Venice, Italy – My goal for Wednesday was to visit every single glass shop in Murano; and I think I accomplished it! I took the vaporetto from Lido to Fondamente Nove, 4 or 5 stops away at just a little past 11 a.m. I sat next to a sweet older Italian woman who was fanning herself with an ordinary paper fan sold by every vendor in the Lagoon. I motioned to her how nice it was for me to be benefitting from her fanning as well and she laughed and continued speaking to me in Italian. I told her that I didn’t speak Italian (in Italian) and asked about the correct stop to transfer to Murano. She made sure that I didn’t get off the boat too soon and told me when we’d arrived at Fondamente Nove as she was going to the same boat. It was as if I’d had my own personal Italian guardian angel watching over me during the 20-minute trip across the Lagoon.
I transferred easily to the Murano vaporetto. The first stop was at St. Michele Isola (Cemetery Island) and I thought that perhaps I would visit there on the way back to Lido. I left the boat at the first Murano stop (I believe there are four stops in Murano). I didn’t realize how big Murano is, but I thought it would be simple to walk anywhere I wanted to go. There is a lot of Murano to see and there are tons of little glass shops. At 1:30, I stopped to eat my packed lunch in the little outdoor courtyard cafe area and was surprised at how the time had flown. I had hoped to find the two famous churches in Murano – the Church of San Pietro Martire which holds a little museum with a roomful of relics (i.e. “pieces”) of saints) on the second floor, and the church of Santa Maria e Donato where in 1125 the body of Bishop Donato D’Evorea was brought here from Cefalonia, Greece along with the remains of the the dragon he killed. And by the way, the church is known also for its mosaic floors which are said to rival those of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. (Historical notes from: Mazzega Venice Guidebook).
The visits to the shops featured highs and lows: one high occurred in a little shop where the shopkeeper greeted me (as every shopkeeper had done) in Italian and I responded in Italian as well. And then she asked me, in Italian, if I spoke English and I responded in Italian that I spoke English and only a little Italian. And then she replied in English that my Italian was very good. I almost fainted from surprise. She repeated her compliment several times and I told her (in English) that she’d made my day. That was so sweet of her to say, but I had not spoken anything other than the most ordinary of pleasantries to her.
My feelings of confidence were short-lived and were followed immediately by a “low”! I entered a shop just a few doors down and saw a handwritten sign advertising: Clocks Venice, with the original price crossed out replaced by the discount price of 12 euros. Now I had been looking at little murano-style clocks priced at 24 or 28 euros and up (way up!), so this seemed like a really good price to me. So using the Italian word for where (dov e) while pointing to the sign, I indicated to the shopkeeper that I’d like to see the clocks on sale using “dov e” for “where”, and “vorrei” for “I wish”. she got so frustrated with my repeating this over and over again that she finally threw up her hands and said “that’s the price, that’s what it is” in English and walked away from me in a huff. I never did see the clocks on sale. In relating this story later on that same night to my friends, I finally concluded that this particular shopkeeper did not speak good Italian! I am still bewildered by what she thought I was saying or by what that sign really meant.
It was very humid on this day and I found myself crisscrossing Murano several times and even recognized that I’d entered the same shop more than once and I even came to the church of San Martire twice. I also learned that Murano even has its very own Grand Canal, and I walked over that bridge in addition to many other bridges. I was hoping to find the Santa Maria e Donato Church by 4 p.m. – and that I would find it to be open – and at about 3: 55, I was successful (this find fulfilled two “highs” with one stop!) The Bishop’s body is encased in glass above the altar but observers cannot get quite close enough to see the dragon’s bones. But it was a thrill to have found this beautiful, historic site.
