Arrived in Venice!

May 14
We arrived in Venice at 8am today and I am impressed with the pleasant experience of flying into Marco Polo Airport in Venice. Since the airport is smaller, the wait for checked bags was short and the immigration process was a non-issue. The entire process took about two minutes including waiting in line! Before 8:30 we had bought tickets for €11 round trip for the 20-minute bus ride to Piazzale Roma. The trip took a bit longer due to rush-hour traffic, but we quickly found our accommodation, Casa Sant’Andrea, which was once a convent.

We were able to leave our bags, check in, and get cleaned up, even though we were early and the room was not yet ready. By 9:15 am we were already on the vaporetto, or ferry boat, and on our way to Murano.

We had heard that tomorrow there will be a 24-hour boat strike so that is why today is the day to visit the island Murano. Once there Patty and I could not resist the amazing Murano glass jewelry made by designers, and we were happy to make several purchases. At one of the Schiavon galleries, we were invited to view the small factory in the back and observe two artisans craft a glass figurine of a giraffe. They were incredible to watch.

Soon afterward we found our way to gallery and factory of Massimiliano Schiavon, where we were met by the pleasant Fannie and Lorenza.

Fannie was kind enough to explain much of the process and took Patty and me on a personal tour.

Master glassmaker Claudio was once again working and we exchanged greetings, having met twice before. I always marvel at their skill as they create these works of art.

We also were in luck that the designer and art director himself was present and took some time to meet with Patty and me. Grazie, Massimiliano!

He shared with us his newest vision and showed us his partially finished creation involving glazed wooden tree formations where he would be placing various glass insects like butterflies, etc. His enthusiasm could not be missed and I felt honored to be here.

Today is Patty’s birthday, so we celebrated with an outdoor lunch at Trattoria Busa Alla Torre in Campo San Stefano. We shared some calamari and I had a caprese salad and Patty had the gnocchi. Tutto buono! Afterward we took the vaporetto to St Mark’s Square and walked around taking in the atmosphere and playing tourist. Tons of people were there and the weather was warm.

More walking and browsing the streets of Venice and took time for some limoncello and a refreshing gelato. In the Dorsoduro neighborhood we met Hongjung Park, an interesting artist whose ongoing exhibit of suspended IV bottles filled with colored water. She calls this “The Simple Gift.” She explained she wanted to make others aware of the value of health care providers.

I loved watching young boys playing soccer and meeting a local artist named Marco who has been painting for 45 years.

After finally checking  into our rooms and getting cleaned up, we walked over to the Rialto and had dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant, Roma Ristorante.

After being up for over 30 hours we finally crashed at 10pm Italy time. Hopefully this will minimize any jet lag and we’ll get a good night’s sleep. Buonanotte.