the venetian islands

the venetian islands

30 Oct 2023

On a bright and sunny day, I boarded a ferry for my trip to the Venetian islands of Mazzorbo, Burano and Torcello. Somehow I thought I'd be the only one, but the crowd waiting for the boat to Murano soon put an end to that thought. It was standing room only on the ferry both there and back.

First stop was the island of Mazzorbo to visit the Venissa wine resort. 

The grapes planted with their traditional companion, beautiful full bloom roses.

It was love at first sight and I snapped away happily. The only people there were guests of the resort and an Australian couple I met on the ferry.

Mazzorbo is connected to Burano by a bridge so I walked across the bridge and happily snapped away at the multi-coloured buildings for which Burano is known.

There were a few other people around but not many or so I thought until I rounded a corner to find the main street of Burano jam packed with tourists with hordes of new travellers being disgorged from the ferry. 

I'd been to Burano before and it was nothing like this. I felt so sorry for the locals who have to put up with this 7 days a week during the summer months. 

I also acknowledge that my presence meant I was part of the problem.

I hopped on the ferry to Torcello, my next destination, then discovered the ferry had changed it's route and instead of going to Torcello was returning to Murano. That added an hour to the journey so by the time I arrived at Torcello, it was midday, the sun was high and the island relatively unsheltered and hot! Thankfully I had a hat and water.

I'd planned to have lunch at Torcello but the food at the place I'd bookmarked looked underwhelming so I walked on to see the church for which Torcello is famous. 

Part of the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta was covered in scaffolding, and I was a bit grumpy from the machinations of the trip there. One does get a bit of church fatigue in Europe so I used my last few euros for a bathroom stop instead of seeing the church interiors. 

I'm guilty of doing insufficient research on Torcello and in retrospect I should have seen the mosaics for which the church is famous. Hopefully there will be another trip to Venice in the future. 

That's the last of my holiday snaps. My black and white films scans have arrived back from the lab so I'll post a few of them when I have time to edit them.

See you all again soon.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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venice

venice

23 Oct 2023

I first visited Venice when I was 15 and I can still remember the name of the hotel in which we stayed. It was the Hotel Commercio & Pellegrino and it's still in operation today. The room we stayed in was tiny and the bathroom was literally a hole in the wall.

The hotel was very close to the Piazza San Marco and after spending some time in the Piano Lounge at the Hotel Danieli we used to spend our evenings in the square around the boarded up fountain. I don't think I'd have the chutzpah to waltz into the lounge at the Danieli these days.

It was the depths of winter and there were few visitors and I found Venice with it's dead ends and canals a bit eerie but I loved it. I've been back twice since then but not since 2005, when I stayed in Dorsoduro. Dorsoduro was a pretty quiet location but even in 2005, Piazza San Marco was crazy busy - but not like 2023.

At the recommendation of a friend I stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast in Cannaregio near the Jewish ghetto. 

Cannaregio was also crazy busy, but the spacious apartment on the 3rd floor was a lovely refuge from the crowds below. 

I arranged a full itinerary and walked my shoes into oblivion days one and two before I purchased a 48 hour ferry pass so I could visit the islands. I discovered a very convenient ferry stop just around the corner from the apartment and from then on I tootled around the canals on vaporetto's.

Now here's the thing - I do not like crowds, so my time in Venice was always going to be a bit stress inducing. I knew it was going to be busy but it was a level of busy I had not expected. The streets were so narrow and so crowded one was swept along in the throng. 

I soon learned to go out by 7.00 am to avoid the crowds and to get a mostly clear view point for photography, but not at at the Piazza San Marco. 

The Square is a mess of scaffolding at the moment, so it is not looking it's best. I found many historic buildings both in Venice and on Torcello in the same state of restoration. 

I found couples having pre-wedding shoots; a film crew blocking the view of the Bridge of Sighs and most annoyingly, a (male) instagrammer clogging up the colonnade of the Doges Palace for 10 minutes + posing for his female friend, whilst looking to get the best shot. 

I did my best but returned to Cannaregio a bit frustrated. Maybe I need to return to Venice in Winter.

When I wasn't doing my best to avoid the crowds I visited the most beautiful supermarket in Venice, the Despar Teatro Italia, a mere 4 minute walk from the flat and the Rialto food market. 

