Entries about venice.

Some days ago I did a day trip to Venice. I have been there many times!

Venice is around two hours and half by train from the village where I live.

I have found an itinerary on the web some time ago and I wished to follow it.

Here we go!

Start from piazzale Roma. This is a large square where there is the coach depot in Venice. It is quite near the train station.

Cross the Calatrava bridge. It was designed by the Spanish architect Calatrava.

Head to campo santa Margherita. This square is surrounded by various palaces built from the XVI and the XV centuries.

Saint Pantalon church is worth a visit for its large painting on its walls; the martyrius of saint Pantalon. It is not a fresco, but a painting on canvas. Gian Antonio Fumiani painted it between 1680 and 1704.

The church was re built between 1684 and 1704. Its origins were not certain.

This church is situated just some meters from campo santa Margherita.

This painting is quite dark as you can see.

Make your way to campo san Barnaba.

Follow the signs to saint Mark' s square. It is the only square in Venice. The other squares are called "campi".

Look for the squero di san Trovaso. A squero is a place where gondolas and other boats are repaired or made. The word "squero" comes from"squara"; a tool used to build vessels.

This squero has a Tyrolese look. It dates to the 1600. This is one of the last left. This boatyard is not open to the public.

Stroll to the fondamenta delle Zattere. This is a very long promenade is situated just off the squero di san Trovaso.

Search for the Gallerie dell' Accademia. It' s a large art museum.

Walk to the Accademia bridge and then cross it. This picture was taken from this bridge.

Near the Accademia bridge I spotted a gondola. The gondola is a long narrow black boat you see in some canals in this city. Today it is used for pleasure trips and for weddings.

This kind of boat requires a lot of time to be built. It is 10.85 long and its medium length is around 1.40 meters. It is built with nine kinds of wood.

The average gondola ride lasts forty minutes for a settled price. I think it should be around 80 euros (not per person; per ride). I' ve read you can bargain to get a lower price. After 7 or 8 p. m. it costs more to do a gondola trip.

Head for campo san Stefano.

Walk along the calle on the left side of the church of san Maurizio.

The next stop will be at the theater la Fenice.

Head to the Frezzeria. It is a street.

Try to find the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. It was built in the late XV century. This palace has a beautiful exterior spiral staircase. You can climb to its top and enjoy the landscape over the surrounding areas.

It is located in Saint Marks' area. If you like to go there you have to go to Campo Manin, toward calle della Mandola. You find it near campo san Bortolo.

This is part of a restaurant.

Walk to the Rialto bridge.

The Rialto bridge was originally built on disused boats in 1175. It was substituted by another one made of wood in 1265. It had a movable central section that could be raised to allow the passage of the tallest boats. This was partly burnt in a revolt in 1310 and then rebuilt.

It collapsed in 1444 under the weight of people watching a boat parade during the wedding of the marquis of Ferrara. It collapsed again in 1524.

The current structure of this bridge was built between 1588 and 1591.

This bridge is formed by two inclined ramps with shops on either sides and covered by a portico. It has three walkways.

I spent some time at the Rialto market. It is made of the Erbaria; the fruits and vegetables market and the fish market. This market is located quite near the Rialto bridge.

Here you can find almost every kind of vegetables and fruits. I didn' t visit the fish market when I was here.

I had a simple lunch made of a couple of sandwiches and a spritz (it is alcoholic drink) at the bar "Al Mercà". This is a "hole in the wall" bar where they have a good choice of small sandwiches with cold cuts. They also serve various kinds of wines.

This bar is located near the Rialto market.

Visit saint Mark' s square. It was laid out in the 9th century and enlarged in the 12th century. Irs main sight are saint Mark's basilica, its belltower and the Ducal Palace. There are even some museums, several shops and a couple of expensive cafes at this square.

Originally saint Mark' s basilica was built in 828 to house the remains of saint Mark the evangelist. These were stolen by two Venetian merchants from Alexandria in Egypt.

Much of this church was destroyed in 974 by a fire originated in the Ducal Palace. Later a second church was built.

The church we see today is the result of the transformations made between the XIth and the end of the XIV centuries. It was the ducal chapel until 1807, when it became cathedral.

The church is decorated with mosaics made from the XII to the XIV century. There are mosaics both outside and inside of this worship place.