Jim and I met for dinner at the Roxy Ristorante and Bar and had a really nice meal. I ordered Pizza Stagione, not realizing what that actually meant until the food arrived. I knew the pizza would have mushrooms, cheese, ham and artichokes but I hadn’t realized it would be prepared as four separated toppings. Of course – “stagioni” = “stages” or sections! It was delicious. The cost was 7.50 euros plus a 2 euro cover charge for me. We shared a half-carafe of wine for 6 euros. Jim decided to order the Tourist Menu (which Rick
Steves advises against but which turned out to be the bargain of the evening here at the Roxy). For this 18 euros menu, Jim’s cover charge was waived. Bread was included and we requested seconds which were supplied at no extra charge. The first dish served was seafood pasta with tomato sauce, followed by a fish fillet and steamed vegetables (squash and carrots). His dinner was well worth the price. He shared some of my pizza and we still had 2 slices leftover to “take away”.
Our friends Patrizia and Daniele met me out on the street at the apartment and we walked down to the Gran Viale for gelato. They ordered a sampler of 6 scoops of gelato which we brought back to the apartment to share with Jim over glasses of limoncello.
I told the friends of my adventures in Murano and how excited I was to have found the Church with the bones of San Donato and the dragon. They confessed that they had never heard of this legend. They are both native Venetians. Then Daniela had a story of her own to tell us. Apparently there is a theory (and a book) that puts forth the idea that the bones of Alexander the Great are interred in the St. Marco basilica in Venice along with the remains of St. Mark himself. Or instead of St. Mark himself. But the Venetian authorities will not give permission to do DNA testing. and why would they? – the remains could wind up being neither St. Mark’s nor Alexander’s!! But this way, the speculation will keep the pilgrimages to Venice going on forever and ever! Fascinating. The friends visited until after 11 p.m. and asked us about Trump as Italians are quite puzzled by him. We confessed that a lot of Americans are puzzled as well. We remarked upon all the distressing news that has claimed the headlines every single day since we’ve been in Italy. But I must say that Venetians have been extremely welcoming and gracious to us as Americans everywhere we have gone.
On Thursday we decided to take a chance on going back up the Grand Canal today to try to see the Natural History Museum at the Turkish Embassy. We took the vaporetto and enjoyed a relaxed cruise past all the beautiful historic buildings: the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Square, the Customs House, Madonna dell Salute Church, the Hotel Monaco, the bridge at L’accademia, and of course we passed once again under the Rialto bridge, and on past the Hotel Segredo with Lorenzo Quinn’s sculptured hands. I was able to observe within the church the icon of the Black Madonna and Child (12th-century Byzantine) and the red tiles which form a rose in the Center of the beautiful mosaic floor. (Historical notes are from Rick Steves’ Venice 2013).
I managed to find my friend’s bead shop right next to the Peggy Guggenheim museum without making one wrong turn. Then I continued on for an evening stroll across the L’accademia Bridge, winding up at the vaporetto stop at San Marco Valleresso, reaching Lido by 6 pm.
I love going to the little grocery store here. And I’m getting really good at estimating the total bill in euros. Tonight I estimated 30 euros; actual bill, 27 euros. For dinner I planned to prepare tortellini and tomato sauce but I think I bought the wrong kind of sauce. (The jar said it contained tomato sauce and cheese but I think I’d made this mistake once before with assuming it was spaghetti sauce). No matter; I simply “doctored” the sauce.
Lido Tortellini – Ingredients: 2 small jars (10 – 12 ounces) Bistro Buon Gusto sauce with tomatoes and cheese, 4 small tomatoes, cut-up, 1/2 red pepper, cut up,1/2 to 1 cup red wine, 1 1-lb. package fresh prepared tortellini with bologna, cooked according to package directions (ready in 4 minutes!) Directions: I heated the sauce with the cut-up tomatoes and red pepper and the generous pour of red wine. I stirred in the cooked tortellini, stirred everything up and then spooned it all into a large serving bowl. Then I topped everything off with some chunks of bufala mozzarella cheese and freshly-snipped basil leaves (from the plant I’d bought at the mercatino) and Jim pronounced this creation to be every bit as good as the seafood pasta he’d eaten at the Roxy Ristorante the night before.
We look forward to Friday’s adventures as we come to the end of our second week in Venezia!