Well what do you know? This Europe thing might just work out after all. For the first time since we arrived, we got out of Valencia to make the two hour hop to Venice Italy. Just like that, with carry-on bags and no big plans, we hopped on a plane to meet up with our friends Scott and Cam from Seattle and spend some time not-here.

Cindy has been to Venice before, some 40 years ago, in the winter and with the flu. This trip was bound to be better. We flew into Treviso airport one sunny afternoon and caught the shuttle bus to Venice, then the water bus down the Grand Canal to the Rialto bridge and a short walk to our Airbnb. It was kind of a shock. How could this be so easy?

We wandered the streets a bit and settled in to a delicious dinner literally across the “street” (all of three meters wide) from our front door. We suffered a bit of sticker shock when the bill came; it was easily twice what we’d spend in Valencia for even a fancy dinner. Still, that’s the ideal way: live cheaply most of the time and splurge on the fun stuff.

Venice is, well, Venice and I’m not going to tell you anything you can’t easily look up online or see in a million travel shows, and lots of you have been there yourselves. The architecture is lovely, if a bit run-down. The city doesn’t have so much as a motor scooter or bicycle on any street which immediately changes everything about the place. Commerce is really conducted on the canals and everything is built around that.

We were lucky that the city is still not overrun with tourists. It was busy but far from the madhouse it’s been in recent years. Only one cruise ship arrived during our stay. It’s been hard on the local businesses; restaurants were only 1/3 full or so and often we were just about the only customers except in the most highly trafficked areas. The G20 were having a meeting while we were in town; the police presence was heavy but not too obvious. Water bus schedules were thrown off because sections of canals would be closed while diplomats moved from place to place; however it wasn’t really disruptive to us personally. We had great weather for the whole of the trip with the exception of one downpour.

The Grand Canal is a busy waterway and the main thoroughfare for the city.

The Doge’s (Venitian for Duke) Palace on the left and the prison dead ahead, all just off St. Mark’s Square.

The Bridge of Sighs, so named because it offered the last glimpse a prisoner would see of the outside world after sentencing in the palace on the left before being tossed into the jail on the right.

The aforementioned last view of the world.

Pretty good sculpting if you ask me

Inside the Doge’s Palace, looking from the gallery on the palace side into the courtyard and Saint Mark’s Basilica.

The palace began construction around 1300, after the Republic had been in business for about 300 years. By this time, the Venetian Republic was seriously powerful and had some real money and that was reflected in the appointments they built, like these doors

The stairway up to the governing chambers, built to impress the visitor. Achievement unlocked. If you had business with the government bigwigs, this was where you started.

Ceiling detail in the stairway

The Council Chamber, where the full Senate did its business. Huge room.

The Chamber of the Great Council, an even bigger room where the Doge held court. Even huger-er room.

The doors in the prison were somewhat less ornate. Interestingly, at the time the prison was touted as the very latest in keeping prisoners healthy during their custody and hailed for its light and air.

Walking around town pictures: random canal

These boats. Sigh. Meticulously maintained private water taxis, long and sleek and gorgeous. I have many pictures of these boats with which I will not bore you.

Grand Canal at night

Guardian of the bridge over the Grand Canal

Walking around the city, enjoying the architecture and canals

Artsy!

We took the ferry out to Murano, known for its glassmaking. We did a tour of one of the factories, got a sense of the glassblower’s art and made our own little geegaws from glass bits. Cindy made earrings, I made a keychain because we are 100% true to stereotype. Then of course they let us leave…via the gift shop. As Cindy was picking out little 20 Euro vases, I was enjoying the larger pieces and…well, we have become patrons of the arts. It’s really a beautiful piece and I think we’ll enjoy it for a long time.

A bit more on the interesting history of glassmaking in Murano: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murano

The ferry ride back into Venice under a lowering sky was spectacular.

I got up early one morning to catch St. Mark’s square at sunrise. Results: meh. Just me and a hadful of other photographers out, plus a street sweeper or two and the Carabinieri.

The square and Olivetti exhibition center just catching the morning light.

Later in the day we walked out toward the Jewish quarter which was lovely. We had lunch along this canal.

After lunch we decided on the spur of the moment to go to Padua, a half hour away on the train. There we visited the University of Padua, second oldest university in Italy, founded in 1222 by students and professors from the University of Bologna, #1 oldest. The founders were seeking a bit more academic freedom, which they were able to negotiate with the Catholic Church thanks to the power and influence of the Venetian Republic. This is Palazzo Bo, the original heart of the University.

Galileo’s lectern. Yes, that Galileo. He was chair of the Math department 1592 – 1610.

The hall where Galileo taught. It’s currently being refurbished but this is now where the board meets.

A model of the medical theater, first of its kind, where autopsies were performed for medical students. Instructors were at the bottom with one sitting down reading aloud from an anatomy book and the rest doing the work at the table, students arrayed in tiers looking down from above.

