venice, italy

Sometimes you have one plan while traveling around Venice and it can go awry. Sometimes spontaneity comes from following a sign. When a sign that says Vintage Market appears and not much else is around, why not see what’s inside that building? So I followed it and found a grand open courtyard with vendors selling vintage clothes, books, and a smattering of other objects.

I wandered into the courtyard and poked around, eventually finding a bar/restaurant, then returned to the courtyard to sit in the open seating. No one seemed to mind that I was there, and then all of a sudden a band, its members dressed in Carnevale costumes began to play. It was a brass band, lively and joyful, and it took me straight back to visiting New Orleans. Saxophone, trombone, trumpet, a joyous cacophony of sound filled the beautiful courtyard.

After listening for a while, I strolled back out into the streets of Cannaregio in search of lunch: seafood pasta with shrimp and tomato sauce, and some elusive Kinder Bueno dark chocolate bars, which I only managed to find at a single Conad location.

Some of my favorite activities during this trip were actually planned months in advance. I took the vaporetto to Giudecca for a few hours to attend a mask-making workshop. It was taught by an Italian-Argentine artist named Augusto, whose claim to fame includes creating masks for TV shows like Gossip Girland movies such as Fifty Shades of Grey and Spider-Man. We were led into a large brick industrial building, which he explained had once been a brewery.

Augusto explained some history behind masks in Venice, especially during carnevale. He showed us one that a woman wore when she was single and seeking a husband. It was a simple round black mask, and to wear it you had to hold it with your mouth. The woman was made mute by her mask. He showed us a simple technique for mask making, choosing a base for your mask, from the various forms, and another table there were various ornate decorative pieces. I chose a sun and moon for the center, flowers and moons for the sides. I kept the mask design fairly simple actually. They helped us glue the decorative pieces onto the masks, and soon it was ready to be painted with one layer of solid color of paint. I chose purple. Still one of my absolute favorite colors. The first layer I painted was a little streaky but no worries about that issue. Augusto’s assistant helped blow dry the mask quickly and then it was ready for a second layer of paint. I spread the paint as evenly as I could and the second layer was much more even and lovely. I worked on covering the edges with paint as much as possible.

Once the mask was blow-dried again, it was time to add metallic highlights to the mask for more of a dimensional look. They let us choose from metallic silver, copper or gold. With a light hand i brushed on bits of silver onto the tops of the moons and the flowers. I also added some gold to the sun and moon. I was really happy with how my mask turned out.

One night in Venice, I went on a tour about ghosts and crimes, as the sun went down. Our tour guide Giulia told us the stories including one of Marco Polo’s wife who committed suicide by setting fire to the house and throwing herself into the canal below, mafia members controlled Venice for a time and bones of nobles found under the city. It made us look at Venice in the darkness. There were ghostly and superstitious stories, including one about the Rialto bridge. She also talked about the mental hospitals in Venice and common superstitions that Venetians hold. All in all it was a spooky good time. That night, I walked home from Piazza San Marco and every time I walked by a church outside with its white lines on the ground, I now knew the dead had been buried underneath.

Venice is a city made up six sestieres (neighborhoods) of tiny streets and bridges that cross over canals. It’s common to see all kinds of boats. I saw a boat selling fruits and veggies in Dursoduro. I saw the trash boats retrieving trash from bins. I saw men transporting tools and stuff for construction work in boats. On my way to the Arsenale I saw an ambulance boat, near the Ospedale stop for the vaporetto.

Of course there’s also the gondolas. Sinuously shiny and curvy and beautiful. Adorned with accents of red and gold, with seats that look like thrones, fitting for the tourists who are taking their once in a lifetime ride amongst the canals. Gondoliers wearing straw hats trimmed with red ribbons wait on small bridges and also at gondola stands, to beckon tourists for a ride that lasts 30 minutes and costs €90 during the day, €110 during the night. I didn’t expect to ride a gondola during my solo trip. But one day google led me on one of my walks to a traghetto stand, where for the cost of €2 you can be ferried over by gondola across the grand canal. I was picking through my coin purse to drum up enough cash of €2. I must have been short forty cents and a very kind woman from Finland gave me fifty cents. And then we were quickly on boarded into the gondola which swayed from side to side. The ride lasted for only 2 minutes but it was a fun experience and I thanked the woman profusely.

One of the things I really looked forward to was visiting the Fortuny Museum. Tucked away in San Marco, the artist Mariano Fortuny, was originally from Granada, Spain. He was an artist, and also the son of a painter. He was also a fashion designer and photographer among other things. His home in Venice became into a stunning museum. The walls were draped full of textiles, there were lots of photographs of his clothing modeled by his wife and other woman. He clearly loved block printing, etching, collecting objects, he also painted, had tons of books and various objects all displayed. If you like textiles, fashion, photography and decorative items this museum is fantastic.

