Great food and wine, wonderful city
by garcom01
Sitting on the side of the grand Canal, having a glass of wine, watching people. As I was walking back to the hotel one evening, about 10, I heard some music comming from down a side calle. I followed it to a little canal with a small bar. There were many people outside, as a band was playing old american rock, I sayed there for about 2 hours listening to the music and talking to actual venitians, not tourists. I only wish i remembered the name of the bar. It was on the ferrovia side of the Grand canal, heading towards the Rialto, and the side calle was on the left, after an old church {I know, not much help}
Visit the nice stores around...
by Patricialuv
Visit the nice stores around it. If you only have one or two days to visit Venice, don't get stuck in a gondola all day! Try and walk all around Venice and you'll enjoy a whole new side of it.
You will pass by the Bridge of Sighs, and in order to see the 'Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute', you will pass by the Academic bridge, made of wood.
RIALTO BRIDGE
by Andrew_Liu
The most famous bridge in three bridges of great canal. built in 16 century, a marble arch bridge. Many stores on it, but build at the centre of bridge: diffrent from the Old Bridge of Florence.
There is an open air restaurant at the west end of bridge. People are coming and going in great number and I was walking among them.
Walking a lot is definetly...
by Patricialuv
Walking a lot is definetly something you're going to have to do when you are in Venice, unless you decide to ride on gondolas for the entire day.
I do recommend long walks because you get to see what Venice is really like. I liked it a lot and even though I went in the middle of a hot summer day, there was a cool breeze that Rome nor Florence had. It was a very pleasant day for me. I loved it.
Master Artisan Unique to Venice
by tpal
This is Saverio Pastor and he is a master. He is the sculptor of an essential component necessary for the propulsion and maneuverability of a gondola...the fòrcola. Its purpose is to provide a fulcrum point for the oar. I had first heard of fòrcole while watching a Public Broadcasting Corporation program staring Nathan Lane in which he toured Venice's Grand Canal as a Main Street. During the program he visited a fòrcola workshop and I was hooked.
The fòrcola is carved from a single piece of walnut or cherry wood into a wide variety of shapes and sizes. As Saverio explained, the different shapes depended on the intended use and the type of gondola. Some fòrcole had two or three oar positions (see photo) which in effect acted as sort of gear changes for racing boats. The fòrcola which Saverio is working on in the photo is intended for a wedding gondola which Carol and I thought was romantically appropriate for us and...what we could afford.
The process of ordering one of these unique art works takes a bit of faith. Saverio writes your name and email in his notebook and explains it will take about three months at which time he will send wire transfer info because no, he does not take Visa. Then you go home and wait. Eventually, three months later I received an email which said, "I am ready" with his bank numbers listed. On faith I wired the money and lo one week later FedEx delivered our very own fòrcola. Perfect and fantastic!
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The Rialto Bridge, Venice
Doge's Palace
Vaporetto cruising to its next stop
Bright coloured wellies
