Arrival in Venezia via the Lagoon and the Grand Canal

Approach via the Lagoon

Arriving at the Marco Polo Airport is pretty much the same as any small airport.  After you've collected you bags step outside, hopefully to sunshine, then things get a bit different.  Instead of hailing a taxi, or looking for a bus, march past all that, past parking lots and eventually arrive at a small dock.  From there, if you're rich, take a water taxi, for the rest of us it's an Alilaguna boat, the orange line.  Don't be in a hurry.  Sit back and enjoy the boat ride.  Hopefully it's not too full.  Your intro to Venice crosses the lagoon then travels down the Grand Canal.  You've left the world of automobiles behind.  It's travel by boats or walking until you leave. 

 

The Rialto Bridge

Fitting its watery locale the islands that make up Venice are shaped like a fish with the Grand Canal as its digestive tract.  The map below came from a great site, MAPaPLAN.com. It's just one of around 16 maps of Venice covering self guided walking tours, vaporetto, tourist sites, etc. 

So you enter at the mouth, well not quite as the Orange Line enters Venice by the Canale di Cannaregio, which is a bit of a short cut, like entering the nose, but fish don't have noses you say.  Well so much for analogies.  Canale di Cannaregio dumps into the Canal Grande between the train station and the casino at the Riva di Biasio.  The Canal Grande ends at the Bacino di San Marco in front of Piazza San Marco.  Looking across the water are views of the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore.

The View from the Rialto Bridge

In all there are four bridges across the canal but there are seven traghetti (gondola) crossings.  At two euro, a traghetto is the cheapest gondola ride in town.

The View from Pointe Accadamia

The Canal Grande ends at the Bacino di San Marco in front of Piazza San Marco and the crowds of tourists.  Looking across the water are views of the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore.

San Giorgio Maggiore

Piazza San Marco

Venice hosts a biannual art exhibition on odd number years.  In 2015 they called it all the world's futures, running from the 9th of May until the 22nd of November.  Not being in any tourist guidebook the exhibits were largely ignored by the mobs of tourists. Lucky for the Venetians because it will take them until November to see it all.  Most of the following posts will cover Biennale Arte 2015 with a bit of Venice squeezed in.    

Every worthwhile day ends with a decent meal, and any good meal in Venice should start with a spritz, 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts Aperol and a splash of club soda.

Arrivederci,

Emmo