The other museum I really enjoyed was the glass museum in the island of Murano. It was a very dreary day when I made it out to Murano. The morning rain just wouldn’t quit, so it was really nice to spend my time inside the museum, looking over the colorful glass beads, mosaic portraits, chandeliers, vases and vessels and learning about the different techniques on making glass. I didn’t get to see a glass demonstration on the island. But if I ever visit Venice again, I might stop by and find one. It’s easy enough to take the vaporetto for a trip to Murano and Burano without a guide or private boat.

At first, the vaporetto map of the routes look overwhelming and confusing. It helps to use Google Maps to figure out which line to take and which stop to get to. The signage at the docks is easy to follow and often will estimate when the boats will arrive, just like bus stop predictions. It also never hurts to ask the workers there for confirmation. I liked riding the vaporettos. It’s easy enough to choose a 24 hour pass for the day at a ticket machine and ride as much as you want. I planned to ride for three consecutive days. However, for the most flexibility: just buy a day pass when you plan on going to places like Murano, Burano and Torcello. And note that the island of Giudecca is only accessible by boat. So if you’ve found a hotel there, you’ll need a vaporetto pass all the days you are staying In Giudecca.

I was looking forward to seeing was the Arsenale water show, which happens every year for Carnevale. The Arsenale is an area a bit far away from the rest of the city. I walked quite awhile to get to a vaporetto stop, fighting through the crowds near the Rialto bridge, crossing through where police were controlling the flow of people. It was Saturday night. Everyone was out, awash in the colors of Carnevale, many wearing ornate masks picked up from souvenir shops. People adorned in full glorious costumes were often stopped by others to take selfies with the Basilica and Doges Palace creating a grand stage for carnevale.

I kept walking and walking, the church bells were ringing all at once. A local in front of me sighed loudly. You could tell she was trying to push ahead of the packs of tourists, myself included. I kept walking up and up, as the streets got smaller and darker, it was a lot quieter and somehow I found the vaporetto stop to take me the water show. I had watched a few YouTube clips of past water shows in Venice. So I had an idea of what to expect. It was a beautiful show, full of lights and fire, dancing and acrobatics, flying and a glorious display of athleticism and grace. I resisted the urge to film everything because I always feel like filming just diverts my attention to recording something rather than paying attention to it fully. The show lasted about 45 minutes and ended with the Olympic rings burning, since the theme was echoes of Olympia.

I was glad I saw the show, though next time I’d find a less chaotic walk to the vaporetto and not have google divert me into the busiest areas of Venice. You have to hand it to the vaporetto though. I walked a few minutes to get back to the stop and there it was, headed to Piazzale Roma, which isn’t very far from where I was staying.

To reach the water show in Arsenale, it is more ideal to stay in the sestiere of Cannaregio, which is in the northern part of the island. It’s mainly because the vaporettos go around the edges of the island and through the grand canal. No need to stay near San Marco unless you want to cough up the cash and hang out with all the hordes of other tourists. I stayed in another neighborhood, Santa Croce, which gets closer to Piazzle Roma, where the bus terminal is located. It’s not far from where the line 5 bus from the airport drops off and ends. I wouldn’t stay right by Piazzle Roma because the charm is a little lacking but it’s not bad. Once you move through in less than five minutes you start to see the small and beautiful streets lined with canals and bridges. I stayed in Casa Caburlotto, which turned out to be a former convent. It was very clean, well run and the nuns would serve hotel guests breakfast each morning. I didnt expect a canal view from my window but it was an incredible feature to this otherwise simple room. The single bed was fine, the mattress a little tired and slightly sagging but the linens were very clean and the facilities overall were very good. The cleaning lady would tidy up my room each day and every three days the towels were changed for new ones. The shared bathrooms were spotless and so were the rooms. I never had a problem using the bathrooms when I needed one.

The main thing to note was curfew. The house shuts from 12am-6am so you’d have to be back before 12. They also had a communal area with a fridge and microwave to heat up food. You weren’t allowed to bring back their mugs or plates back to your room, and if I had known this I would have just brought my own travel mug with me to drink tea in my room. I think if you were looking for a more communal hostel vibe, this isn’t it. But for quiet, comfortable enough and extremely clean and reasonable in price, it checks the boxes, especially for hotels in Venice where most everything is at a premium.

