13th Dec 2009
I have planned to wake up early today to snap some photos of the dawn and thank God I woke up around 6am+. After a quick wash, a 3-in-1 hot chocolate and packing up my gears, off to the San Marco Grand Canal jetty we go. Temperature was around 2 to 3°C, which is bearable. Due to it being so early, there is practically no one on the streets apart from the cleaner and the restaurant suppliers and of course, yours truly.
When we reached Piazza San Marco, we saw that some parts of the square were filled with water due to the high tide in the morning. The water flowed up from some “holes” on the ground (I said holes as it doesn’t seemed like a sewerage but just… holes), which I believe the existence being intentional. Dana & I have to try and find a way through the square to the jetty and it is truly worth the effort to wake up early and wading through the slightly “flooded” piazza!
I have planned to wake up early today to snap some photos of the dawn and thank God I woke up around 6am+. After a quick wash, a 3-in-1 hot chocolate and packing up my gears, off to the San Marco Grand Canal jetty we go. Temperature was around 2 to 3°C, which is bearable. Due to it being so early, there is practically no one on the streets apart from the cleaner and the restaurant suppliers and of course, yours truly.
When we reached Piazza San Marco, we saw that some parts of the square were filled with water due to the high tide in the morning. The water flowed up from some “holes” on the ground (I said holes as it doesn’t seemed like a sewerage but just… holes), which I believe the existence being intentional. Dana & I have to try and find a way through the square to the jetty and it is truly worth the effort to wake up early and wading through the slightly “flooded” piazza!
San Marco Basilica
Piazza San Marco
Perhaps it’s the weather or maybe it is just Venice that the colors of dawn looked so beautiful. I lived in coastal areas and have seen many a beautiful dawn and dusk but none with colors as vivid. Blame it on the photographer (read me) that I couldn’t reproduce the full magnificence of the scene but I guess that is exactly the beauty of it all, that you will have to experience and take it down on your own. Once we are done with all the shots and our fingers cramped from the cold, we headed back to Ca’ del Nobile to have our breakfast, which was included in the rates we’ve paid.
Dawn shot taken at San Marco Jetty along the Grand Canal
Another shots taken from the San Marco Jetty at dawn
Breakfast as I’ve read from TripAdvisor’s review is nothing to rave about and I have to agree to their reviewer’s point of view BUT note that nothing to rave about DOES NOT equate to being bad or the sorts. The variety is few but to be fair, we don’t and can’t eat that much anyways, so hope you get my drift. We are being served with 2 croissants, 4 bun-breads or whatever you called it and plenty of spreads such as pâté, fruit jams, honey, butter, cheese and the likes. One spread caught my eye though ~ Philadelphia. Oh the goodness… reminisce the advertisement of the angels in heaven eating all the Philadelphia they could eat. The night shift personnel, Roberto bake the croissants and breads early in the morning and nothing beats fresh breads. There are also free flow of yogurts, fresh juice and hot beverages (by request).
Anna, the helpful and friendly reception lady of Ca' del Nobile
Freshly backed bread and spread for breakfast
View of San Marco Campanile and the Doge's Palace
from the speedboat heading to Murano island
from the speedboat heading to Murano island
Included in the rate is also a single speedboat trip from San Marco to Murano Island, famous for its intricate and high quality glass crafts. The boat ride took about 15mins approx. and upon arrival, we are greeted by a sales pitcher from the glass factory, whom gave us the presentation and all. No photos are allowed of the products, so you will not see it here but I have to say, they are all beautiful and the price tags no doubt is also beautiful. Most items ranged from €400 to all the way up only God knows where.
The oven used to burn the sands into molten blob for molding.
The pitcher also showed us how the glass maestro works. It is exciting seeing how the maestro works so rapidly with a pinch here, a turn there and another pinch here to produce a horse, all within 5 minutes. Even within such short period, the craftsmanship is intricate enough. After a trip here, you can already tell the fakes apart as Venice was overrun with shops selling fake Murano glass products. The clarify of the glass, the vividness of the colors and the details of the design will give the fakes away.
The Maestro doing his stuff.
When we reached our hotel, we do some packing up and chatted with Anna, the reception lady. It is interesting to know that Malaysia and Italy has something in common i.e. the government and the resentment of the people of their government. More surprisingly, she heard about Altantuya vs Najib’s case and Anna being equally astonished of my knowing of the Mafia PM Berlusconi. Anyway, the ultimate topic still drift back to traveling, which is really her passion. I, of course took this opportunity to introduce her to this blog so that she will be able to get some insights to the island destination in the South East Asia.
The view from atop the 500+ years old Rialto Bridge.
The Christmas decoration along the Rialto Bridge.
The magnificent Rialto Bridge that has withstood the test of time.
After checking out, we headed to the famed Rialto Bridge and do a little bit of gift shopping. We saw a couple of Singaporean here and asked them to help us take a photo and she did a pretty good job, thanks! From the Rialto Bridge, we next headed to the alleys on San Polo i.e. the sestiere (Area) at the other side of the Rialto and it is even less crowded and more serene although I would’ve imagined it to be quite creepy in the late evening. We then headed back to the Rialto Bridge to wrap up our gift shopping so that we could prepare to leave Venice to Rome.
View of the streets in San Polo.
Oh, there is this particular gift shop that you may want to visit as it has some pretty exquisite yet affordable gifts. The name of the shop is Rivoaltus and its sells pens, fountain pens, letter opener, leather notebook cover and the likes. I bought a beautiful letter opener at €26 while my wife bought a pen at €28.
The shop owner of Rivoaltus. The products are made in Treviso,
northern part of Mestre, mainland Venice.
northern part of Mestre, mainland Venice.
As our flight to Rome is at 2015hr, we have to leave Venice earlier. The thought of me having to drag my luggage from the hotel to the Rialto Vaporetti (Water bus) terminal sends a surge of reluctance through me. Why? We have 2 heavy luggages and there are plenty of stairs to climb and the streets are not exactly the smooth types. Anyway, the Vaporetti will cost €6.50 and yes, it is very expensive and that price is only for a one-way trip. The fact that the single trip ticket is valid for unlimited ride within 60 minutes doesn’t help, as you will only be able to take at most 2 trips and more than often as the name suggest…single trip. They also offer other tickets valid for 12 to 72 hours but I still find it useless. Venice can be covered by foot alone provided if you have the time as strolling along the streets is an enjoyable affair.
What is Venice without these mask?
**Note: All rights reserved. If you like any photos found in this blog or would like to engage me in any assignment, please e-mail me for more details at seage79@gmail.com.
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