Venezia
It was a long day - eight hours motorsailing across the Golfo de Veneza on the edge of thunderstorms, then another two looking around the Laguna di Veneta for an anchorage near Chioggia so we could check in. But it was all too hard. It was late in the day on a Friday, no one we asked knew where the Border Police were located and it was difficult to determine where to anchor in the large, muddy, shallow laguna. The channels are marked with wooden poles, which seem to be haphazardly placed and, is it safe to anchor on the other side? And was it permissible to tie up somewhere along the 11 kilometre Pellestrina wall? We never found out, but it was fun looking; the long sandy Pellestrina spit is a continuous fishing village with brightly coloured houses, a visual treat in the evening light. We played it safe and anchored outside the laguna near one of the three entrances, planning on heading up to Venezia the next day to check in.
We woke in the morning to the news that we had been burgled back in our New Zealand home, not a great feeling, but determined not to let this spoil our time in Venezia we weighed anchor and headed up the coast, admiring the the MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico) flood gates being constructed at each of the three entrances to the lagoon. Designed to rise up and close off the entrances at aqua alta high tides, we remarked how the Italians never fail to impress with their sense of design, even these industrial buildings were visual treats. Sadly I didn’t manage to get a good photo.
Again, it proved very difficult to determine if we were permitted, and if so where, to anchor near Venezia so we took the safe option and treated ourselves to a marina stay on nearly island Certosa for three nights, there was so much to do and see and we justified the cost by reminding ourselves that the last time we stayed overnight in a marina was in Corsica 2018 to go hiking and avoid a storm. Certosa is a terrific location, the main island of Rialto, of which Venezia is the capital, is only a five minute tender ride across, but again, the hardest part finding somewhere to tie up; tucked away under Ponte di Quintavale worked well for us. The light in the canals and the old buildings are a photographer’s dream, it’s awfully hard to take a bad photo. First night pizza from Nevodi Pizzalab on Via Giuseppe Garibaldi was delicious – our first takeaway on NOETA ever!
The Border Police are located on the NW side of Rialto, so we decided to take the 4.2 ferry. Stopping at Certosa it’s an hour ride around to Piazzale Roma where we could check in and then wander back across the island to busy Piazzo San Marco, stopping for a 30 minute gondola ride along the way. The 4.1 ferry took us back to Certosa. Ferries stop at 2000 and some canals also close to recreational traffic at that time so eating out on Rialto is tricky – hence our takeaway on the first night and dining at the one restaurant on Certosa on the second night. Located near the marina, it has good food, was not too expensive, and the views across the water were magnificent, pity about the mosquitos..
Murano is a must and was an easy ten minute tender ride, albeit bumpy with boat wakes everywhere. Exercising our sneaky tie up superpowers we found a spot tucked under a bridge and spent the morning wandering past a stream of glass shops all selling the same tourist ware, the factory shops and the Glass Museum were the best, the Tony Cragg Silicon Dioxide exhibition superb. Back across to Rialto and the police to check out, we spent our last afternoon navigating the maze of canal streets, avoiding the prohibited Grand Canal and observing locals just going about their everyday business while absorbing the magic of this living floating city. I had hoped to end the day (and our visit) with a wander through the Giardini della Biennale. Sadly, I hadn’t done my homework and the Biennale was closed. Very disappointing but at least we had seen some stunning installations in our two days of wandering around the city - modern grandeur at its best. Our last night we dined on NOETA, marvelling at the setting sun and swooping swallows against the backdrop of Rialto from our marina berth, beautiful.
I had never fully appreciated Venezia up until now – the light, the water, the buildings, the history. Driven from the mainland in 5th and 6th century AD, refugees from the Germanic and Hun invasions, the early Venetians drove closely spaced wooden piles into the lagoon, placed limestone platforms on top and built a city. Russian writer, Alexander Herzen said “To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius.” I concur.