Klug Cruise 2014 - Venice, Italy

Early in the morning of the 19th we got up, dressed, and out on deck to watch as we arrived into Venice. Since we had a port side cabin we would not be able to watch. Captain Palmieri told us what time to get up and to go to the front of the observation deck for the best views. The sun was barely up when we got up on deck. We sailed through slowly and finally saw St Mark's bell tower and the top of San Giorgio. The sun cast the golden colors upon the white marble surfaces and it was truly beautiful to watch. We passed by St Mark's and the Doge's Palace, then turned left and went down the Guidecca Canal towards the port terminal.

Since the Silver Wind is a small ship, we docked at Terminal San Basilio. What a great base location! We easily walked along the canal to Santa Maria del Rosario church, turned left, crossed the Accademia Bridge and strolled to Campo Santo Stefano where we discovered Le Venezia Cafe. After a cappuccino we headed down the side street next to the cafe towards St Mark's. Wandering through narrow streets and crossing bridges over canals we finally entered St Mark's square. OMG the piazza was extraordinary. Our only disappointment is that the basilica is under renovation on the exterior so we did not have the full view of the basilica. We worked our way through and over to the piazetta to the Grand Canal and the columns of Santo Theodore and the Lion of Venice guarding the entrance to the piazza.

We toured the Doge's Palace and admired the many chamber rooms, paintings and artifacts throughout. I wish we could have taken pictures, but as with quite a few museums it was not permitted. We walked across the Bridge of Sighs and saw the "new prisons". The Bridge was built in 1614, so new is definately a relative term. Actually the prison cells had been in the Doge's Palace, but according to what we have read, there were more prisoners than they had cells for in the palace! While we were on the Bridge I took some pictures looking through the openings - one looking out to the Grand Canal and one looking inside.

Next we walked through St Mark's Basilica, just the main apse and interior, and admired the mosaics. Perhaps next time we will take the tour where we can see the horses and more of the treasures of the basilica.

Strolling through the Orologio Tower we made our way through more narrow streets to the Rialto Bridge. We crossed over and being hungry we found a sidewalk cafe by the canal and enjoyed a pizza. Very tourist like! Pizza next to the Grand Canal by the Rialto Bridge - Check!

Back to the ship in the late afternoon we relaxed at the Pool Bar and prepared for dinner. Dinner this evening was by invitation for those passengers, like us, who were "In Transit". We were on "Back to Back" cruises. The dinner was hosted by Colin and Samantha. The menu was fanastic - Seared Foie Gras, Lobster Linguine, Beef Tenderloin with Tiger Prawns, and dessert. Italian wines accompanied our meals. We had an wonderful time and enjoyed visiting with everyone.

Having an overnight in port is very enjoyable. You can really relax and spend as much time out in the port as you want. We saw many couples spending the evening in Venice.

The next morning (20 May) we went to Murano and Burano Islands with the ship's tour. We met David and Lynn, Juan and Marisella, and Tom and Anna on the tour. Little did we know at that initial meeting that David and Lynn would become such great friends!

The tour guide took us by private water bus over to Murano first. It took about 30 minutes to get to the island and we docked right at the glass factory we visited - Ferro and Lazzarini. We enjoyed a demonstration of how they produce various glass art work - vases, sculptures, etc. and then took us to their showroom. Many of their items are extraordinary, but we did not see anything that made us feel we had to spend for a treasure. We wandered out and down the walk we found a small independent glass blower. He had some beautiful work and we finally purchased a small fish and a vase of flowers for our collection of treasures.

On to Burano and lace! The island is very quaint and clean, full of small lace shops. A lace demonstration at one shop and then we wandered to a cafe for a cappuccino.

After a few purchases we left the island and the tour concluded back at the terminal. We spent some time on the ship and then headed back out to Venice. We made our way back to the Le Venezia for an early dinner. Our meals were excellent - Pasta Alla Carbonara and Chicken Parmigiana - the best we've ever eaten!!! This cafe is on our list of "We Must Return" whenever we are back in Venice (hopefully next year if the plan stays intact).

