Ca’Zen and a Progressive Dinner on board

This afternoon, we took an excursion out into the countryside to visit Tenuta Ca’Zen in the Po River Delta for a tasting of “local products” (cured meats, cheeses, breads, and wines from the estate). Our trip took us on foot through Chioggia (which looked quite different without the weekly market on the main street), on Bragozzi Ulisse across the lagoon, and on country roads to the estate, where we met the owner and heard the story of Lord Byron and his last great love, Teresa Gamba. She even shared his poem to Teresa, Stanzas to the Po.

After we returned to the ship, we had an hour to rest up before the progressive dinner, which took us “backstage” (or maybe I should say “below decks”) and let us see parts of the ship usually off-limits to the passengers, including the galley, the engine room, the laundry, the crew’s area, and the bridge. It’s impressive to see how the work gets done!

One of two generators in the engine room

Engineer, Captain, 2nd Captain, Hotel Manager

Market Morning in Chioggia

The travel books call Chioggia “Little Venice”. The locals point out that Chioggia is much older than Venice and call Venice “Big Chioggia”!

We had a guided walk in Chioggia this morning, with the fish market as the main attraction. Diane and I also explored the weekly market on the main street, but it wasn’t terribly picturesque.

Two different churches with two different bell towers. Locals call the two churches the father and the son because of the sizes of the towers. Oh, and there’s another church 50 meters away.

Memorial sculpture outside the fish market

Birds waiting for the fish market to close

Live crabs (they’re surviving despite invasive Maryland Blue Crabs in the lagoon)

Back to the S. S. La Venezia in time for lunch!

Far too many photos from Torcello, Burano, and Murano

Our day started with a quick boat trip to Torcello – this was a very important center in the middle of the first millennium CE (it’s even been called the mother settlement from which Venice sprang). Today, the permanent population is in the teens, but it’s still a popular spot for tourists, both locals and those coming from far away.

Devil’s Bridge (no handrails, no walls!)

Our main goal today was to visit the piazza, which houses both a “normal” church (Church of Santa Fosca) and a cathedral (Baslica of Santa Maria Assunta) – in most cities, the two are in separate parts of town.

Church of Santa Fosca (Martyr’s Church) – unusually, it is linked to the adjacent Cathedral by a porch instead of being elsewhere in town.

The stone lions are actually originals, unlike many of the ones in Venice. Napoleon had them torn down throughout Venice, but Torcellio was a backwater and they were spared.

15th century meeting room for lay people, not a church. It housed a mutual aid society.

This is the bapistry. People did not get baptized into the church until they were young adults. The circle is a symbol, of course.

The cathedral was the highlight of the visit. Photography is not permitted, but our guide (Susan Steer, one of the founders of Venice in Peril which helps fund the restoration and conservation of the cathedral) quoted her grandmother’s advice to us: “If you can’t be good, be discreet”, and I chose to interpret that as permission to ignore the prohibition. :-) I was not alone.

Conserved walls – you can see the Crucifixion and Saint Cristopher to the right

The End of Days, including the Crucifixion, the Last Trump (possibly not actually shown here), the Revival of the Dead, the Final Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

We left the piazza and walked back to our boat.

A final look at theBaslica of Santa Maria Assunta and its tower (built as separate structures for safety)

Once back in Burano, we had time for a walk, exploration, and shopping before lunch.

Imagine what these houses would look like on a sunny day!

Pisa isn’t the only Italian city with a leaning tower!

A small shrine and sitting area on the street in Burano

After lunch, we boarded a ship to Murano for a glass-blowing demonstration at Ferro & Lazzarini.

Queuing up for the glass-blowing demonstration

After the demonstration, we had the chance to walk through their showroom and admire the products for sale (prices from 20 to 20,000 Euro…with a special 20% discount for us!). Some pieces were practical (cups, including Kiddush cups); some were over-the-top; all were beautiful. Photography was not permitted, and this time, I obeyed.

As soon as we returned from Murano, the ship sailed for Chioggia at the other end of the lagoon. We’re supposed to arrive during dinner and we’re staying there overnight.

Vicenza and Burano

Vicenza is a small town about an hour away from Venice by road; it is famous as the home of Andrea Palladio, who has been called the “father of American Architecture” – not that he ever visited America, but because the Palladian style greatly influenced American architects, including Thomas Jefferson. Monticello, the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, and the White House are all built in Palladian style, featuring strong symmetry and arches surrounded by windows.

Vicenza has nearly two dozen of Palladio’s buildings, including the Teatro Olimpico (the first purpose-built permanent indoor theatre in Europe).

This is a partially finished building by Palladio. They ran out of money and the two families who had commissioned it stopped being friends.

The two figures represent the rivers of Vicenza

We returned to the ship and sailed to Burano, a small island near the northern end of the Lagoon, where we’re docked for the night. We took a short walk to Martina Vidal Lace where we saw one of their life-long lacemakers at work (she was in her 80s), and then had an opportunity to shop. Credit card receipts were generated.

Mandatory Venice, Part 3 (Saint Mark’s Cathedral Basilica)

This evening, we had a special visit to Saint Mark’s Cathedral Basilica, beginning with a short sailing to Saint Mark’s Square.

Church of the Redeemer (built in thanks for the end of a pandemic in the 16th Century)

Our group of about 80 people were the only ones in the Cathedral, giving us time to look around without being hurried or jostled. My photos do not begin to do justice to the beauty of the Cathedral, but I tried.

We were also able to visit the crypt, which is not possible on a regular visit. Our guide explained that Saint Mark’s relics were originally stored in the crypt, but were moved after a flood. There have been several major floods in the crypt in the centuries since then, most recently when a window broke under the pressure of the water.

The cathedral is amazing; I’m glad Uniworld was able to give us the opportunity to see it in peace.