Everything in the markets looked wonderful but without a kitchen in which to cook, I really couldn't buy much. Instead I frequented the local osteria, Al Mariner, for bowls of seafood pasta

A letterpress shop I wanted to visit was closed for lunch so I walked around the district to fill in the time. I stepped into one of the most beautiful churches I've every visited, the Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta 

There was no queue to enter and I paid one euro upon entry which was used towards renovation costs.

I was blown away by the interiors.

The surprise package was the convent next door, which had been converted into a hostel, the Combo Venezia.

I could only visit the public areas which included 2 beautiful quadrangles.

and the staircase, complete with marble flooring and frescoed ceiling.

I did a day trip the islands but that deserves a separate blog post, so look out for that soon. 

On my last full day in Venice I visited the Fortuny Museum and the International Gallery of Modern Art and passed this beauty in my travel, the Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti.

The final flourish was the rooftop view from the Fondaco dei Tedeschi Department store. 

Yes you do have to book your spot on the terrace 3 weeks in advance and you only have 15 minutes on the terrace, but the views over Venice were amazing and well worth the effort of waking at 4.00 am to ensure my slot.

Before I made my way to the Airport I caught a vaporetto along the Grand Canal just as the sun rose.

It was such a beautiful experience with an almost empty Rialto Bridge.

And just like that the holiday was over and I was heading to the Airport for my flight (s) back to Sydney. 

I'll be back soon with my visit to the Venetian Islands.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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rome

rome

2 Jul 2018

Ah Rome, the eternal city. I've been to Rome on quite a few occasions but never on the cusp of summer. 



I wish I could say I enjoyed my time in Rome but I didn't. It all started badly. I was feeling unwell and asked for an early check-in to my apartment. When I arrived at the designated time, no-one was there to greet me. Once inside, the apartment hadn't been cleaned and it took another 2 hours before that took place. Instead of resting as I'd hoped, I spent 2 hours walking around the San Lorenzo district filling in time.



A few months earlier I'd bookmarked an apartment close to the centre of Rome but by the time I was ready to book, the apartment was no longer available. I chose another apartment but I clearly didn't do my research very well. The apartment wasn't within walking distance of any destination other than the main railway station; the walk to the station was through a dodgy location so I didn't feel safe walking at night time, so I had to rely on buses. Only one in three buses scheduled would arrive then would take such a circuitous route that it took on average 1½ hours to get to any destination, most of which were only 3-4 kms away. Each day I'd have to adjust my schedule as time would run out.



As San Lorenzo isn't near the historic sites, it probably reflects real Rome. Rubbish was piled up on street corners and some of the streets along which I walked were a bit smelly. This wasn't a Rome I remembered.



My sole reason for travelling to Rome, apart from catching my flight home, was to visit the Borghese Gallery. When I tried to book a ticket a week before arriving in Rome, the only tickets available were at 7.00 p.m. the night before I flew out. I knew I'd be busy packing so that idea went by the wayside. So what to do? 



I've been to Rome 4 times before and have visited the usual suspects, so suddenly I was at a loose end. I decided to do some self-guided walking tours and to revisit some of my favourite locations like the Pantheon and Campo de Fiori.



One can never tire of the Pantheon



nor the vibrancy of the markets,



busy with nonnas doing nonna things.



I walked from the markets to the old Jewish quarter passing this church en route.



I also found this quirky little hardware store housed in a centuries old building.



I visited a number of churches whilst in Rome on the hunt for Caravaggios.



I just loved the light in this church,



and the ceilings were fairly impressive as well.



My favourite walking tour was of Trastevere and I snapped away happily.



I visited plenty of old churches and convents,



photographed crumbling facades

and visited the markets.





My favourite find in Trastevere was the Ospedale Nuovo Regina Margherita. Whilst taking a photo of the adjoining church a lady asked if I'd been inside the hospital and when I said 'no' she told me I really should. I'm so glad I took her advice. The hospital is located within the walls of a former monastery with a beautiful central courtyard garden. It was lovely and I found a black cat grooming itself in the sun, orange trees and olives trees tucked away in the garden.



Then suddenly my battery ran out. I'd checked the battery level before setting out that morning and it was full so I'm not sure what happened and I'd not thought to bring along my spare battery.



I managed to capture these last few images before the battery died completely forcing me to head home. A fitting way to end my time in Rome I thought.



That's my last travel post for now until the itchy feet kick in, so I'll be back again next week with some baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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