We returned to the ship and later met up with our new friends and began to get to know each other. Lots of laughter and then we watched the sail away at 11 pm. Venice was lit up and sparkled in the dark. Unfortunately neither of us shot good night photos, so there are only a couple we can share. Have to learn so we can do better! Off to bed and the next port - Koper, Slovenia.


Sun coming up and moon in the sky	First site of Venice

Our escort	St Mark's in the distance

Forte di Sant Andrea	Canal

Golden light of sunrise on Santo Giorgio	View with both canals

Passing St Mark's and the Doge's Palace	Bridge of Sighs

Canal	Santo Giorgio from Guidecca Canal

Santa Maria del Rosario	View of a Leaning Tower

Santo Giorgio	Two Turkish Frigates docked near us

View of the Grand Canal from the Accademia Bridge	Randy on the bridge

Campo Santo Stefano	View from our table at Le Venezia Cafe in Campo Santo Stefano

Walking through the streets	Heading towards St Mark's

St Mark's Basilica	Full view of the square

St Mark's Bell Tower	Gondolas on the canal

Piazetta San Marco	Lion of Venice column

Carey	Randy

Santo Theodore column	Doge's Palace

Detail view of the brick work	Randy with an ancient gondola at Doge's Palace

Doge's Chapel and Giant's Staircase	Giant's Staircase

Looking out from the Bridge of Sighs toward the interior	Looking out at the Grand Canal

Bridge of Sighs viewed from inside the Doge's Palace	Torre della Orologio

View from the Rialto Bridge	Rialto Bridge

The Leaning Tower	Silver Wind - putting up the flags

Turkish Frigate hoisted their flags!	A Venetian Taxi

View of St Marks and Doge's Palace from the taxi	Ferro & Lazzarini Glass Factory on Murano

Glass blower at work	Several pieces in progress

A vase	Burano

Lace Demonstration	Burano center of town

Le Venezia Cafe - center	Sculpture outside the port terminal

Leaving Venice	Santo Giorgio at night

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Pre-cruise Posts

Venice (English /ˈvɛnɪs/; Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsia] alternative obsolete form: Vinegia; Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]; Latin: Venetia) is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.

Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), with a total population of 1,600,000. PATREVE is only a statistical metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy.

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city historically was the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini described it in The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. (From Wikipedia)

From Silversea website: It's called La Serenissima, "the most serene," a reference to the majesty, wisdom, and immense power of this city that was for centuries the mistress of trade between Europe and the Orient. Built largely on water by men who both defied and loved the sea, Venice is unlike any other town. No matter how many times you've seen it in movies or on TV, the real thing is more startlingly beautiful than you could ever imagine. Its landmarks, the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, are exotic mixes of Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance styles. Shimmering sunlight and silvery mist soften every perspective here, and you understand how the city became renowned in the Renaissance for its artists' rendering of color. It's full of secrets, inexpressibly romantic, and at times given over to pleasure.

Google Earth Image Capture

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What We Plan to See:

Venice - Romance, history, culture, a beautiful city. We've always wanted to visit this city together and we finally have the opportunity.

In our new itinerary we will arrive in Venice on 19 May which "ends" the first part of our cruise and "starts" the second part of our cruise. We will have two full days in Venice with the Silver Wind being our hotel! Since this will be in the middle of our trip we won't be as tired from traveling from home and should be in full swing to really enjoy our time.

St Mark's Basilica and Square is a short water taxi ride from the cruise terminal. While we don't have official plans made yet, we do know that we want to visit the Basilica, Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs, and the Rialto Bridge as a minimum. Maybe we will even have time to go to the island of Murano where they make the glass? I do know that amongst our touring we will enjoy some wonderful wine, great meals, exciting days and beautiful evenings!

Even though we will not be staying in the Luna Hotel Baglioni, we will still go visit the famous Harry's Bar