One of its highlights is the Pala d' Oro. This golden altarpiece is decorated with 2000 gemstones. It is 3 meters wide and 2 meters high and is made of gold and silver. It was made between the X and the XIV centuries.

Inside the basilica you can visit the treasury. It is located behind the main altar.

In saint Mark' s square; beside the basilica there is a tower; the torre dell' orologio. It was built between 1469 and 1499.

I got lost at the arsenal area so I decided not to follow the itineray, but to go to the station.

The arsenal was for a long time the largest shipyard in the world. Here, the ships were built, and also repaired. The first ships were built at the arsenal in the 12th century.

On my way to the train station I spotted this beautiful red palace.

Caorle is a beautiful sea side town situated in the Veneto region.

I usually spent around a week on holidays here when I was a kid. Some years ago I went back to Caorle after a hiatus of around thirty years.

I dicovered a town with more shops, restaurants and cafes.

The old core of Caorle is made of a maze of narrow streets called "calli".

Strolling along several calli; all of a sudden you can find yourself in a small square, or you will discover some nice colourful houses.

There are also two churches in the old core of Caorle; the church delle Grazie and Sain Roque church. In the old core there is a good choice of cafes, restaurants and shops.

In old times, Caorle was crossed by several canals, but later they have been closed except canale Varragio, that now is the harbour you see in the center of this town.

The cathedral in Caorle (duomo) was built around 1038 probably on the remains of a previous church dating from the VIII century.

One of its main sights is the so-called pala d' oro. It is a work made of gold and silver made of six pieces. The oldest of these date to the XIII century. It is a pity it isn' t possible to see it properly, because it is located too far; it is in the apse.

Next to the church there is a cylindrical bell tower; built in 1065. There is also a museum with various religious artefacts near the cathedral.

Caorle has two long beaches. spiaggia di levante (east beach) and spiaggia di ponente (west beach).

There is a small church overlooking the beaches in Caorle. The name of this worship place is chiesa della Madonna dell' Angelo. It was built in 1751, but it is tought it was built originally in 402.

According to a legend; long ago some sailors spotted a statue on a rock floating on the sea. They tried to take it to the beach, but their attempt failed. Then some children succeded.

Every five years; on the second sunday of september, a procession with this statue is held around Caorle.

Since 1992; every two years; probably in june; some sculptors from Italy and from abroad come to Caorle to enter a contest called Scogliera Viva. They choose a big stone on the beach and create their masterpiece that will live forever.

The result of this contest is practically a beautiful and quite large sculpture museum in the open air.

You can see these sculptures near the church (chiesa della Madonna) on spiaggia (beach) di Ponente.

One day I took a 2.30 hours boat trip from the harbour in Caorle. I could enjoy the sea, part of Caorle and some beaches from afar. A short visit at the "casoni" (20 minutes) is included in this trip.

The casoni are big huts used as temporary homes for fishermen. There are lot of them at the Caorle lagoon. The first ones were built centuries ago.

They are made of a room with a table, chairs, stove and everything people need to live in that area. Today these huts are still used by several fishermen.

You can visit some casoni inside only if you take a boat trip.

La Luna nel Pozzo is a free of charge festival of "street art" which takes place every year at the beginning of september. It lasts for some days.

Lots of artists from Italy and from various European countries (even from other continents) come to perform in various squares of Caorle. So you can enjoy some shows of acrobats, dancers, musicians, singers, clowns and other kinds of artists.

If you miss some performance you will have the opportunity to watch it later on. The same shows are repeated for two or three times the same day or the next ones.

I booked a double room for a week at hotel Firenze; full board. This was quite small, but ok for a single traveller. It had a bathroom en suite with shower. This hadn' t a base to contain the fallen water. So that the bathroom almost flooded every time I used it.

This hotel has a communal room with a large screen television and a small cafe with a terrace.

The buffet at breakfast consisted of bread, pastries, jam, cold cuts, cheese et al. There is a machine to get hot drinks as coffee and cappuccino. At dinner you have to choose your meal the day before, but you have a choice of several dishes. The food at this hotel was very good.

Hotel Firenze is a medium sized hotel located some 500 meters from the center of Caorle.

It is possible to go to Caorle from Mestre (a city near Venice) by coach. Don' t forget to ask the driver if the coach goes directly to Caorle or if you have to change bus somewhere.

Just a warning; the bus station in Caorle is quite far from the town center. A taxi would be useful if you have problems to walk for a long time or whether you have a heavy luggage.