Venice,To Be Or Not To Be~This Is The Question!

When we finally finished a fabulous lunch at a pizzeria in Nove and headed for home in Aviano, we began to notice a big change in our lovely weather pattern. The more north we traveled the grayer and blacker the sky became. Gray had become the new blue at that point in our travels, but the blackness was a little disconcerting. As you may remember we had arrived the preceding night after dark and hadn't noticed the base is nestled next to a mountain range. As we approached "home" we began see this.

We didn't give it much thought at this point
and were just awed by the beauty of the background.

Right about here it started to snow but we
were just a few minutes from the hotel by then.

The last spot of sunshine going far far away!

We first time visitors were surprised to see
these pretty mountains in the background and we
and no idea what was new snow or had been there awhile.
All we knew for sure, it was mighty COLD!

Once we got in and settled we started to plan the evening...dinner, movies, the usual. The next day we were going to Venice about an hour away, and the day after that we would head home. We looked on the Internet and saw the weather report and beheld this massive weather front over all of Europe with the prediction of several days of unusually cold temps and precipitation, which being interpreted is SNOW and ICE.

After much discussion and prayer we decided that maybe we would skip Venice. We have all been there and have beautiful memories of it. We were not sure we wanted to go with temperatures expected to be about 26 degrees, flooding, and the wind chill factor not figured into the mix at that point.

Visions of this were dancing in my head


And this photo from an article from
a 2008 December day came to mind.

At first we thought we'd make it an optional outing if anyone wanted to go and the rest could just relax and have a much needed day of doing absolutely nothing. But as we studied the weather patterns that were coming for the areas we needed to pass by to get home we decided that even though all three days looked bad...the mountain passes would be most friendly the next day. We started to figure out what time we wanted to be in the mountains so there would be less chance of ice and determined we should leave the base about 8:30 am the following morning. We are a family that is big on prayer so we all prayed about it, pondered it and knew it was the right thing to do.

So no formal dinner, no movies, no Venice...

We have wonderful memories of our last visit...
in the Square with the pigeons...

And Burano the Beautiful....

The memories are enough....more than enough!

So we started packing and preparing for the next morning. Some of us were a little nervous about it all but we went forward in faith. You have to remember we are Californians...we do not take snow and ice lightly. (Especially when Italy's solution to snow and ice is a bag of salt every 300 feet on the freeway flung over the guard railings.) Do they even had snow equipment... went through my mind for sure. Believe me, I was praying for a miracle and I know Laura was too.

I was determined not to even look out the window (head in the sander, in serious denial and definitely moving forward in faith)...so I just got up and got dressed and went outside. We found it was still very brisk, but not as gray as the night before. So far no rain/snow. Robert drove the first leg and did a fantastic job. We had about two hours to go before the mountain passes. We figured it would be about ten hours of driving before we clicked on the gate remote at their complex at home.

As we approached the dreaded mountains, Jim took over the driving and this is what we saw out our windows.

Not one drop of rain...just a freezing cold but, beautiful day. The temperature was 26 when we left and two hours later was approaching 40. Even the sun was exactly in the right place shining fully on the roadway over the mountains which meant, no ice at all. Even in the shady spots and numerous bridges and tunnels it was dry. Do you see the miracles in your daily life or would you see this as pure luck or merely a coincidence?

For us, a family of believers, this was a big testimony builder of God's love for us and how He answers the prayers of even our little family. I know there are some that would argue, but what of those who were praying for rain and snow? Well, I am sure He simply said, "No, not today!" (Haven't they had enough already?)

Several hours later Laura was driving and we still had not had one drop of rain, in fact, we never did. We looked out the window and saw this. Every cloud has its silver lining and on this day, in this place, we knew that we had been richly blessed. We can plan, organize and do the things we want to on our trips through life, but God is in charge of our journey. When the spirit warns us of dangers ahead and we listen and obey, we find that faith precedes the miracle. And there is no vista in Venice more beautiful than that to a weary earth traveler!

And by the way, the day we had originally planned to travel was a snow-filled, hazardous day up north, as were several days after that. Not that we were surprised....just filled with gratitude that we had listened to the prompting and for a safe journey home....When God is at the helm...there is nothing to fear. This is our secret to La Dolce Vita!

Ahhhh, Venice!

