Day 2 - The Venetian lagoon

The expensive prices in Venice are largely explained by the logistical nightmare it is to make deliveries to shops, hotels and restaurants. Just before the Piazalle Roma are the warehouses located where all the trucks with goods for Venice have to unload their merchandise. The Piazalle is also the end point of motorized traffic. From these warehouses the goods continue their way by small boats to the final destination in Venice. Of course, only limited items can be loaded into these boats, so a delivery often has to be completed in multiple times.

At 9 am it is already very busy at the Rialto market. There are the traditional fruit and vegetable stalls but also the fantastic fish market, the pride of Venice. I walk around a bit and my eye catches the Venetian mask stall. Tomorrow is the official start of carnival and I have to adjust to the whole atmosphere. As always, I can't choose and my eye falls on the most expensive masks, so I just buy four in total. That will be a difficult choice tomorrow. In the meantime, I also have a nice souvenir of this trip. I can haggle a little on the price, which is an added bonus.

As its name suggests, the market is located at the Rialto Bridge. 

We cross the bridge to the other side of the Grand Canal. The open weather ensures that the first gondolas start to sail. From the bridge we have a beautiful view of the canal. Finally we see Venice under a blue sky. The sun feels good and warms us up a bit, because the temperatures are not really high yet. Until 1854, the Rialto Bridge was the only connection across the Grand Canal.

The beautiful houses and palaces sparkle in the sun. It is an eclectic collection of Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance elements, in other words both Eastern and Western influences. The city was built with the remains of destroyed cities. The Venetian style combines everything: Moorish windows with a Gothic design to which Baroque elements were added. The Venetian style is unique and makes the city so special.

Not only the style makes the city special, also the fact that this city was built on .. the water.

At the time, seven-meter-long piles were driven in a circle from the outside in through the unstable soil of layers of mud, clay, sand and peat into the more stable clay below. This wood came from the nearby Dolomites.

A platform of horizontal beams was laid on these piles and fastened with a mixture of rubble and brick. This floor was reinforced with marble-like stone. Then they could start building. You understand that the houses have no cellars and that there is a constant battle against the water: houses are very damp, paint is peeling.

Fortunately, the piles that are under water do not rot because they are never exposed to oxygen.

20 years ago, a closed sewer was provided during the renovation of the pavement. So no more smelly city like it used to be. My sense of smell is very happy with this.

We walk through the small streets to San Marco Square, where the preparations for tomorrow are in full swing. The cable is tensioned, the stage is ready and the dress rehearsal is on its way. The water starts to rise again through the pavement of the square. The city does not flood because the canals overflow their banks as we know floods. No, the water in the lagoon rises so that the water under the city also rises. So you can see this rising water just bubbling up from under the pavement.

The only party pooper tomorrow is a flooded square…

Today we take a day trip to the surrounding islands of the Venetian Lagoon. First on the program is Burano, a picturesque fishing village with cute colored houses, also known for its lace making. Provided two transfers with the vaporetto, we arrive around noon. There are many restaurants with typical fish specialities. They also have their own leaning tower here. Here too, the island is intersected by several canals.

 It suddenly gets a lot cooler when the icy wind starts to pick up again. And on such a small island there is not much to escape. 

We walk over the bridge to the tiny neighboring island of Mazzorbo, where the last vineyard of Venice is located. 

We take the vaporetto to the next island, Murano, known for its glassware. Along the way we have a good view of MOSE, the new flood defense project named after Moses, who was able to part the sea. The intention is to close the flood defense walls in front of the three entrances to the lagoon at extremely high water levels so that the water in the lagoon does not rise too high.

In Murano we visit a glass blower that shows us his skills. From an unsightly heap of sand he makes a beautiful galloping horse, and that at perhaps in one minute of time. Glassblowers are real artists. Murano glass is world famous. And today we witnessed a new creation.