

Murano - Home of glass knick-knacks of all shapes and sizes.

Well...not so fast. We apparently hopped on the 4.2, and lo and behold we found ourselves heading back to Murano which is about a mile away from Venice proper…over the lagoon. Not to worry, dear reader, we had a plan. We'd simply get off on Murano and take on the next bus heading toward the centre of town. As it happens, that wasn't so easy. The first bus stop on Murano, Colonia, has a plethora of lines. None of these, however, went in the correct direction. So we decided to grab a Aperol spritz at a nearby café and wait for the 4.2 bus to make its way around the island and return to the Colonia station. This should have been about 20 minutes. As luck would have it, the electronic board was on the fritz. Bus lines and time tables would blink on and off. Some routes would disappear only to reappear minutes later. Before our drinks were empty our little twenty minute diversion on Murano turned into a full blown 50 minute wait! There was no way Jeni and I were going to be lured back into that den of bauble hawkers, so we ordered another spritz and enjoyed the scenery. C'est la vie! Fate, as it turns out, was on our side that day. We paid for our drinks (its called foresight - see above under Summer-Sweater), and as we settled in and gazed out over the jade colored water on St Michele's cemetery our ship had come in! Without warning the 4.2 pulled up the platform. Spritz' were pounded, and we embarked on our last leg of the longest bus ride ever! 

Three platforms at Colonia and only one bus heading back to town! What a problem to have :)

The Church of San Michele / Cimitero di San Michele

We got back to the hotel with plenty of time to grab a glass of wine at our new favorite bar, Al Parlamento.  When in Venice, make this place a destination. The servers are warm and friendly, the food was nice, and nothing compares to sipping a lovely Pinot Nero along the Canale di Cannaregio. Watching the boats slip in and out of the city, hearing the children play along the Fondamenta Savorgnan and soaking in the beauty of Venezia with my wonderful wife was the perfect way to end what has been the most amazing summer of my life. 

As the say in Italy, Allora! That's it for now. We're back here safe and sound in the Grand Duchy. Stay tuned because I'm sure we'll have lots more to share. Thanks for following our zany antics and Arrivederchi!  

This is from our wedding day!

Eerily similar, no?

Ahhh…back to good old Luxembourg!