How to enjoy Venice like an Egyptian

CAIRO – 29 January 2018: There is a gondola stop at the Grand Canal of Venice, very close to San Marco Square, where you can rent a gondola. Having already been in the city for hours, we made sure to ask about the rates first. We were told that a gondola costs €40 ($50) per hour and can take up to six persons in one ride, so those six persons would split the €40.

Venice consists of six neighborhoods; San Marco, Dorsoduro, Castello, San Polo, San Groce and Cannaregio. At first, I thought the Vaporetto (water bus of Venice) was the only means to go to those six neighborhoods, so I went to “Rialto” station, which was the closest to my B&B to take a Vaporetto to Cannaregio.

Roberto

I was not sure of the Vaporetto line number that goes there, so I asked an Italian man working at Rialto station. The man was in his fifties and did not speak English well, but he managed to understand I was asking about “Cannaregio.” He took me inside the station and showed me a sign where all lines and destinations were listed and, to make sure I got it right, he pointed to the line number to Cannaregio. I nodded, and then I went again to the water side of the station to wait for the correct Vaporetto.

Whenever a Vaporetto came, the man rushed to me, waving his hands in a “no” sign, trying to tell me that was not the correct Vaporetto. He repeated that for 3 successive Vaporettos to make sure I do not take the wrong one. I was really touched by his kindness that I left the waiting area, went to him again and told him “molto grazie;” I believe that meant “thank you so much” in Italian! I also asked him about his name and his answer was “Roberto.” I asked “photo?” and he replied “si,” so I took a nice photo with my new friend in Italy; Roberto!


A vaporetto station. The vaporetto comes from the waterside to take people on July 2, 2017 - CC via Wikimedia Commons/Mariordo

Stroll through Venice’s old authentic streets full of gift shops, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, small cozy hotels and inns (sometimes they call it “locanda” in Italian) and beautiful old houses with flowers hanging on windows. Almost each square in Venice had a very old church, as this was the tradition in Europe long ago, as well as a fountain of potable water that people can fill their bottles from and drink.


Strolling Venice streets among cafes, shops and lofty architecture was enjoyable in June 2015 - Mai Abdallah

Old houses of Venice, with flowers hanged on windows, adding beauty to the authentic old scene there on March 13, 2017 - CC via Pxhere

There are 118 islands in the Venetian Lagoon of the Adriatic Sea, close to Venice. I visited three charming little islands called Murano, Burano and Torcello. We made the three of them on one organized trip that we booked online before we went to Venice.
When we reached Venice, we learnt that the Vaporetto also goes to those three islands, where it can be taken from the Vaporetto station close to San Marco Square.

After going on an organized trip, I recommend the Vaporetto! This is because in the organized trip we were given a certain duration to stay on each island. Sometimes that duration was not enough to fully explore the island, but if you go by Vaporetto, it gives you the freedom to decide the time you pass on each of the islands, as it passes periodically. So if you like a specific island so much and you want to pass a longer time there, you can simply skip some Vaporettos and finally take one after you are done with that island.

A must visit to Murano's glass factory

It took us about 30 minutes in a beautiful marine trip from the Grand Canal start point, close to San Marco Square, to reach the first island, Murano.

Murano Island is mainly about the marvelous glass industry; it hosts the main factory of the precious Murano glass, which manufactures extraordinarily stunning decorative glass products, with marvelous creative shapes, eye dazzling colors, top quality clear glass, but also extremely expensive prices.

Do not miss the experience of Murano’s glass factory, even if you do not want to buy any glass products. The experience itself is unique, and the displayed products are masterpieces of fine art that cannot be seen anywhere else. Unfortunately, they do not allow photos inside the glass products display areas. They only allow photography and video shooting in their live workshop, which displays the basic steps of glass manufacturing.

Murano glass products are among the most expensive worldwide and the factory in Murano Island exports to all parts of the world, June 14, 2017 – Pixabay/rmac8oppo

I loved a glass vase there that was in the shape of a deer and was yellowish orange in color. I asked about its price and to my great surprise, it cost €18,000! Hearing such a price, I believed it was time to leave Murano. We went back to our boat to complete the marine trip.

To be continued...

Part 1:

Enjoy Venice but check café prices, don't walk with baggage

Part 3:

Venice's Burano Island, the original El Max of Alexandria

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