An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Skipped breakfast at the hotel entirely and set off to see what we could find on the street. We were not disappointed. We began with a delicious Italian yodel and a freshly baked custard-filled cruller. Then we stopped in another bakery and picked up some crostini of all different flavors and a mini-pizza that turned out to have the lightest, fluffiest dough. Then we strolled through the bustling fish and produce market and bought and ate a basket of juicy blackberries. Now, that’s breakfast!
We crossed the over-commercialized Ponte Rialto and ambled toward the embarkation point for boats to the nearby islands. We had evidently just missed one, so we had to wait about 35 minutes or so with quite the chilly breeze coming off the water. Rode the boat for about 40 minutes to Torcello, Italy, a nice little island that was actually the first settlement - in the 5th century - of what later became the Venetians; now, it has about 26 year-round residents.
We lunched at the Locanda (Inn) Cipriani, a sometimes haunt of the rich and famous. We began with the grilled vegetables and a darn good’n'hearty pasta fagiole. Pastas were a meat canoloni and spinach ravioli, both of which were pefection. Entrees were a grilled chicken salad (which they couldn’t quite grasp the concept of, so we had to order the grilled chicken and a separate salad and combine the two ourselves) and a baked John Dorry (fish) with a tomato and herb sauce. Again, both were wonderfully flavorful. We also really enjoyed the Friuli Chardonnay we had with it all. We then got the lowdown on the whole Cipriani story from the headwaiter who turned out to be Guiseppe Cipriani’s grandson. Definitely a memorable meal, but we kind of missed the small local-place feeling we’ve come to seek out.
We walked around the church and related buildings (which are about all that remain on the island) that were constructed around 1,000 years ago and are fascinating. The smaller church (which was quite small, especially by Italian standards) was remarkably tranquil, with its soothing, light-colored brick interior and high ceilings. The larger structure had some really interesting mosaics, including one large wall that contained practically the entire new testament in various symbolic images, as the acoustaguide told us. (it was also the only acoustaguide we’d ever listened to where the narrator kept clearing her throat) It also contained a rare representation of the anti-christ, sitting in the lap of Hades, though he was looking disappointingly mundane.
We then took the boat to Burano, Italy, another nearby island. It’s known primarily for its fishing, and for the fact that the houses are all painted in a variety of bright colors - red, olive, mustard, purple, cobalt, etc. Quite the quaint and charming place, with only a minimal of overdone tourist aspect to it.
We waited for the slightly later boat back, since it stopped at a few additional islands and would give us a more scenic ride. Unfortunately, it also gave us a much longer ride and we didn’t return to Venice until after 7. We then did a good job of low-key espionage, as we prowled the 5-star Danielli hotel in search of their bathrooms. We ended up in their conference room area which was perfect, as the restrooms were very nice, and were deserted. We then sat in their beautiful Venetian bar enjoying some cocktails and a piano player who sounded somewhere between Harry Connick and Bill Murray.
We finished our drinks and their Herald Tribune, so we hopped aboard a vaporetto and returned to our little hotel for the evening.