Summer is over and we got the travel bug again. We decided to have a more relaxing vacation this time around. We're going on a Mediterranean Cruise with a few days beforehand to explore Venice and the surrounding area.

Venice - we've been here before but it is a city of stunning architecture, mysterious passageways, and of course, the canals all of which are begging to be explored. Venice is one of the most alluring cities in the world and we can't wait to get lost in it again (which is not difficult to do)!

First some Venice facts:
- Venice is shaped like a fish. Really - look at a map of Venice!
- It's major thoroughfares are canals.
- The Gand Canal winds through the middle of the fish, starting at the mouth where all the people and food enter, passing under the Rialto Bridge,a nd ending at St. Mark's Square (piazza San Marco).
- There a re no cars in Venice.
- There are no major streets, and addresses are hopelessly confusing. If you ask for directions the locals pick a landmark and then give you the turns from there referencing no streets. Most streets do not have names but there are signs pointing the direction of the nearest major landmark.
- There are 6 districts: San Marco (the most touristy), Castello (behind San Marco), San Polo (other side of the Rialto), Santa Croce (the "eye" of the fish, east of the train station), and Dorsoduro (the belly of the fish and southernmost district of the city). Each district has about 6,000 address numbers.
- The population of Venice is around 260,000.

History of Venice:
Venice was founded in the 5th century when the Veneti, inhabitants of the mainland region (roughly corresponding to today's lower Veneto) fled their homes to escape the invading Lombards. The city was built on islands in the lagoon atop wooden posts driven into the marshes. After liberating the Adriatic Sea from marauding pirates, it's early fortunes grew as a result of its active role in the Crusades, beginning in 1095 and culminating in the Venetian-led sacking of Constantinople in 1204 The defeat of rival Genoa in the Battle of Chioggia in 138 established Venice as the dominant sea power in Europe.
As early as the 7th century Venice was governed by a participatory democracy with a ruler, the doge, elected to a lifetime term. IN the 12th century the dog's power diminished due to councils, commissions and magistrates.
Venice reached the pinnacle of its wealth and expansion in the early 15th century, when its domain included all of the Veneto region and part of Lombardy, but declined with the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453.
At the beginning of the 6th century, the pope, threatened by Venice's mainland expansion, organized the League of Cambrai and defeated Venice in 1505. The Ottoman Empire blocked Venice's Mediterranean trade routes and new powers such as Britain and the Netherlands ended Venice's monopoly by opening oceanic trading routes.
When Napoleon arrived in 1797, he took the city without a fight, gave it briefly to the Austrians and then got it back in 1805. When Napoleon was defeated Venice was again ceded to Austria in 1805 where they ruled until 1848 when the Venetians rebelled. But the rebellion was defeated the following year and Venice remained in Austrian hands until the formation of the Italian Republic in 1866.


Now for some fundamental Venetian, which is one of the few places in Italy where the dialect is still in use. "Sestiere" refers to on of the 6 districts. "Rio" is a canal. Only the Grand Canal and a few other major waterways are called "canali". "Fondamenta" is a quay or a street running along a "rio". Calle is a street. Everywhere else in Italy a street is referred to as "via". In Venice, "via" means boulevard. "Campo" means a square which everywhere else in Italy is called a piazza. The only piazza in Venice is San Marco. Now for some really important words: "Bacaro" is a traditional wine bar. "Cicheto" (pronounced chee-kay-toh) is an hors d'oeuvre, like tapas. These are generally served at a bacaro and some cafes. "Ombra" is a small glass of wine. Small!!! I won't be needing that word! "amore" (love) is used to address others regardless of gender.

We arrived in Venice on Sunday. We had to catch our connecting flight to Venice at 9:40 am from Brussels and arrived in Venice at 11:30 am. The flight was delayed due to bad weather in Venice - thunderstorms and heavy rain. Yikes! This was not what we were hoping for. As we were descending into Venice we saw a beautiful rainbow over the city. I took this as a good omen. Sure enough when we disembarked the plane it was sunny and warm - like 16 degrees! Yeah! The rainbow was good karma.

We got a bus from the airport to Piazzale Roma and from there made our way to our hotel in the Santo Croce sestiere, got settled and then went out to walk around and take in the beautiful Grand Canal and rios and, of course, grab a few ombra at a bacaro.

We walked the entire afternoon, all the way from the hotel to the Rialto Bridge and on to Piazza San Marco. There are signs saying what square you're in. For instance, the San Polo Piazza sign shows as "Piazza S. Polo". Vic looks at it and proudly announces that we are in Spolo Square!! I must say I got a good laugh at that.

We wound sour way through the passageways and when we finally arrived in "Smarco Square" I forgot how unbelievably beautiful and historic this place is. We walked into it and suddenly we were in a huge clear space and it took my breath away. St Marks Basilica, the Clock Tower, the Doges Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, and all the historic, architecturally beautiful buildings housing cafes and stores with statues interspersed all around was overwhelming.....again. At the moment the water is high and they install flood walkways so people can walk in the square and not get wet. It's quite a sight. I was chuckling to myself thinking about how many people must topple into the water off these walkways in busy times. I know, I'm probably going to hell but I had fun imagining it anyhow. We saw a lovely sunset and then made our way back to our hotel to get ready
for dinner.

The hotel suggested a nice place that actually had good inexpensive food. We got a porta via bottle of wine (house wine to go) and we came back to the room for some much needed shut eye.

I worked on the blog and then called it a night. I want to enjoy tomorrow when we go to the islands of the lagoon - Murano and Burano and maybe even Torcello.