Walking distance from the hotel is the neighborhood of Dursoduro, which is home to a university in Venice. And you immediately start to see university students. They are streaming down to the campo, getting take out pizza. I know someone is gonna be like well, you shouldn’t be eating pizza in Venice because it’s not a Venetian specialty. I think it’s ok! I’m not eating pizza and pasta carbonara for every meal. But eating out for several meals each day starts to add up. Pizza is pretty damn cheap especially in areas away from San Marco. You can get a regular sized pizza from 6-8 euros depending on the toppings. I had a potato pizza which admittedly was just a bunch of French fries. It looked like a drunk munchie pizza. But it was good. It was tasty and simple and had flecks of rosemary. I absolutely adore potato pizza. It wasn’t my favorite version of potato pizza (Arizmendi bakery in San Francisco makes an amazing potato pizza) but it was pretty damn good. I went to two highly rated spots for pizza: Pizza 2000 in San Polo and In Volo in Dursoduro. Both seem to be popular with both locals and tourists, offer affordable pizzas by the slice or full pies.

I also stopped by Cannaregio one afternoon after my dreary morning in Murano. I was excited to hang out inside Vino Vero, a wine bar. They had beautiful display of cichetti. I enjoyed filling up on cicchetti which is Venice’s version of tapas. They really do resemble the pintxos of Basque Country. Beautiful little compositions of bites prepared on top of bread. Cichetti in Venice is often made up seafood, slices of ham, it’s all sorts of tasty and creative bites. My first time in Venice was a day trip. I had no clue about what food to try in Venice. I think day trips to Venice is like a teaser, because you need time to get lost, to wander, to learn a bit more of the Venetian history and culture. It is better when you can stay in the island or on a tighter budget, nearby Mestre. Instead of rushing to the next place, the next island, I crossed bridges, I got lost. I soaked in the sights of people in costume. I watched the gondoliers gracefully navigate the canals. I stopped and enjoyed outdoor theater shows in Piazza San Marco and Campo Santa Margherita. It’s a city where over tourism is rampant. But it feels like night and day when you leave San Marco, there are so many much quieter areas all over Venice.

During this trip, I’ll never forget the colorful island of Burano, where the lost art of traditional lace making is most likely romantically tied with fishing. One regret I have is not hiring a guide to show me around Burano. It was fine to walk around, go to the museum, but I think I wanted to learn more. I’m know it’s impossible to see and do everything, and often time and money limits what I could do. Perhaps my next trip to Venice, I’ll take a guided tour inside Doge’s Palace, have a local show me around Burano, visit the Biennale, and devour a seafood platter.

One of the highlights of my time in Venice was creating a Venetian style mask. I felt so calm and relaxed when I was painting that mask, layer by layer, adding those glimmering details of silver and gold. I would love to learn more about Venetian mask making, the process of making a mask from scratch is intriguing. I realized Venice was revealing itself to me layer by layer, through wandering the neighborhoods and slowing down, in the midst of feelings of uncertainty with everything that is going on in the US, working as a freelancer, and trusting in myself to take it slow, wander the streets and see where the wind takes me.

A list of things I saw & experienced in Venice
By no means comprehensive and the *starred ones are my favorites

Museums I visited:
Fortuny Museum*
Glass Museum*
Doge’s Palace
Mocenigo Palace
Lace Museum

Places I ate at:

Venice 
Vino Vero* (excellent and popular wine bar with great cichetti) 
Puppa Bar Venezia* (affordable set menus for pasta or risotto, tiny place, large portions of food, I tried their spaghetti with prawns and tomato sauce which was simple and satisfying.) 
Osteria Leone Alato (tried their Spaghetti Nero Di Seppie which was quite tasty) 
Pizza 2000 (pizza by the slice or whole pies at affordable prices) 
Pizza al Volo* (same good quality as pizza 2000, just located close to a university, so very popular with students) 
Majer* (chain bakery with locations around the city, I enjoyed their pastries and fritelle)

Giudecca: 
La Palanca* (I got to try their Spaghetti alle vongole and it was an amazing highlight to my trip.)

Burano: 
All’ombra (outdoor patio, good cichetti)

Where I stayed: 
Venezia Casa Caburlotto (A hotel run by nuns, has a curfew from 12am-6am, super clean and easy to get to from the airport via Line 5 bus that stops at Piazzale Roma.)

Places I shopped at:
Burano: 
Officina del Sapone (lots of soaps, handmade tote bags from Florence and other goodies)

Venice:
La Vetrinetta di Claudia (handmade venetian masks, some designs included dried flowers) 
Bottega Casati Laboratorio* (gorgeous hand made journals and other gifts)
Kooch* (authentic and contemporary Iranian arts and crafts, truly the real deal) 
Conad (supermarket with various locations)

Experiences I enjoyed:
Mask making workshop at Carta Alta
Venice: Crimes, Legends and Ghost Tour at Sunset
Carnevale Water show in Arsenale