For me, Venice should just naturally be last when recounting a trip to Italy. I don't think it is necessarily the most beautiful or the most interesting from an historical point of view, but it is definitely the most fun and unique place we have been. Rick Steves describes it as a decadent decaying jewel~held afloat by tourism. We all know that Venice is build on the water but I never gave much thought as to why. Many centuries ago the Mongolians were apparently a threat to the people of this area (and afraid of the water??) so the city was build on over 1,000,000 wooden piers out in the lagoon for protection and safety. For several hundred years Venice was a very big hub and the most important sea port in Europe for commerce. There were about 200,000 people living there in its heyday. During that time there were more than 1,000 people that attained individual wealth comparable to the Rockefeller's. The palaces or palazzi were truly decadent and very ornate and beautiful. The life style of the rich and famous was common place along the grand canal.

A Gondolier on The Grand Canal

Grand Canal Sights

Decaying Palaces of Venice

In Venice there are really only a few things to do. You can ride on the water, visit St. Mark's Square, shop and eat, listen to live music and feed the pigeons. It is also a great place for wandering around the back streets and exploring the island. I think that is one thing that made it so much fun~Limited choices~all good ones. It is very easy to get around with lots of waterway choices. You can take the water buses, a water taxi, a gondola...whatever your heart desires and your pocketbook can afford. The canal is teaming with lots of delivery, mail, commercial, police and fire boats and speed boats owned by the locals. There is never a dull moment out there and the water traffic regulations are pretty amazing with lanes and routes and the whole bit. When the siren of a police or fire boat is heard...all the boats pull over to the side just as we do in our cars. If you arrive in Venice by train like we did, everything is readily available for water travel just right outside the train station so it is a very convenient and user friendly city, even when you do not speak the language. We were glad we stayed out in the suburbs and didn't have to roll luggage around and take it on the boats, etc.

Jim at San Marco Square

Views from the top of the Tower on St Mark's Square
All the trees in Venice are under the city!

The back streets of Venice

Feeding the Funny Fat Pigeons of Venice

San Marco Square outdoor cafe. The chairs are all empty because you must buy to sit. It is primarily a bar and this photo was taken at 9:00 am. At night they have great classical concerts here with performers in powdered wigs and full regalia.

The famous Rialto Bridge
One of only three bridges crossing the Grand Canal.

~Back street canal of Venice ~
Grampa & the boys enjoyed
exploring while the moms shopped!

Today the city's population has shrunk to about 65,000 people. They have no schools in Venice so the children that live there have to go to the mainland about 20 minutes away by train. There is a causeway that connects Venice to the mainland now. The Palaces are in a state of decay and disrepair. Many are still inhabited but the residents do not live on the first floors as Venice is sinking and many of them are waterlogged especially during high tide. For the most part these places lie vacant just because they are astronomically expensive to maintain along with a fortune required for rent. Many have been turned into very expensive hotels. We have relatives, that shall remain nameless, who spent more than one thousand dollars per night to stay here.

Us about to board the train from Povada to go to Venice on day 2

Since there are no streets in Venice there are no cars and that was so nice. The tiny streets and alley ways are more like sidewalks so no horn honking or motor noise and no vespas and that was refreshing. There is something that seems so tranquil about water travel...you just cannot hurry about as people do everywhere else. There is also something very Disneyland-ish about it. When we first sailed down the canal and saw the palaces my first thought was why don't they paint these places and fix them up a bit, deck them out with lots of light, etc. Then I realized that that would ruin it and make it truly like Disneyland. They have very strict laws that do no allow any changes to the palaces without permission from the powers that be. This is truly a good thing.

Of course one of the main highlights for us was the trips to the other islands, mainly Burano, as I have previously mentioned. There is just something so magical about Venice and everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime.

It was funny but the other day I saw some Rick Steve's DVD on various other countries so I picked one up on Scotland and Ireland. We all adore Scotland so I thought it would be so much fun to watch that one. Well, can I just say that compared to all there is to see and do in Italy, our beloved Scotland paled! I don't think we have ever been anywhere like Italy before. There is so much to see and do and it truly is an eye candy land. There is so much diversity in the kind of spectacular things Italy offers from it's cliff side resorts to it's amazing art and palaces and countryside and historical monuments.

And let's not forget the amazing cuisine and the gelato! My personal favorites were melon (cantaloupe) and fragatto (strawberry.) If you cannot find something to love in Italy I would check my pulse if I were you.

Rossie's favorite gelato was....can you guess....Chocolate!

The setting sun in Venice on our last night there! What an unequaled experience!

Ciao Bella Venice! Until We Meet Again!
Original posting 5/3/2008