We paid a visit to the Scrovegni Chapel, consecrated in 1302, which has some amazing frescoes painted on the walls. This is the Last Judgement, by Giotto

This charming fellow is one of the panels depicting the story of Mary and of the life of Jesus, painted fresco style along the walls of the chapel. It was very difficult to really get pictures of the panels thanks to lighting and angles but in the picture above you can see some other panels high on the walls.

Sunset gondola jam. We looked it up; gondoliers have their own training school, compete a in gondola races and make…well, a lot of money. The boats are a big investment, starting around € 50,000 but it appears that can be recouped pretty quickly. That said, Venice is a very expensive city.

Just walking around; quiet back canal

Mah honey!

Loved this scene; the people in the boat had stopped by for a chat with the family onshore; they seemed to be having a lovely time. At the time I snapped the photo I didn’t notice that the shore people were all paying attention to something else so I didn’t quite capture the vibe but imagine a family walking down the street and stopping to visit with their friends on the front porch.

We weren’t the only sunset walkers

The European Championship soccer tournament was on and Italy had just beaten Spain to get into the finals. The national pride was on display.

At the end of our stay in Venice we met up with Scott and Cam who had been on a river cruise in the Venice area at the same time we were in town. Venice is old hat to them, they having been there more than once already so we each did our own thing and then met up to catch the train to Bologna, just two hours away. By sheer coincidence we ended up having Airbnbs in the same building, convenient for all.

Bologna is a working city, acting as a regional hub for commerce and manufacturing. It’s one of the wealthiest cities in the country and is famous for its cuisine, which we can attest is outstanding.

Our friends Scott and Cam joined us for the Bologna portion of the trip. All were thrilled to be photographed.

Bologna is known for its porticoes, which provide covered sidewalks throughout the downtown area. This is the support for one of the oldest standing porticoes and it looks it.

Art in the park. Lion, stag and snek, unclear who’s getting the better of it.

Mermaids. Fighting. Unclear why but probably relates back to an ancient story.

We made a day trip to Modena, just a half hour away by train. Since there was some dispute over pronunciation, we’ll just come out and say the proper way to pronounce the city name is MO-deh-nuh and don’t let a local catch you saying it some other way.

Cindy had made arrangements for the four of us to visit one of the oldest commercial makers of balsamic vinegar; what we weren’t aware of was that the place was some ten minutes outside town by car. Turns out that no more than two passengers can get in a taxi in Modena (or at least one particular taxi) and if you have to pause to make sure both vehicles have directions some drivers get very impatient. We made it to the factory but no tips were given at the end of the trip.

The making of balsamic vinegar is a very slow and time consuming process, wherein grapes are pressed, then simmered over hours to a reduction, fermented and acidified, and then barrel aged. Over time, a portion of the vinegar is moved from barrel to barrel, larger to smaller, until at the end you have real balsamic vinegar. Most traditional balsamic is aged from 12 to 25 years; this particular batch is aged for 99 years.

This very barrel was taken to the Paris Exposition in 1899 with hundred-year-old vinegar, which introduced balsamic vinegar to the world. Won the blue ribbon too. The barrel is still being used, there’s vinegar in there right now.

The aging barn; this section has some of the varieties and differently aged vinegars; there is another room with 3-meter high barrels of much younger vinegar. It’s quite the production. Smells amazing too.

Some more info on the making of balsamic vinegar here: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/a_guide_to_balsamic_vinegar/

Back in town after seeing how balsamic vinegar is made, we climbed the bell tower of the local church, just in time for a pretty amazing thunderstorm to roll through.

We of course paid a visit to the Enzo Ferrari museum to look at the Ferrari road cars. I thought this’n was pretty

If I had a bunch of money and garage space, I’d have one of these, F-246 GT.

Next day we rented a car and got out into the countryside, to the town of Brisighella. It’s a lovely little town outside Imola nestled in the hills.

La Rocca Manfrediana is situated on one of the hills overlooking the town. Constructed beginning in 1300, it has seen many additions and changes over the centuries. It’s been carefully restored and is a splendid example of military construction.

Guarding the castle entrance

The clock tower just across the way. Very picturesque.

We had a lovely lunch in town and then a wander. These houses have stables (now garages) on the ground floor; the arches conceal a lovely shaded passageway where the homes’ front doors are, and the living space above. Really clever building technique.

We took the scenic route back to Bologna; this is Italy’s Badlands.

The next day we said goodbye to Scott and Cam who carried on with their travels through Italy and France and had the day to ourselves. We made a visit to the International Museum and Library of Music in Bologna, where we found ancient instruments, music and gobs of history.

The above was an exercise written as part of a test for Mozart to get into the local music school. Evidently he cheated, getting help from his sponsor to complete the exercise and gain admittance.

This looked so much like an upright bass I had to get a shot.

Some of the first music printed in a musical printing press. This example is exercises for trombone.

Opera was a big feature of the museum and this picture and the next illustrated the art and technique of creating musical theater.

Stagecraft!

Original score for the opera The Barber of Seville, hand written by Rossini himself.

Early trombone. Too bad they don’t still make bells for brass instruments like this, I’d be so down for that.

And that was it. Next day we hopped a plane back to Valencia. It was lovely to get away and a little odd to return home to our place in Spain. More of this, please!