Festa del Redentore......
We went for lunch today at the trattoria downstairs, Trattoria da Marisa! It was very busy down there last night, mainly with locals which is always a good sign so we decided to try their set lunch (pranza) menu. It was so good and cheap too! Two courses - primi and secondi - see I am becoming more Italian by the minute...hahah! You had a choice of pastas for primi... Ours was delicious with a creamy pepper sauce and then for the secondi a choice of steak, pork chop, chicken or roast pork. We chose the roast pork, also delicious. For €15 our meal also included a carafe of red wine, bottled water and coffee. Such good food for such a good price we thought we would go there again one day before we leave.
We then went to get our tickets for the vaporetto to use for the next few days. Very good deal for tourists with a ticket for 72 hours costing only €35. So we can get about as much as we like for the next three days on any line we choose. Much cheaper than taxis and also easier on the feet.... We have walked soooo much on this trip. Feet need a bit of a break!
Tonight is the Festa del Redentore, and Venice is alive with both locals and tourists. There are gondoliers everywhere. And the vaporettos are packed almost every time. People going everywhere. And so many boats on the canals weaving in and out of each others way.... Amazing that there are no accidents really!! Gondolas just weaving in between the bigger boats without a care. Such a sight! Redentore is a festa from medieval times celebrating the finish of the great plague in Venice in 1576 which had killed more than a third of the population. A new church was built called Redentore meaning redemption to celebrate the end of the plague and from then on every year a huge festa was held in its honour. Today almost everyone with a boat goes out into the lagoon until the lagoon is packed with boats. And then just before midnight they have fireworks.
During the day we rode around on the vaporetto and saw much of the grande canal and also went over to the lido. Then we came back to Piazza San Marco which was packed by then. Everyone was getting a spot for the fireworks display. We had a drink at a bar and then went down and found a spot for ourselves near the lagoon. By 11.30pm the place was absolutely packed. And then the fireworks began!! Wow!!! Best I have ever seen!! And longest.. They went for 45 minutes!!! Just amazing!!
When they had finished we went back to the vaporetto station to try to get a vaporetto home. From there we could see the amazing spectacle of thousands of boats heading home at once from the middle of the lagoon. In the dark! Many without lights and driving as fast as they can! Weaving in and out and just dodging one another. Even better than the fireworks! Boats going everywhere. Kept us entertained for at least half an hour but then we and everyone else suddenly realised that no vaporettos were running. We stood at the stop with heaps of other people for quite a while before someone said that they will not be running and we need to walk to Rialto to get them. So after another long walk we finally arrived there and got home about 3 am!!