Month: May 2024 (Page 1 of 2)

In our wanderings about town we had passed a church advertising a concert of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678). We bought two tickets.

We took the vaporetto over and were heading down the street when I spotted a little shop. I had read about the churches that have thrift shops attached, and this was one of those places. I managed to get a summer dress for 5 euro, but Trip had the real find. We had been looking at blazers for him (where else but Italy would you be inspired to go blazer shopping), and walked away with a second hand one for only 30 euros, and from an Italian manufacturer, no less. He’s now looking rather dapper for our concert.
The performance was remarkable. I never get tired of listening to the Four Seasons, but this group, eight members of the world renowned Interpreti Veneziano, was absolutely amazing. It was a lovely evening all around.

We also toured the Teatro la Fenice (The Phoenix Theatre), the Venice Opera House. Burned to the ground twice since it was built (once by accident and once by arson), the building has risen from the ashes like its namesake.

Burano is a small island village near Venice known for its lace making. More so than the lace, it’s known for the colorful houses. The story goes that fisherman frequently return home in heavy fog and the houses are painted distinctly so that they can recognize their own. I’m not sure how true that is, but it makes for a spectacular setting on a sunny day. And, no, Trip did not dress on purpose to match the buildings, it just worked out that way.

Murano, another island just a short ride away from Venice, is famous for its glass blowing. We’re admirers, though we have no desire to own one these pricey pieces. But we couldn’t resist the urge to go visit a glass blowing plant while on the island.

It was fascinating to watch the craftsmen working with the glass, and we watched demos of them making both a glass bowl and a glass horse figurine. Then it was into the labyrinth of the shop.

There weren’t prices, so I knew better than to do anything other than admire from a distance. I watched a salesman work an American couple: A decanter and six glasses would only cost them 1,200 euro (shipping included). Time to move on!

Cichetti are the Italian version of tapas. Little bites (ok maybe 3 or 4 bites) of food to eat as a snack with a drink. You go into a bar, order a drink, a few cichetti, and there’s your lunch. You step outside and enjoy.

Seafood is common (we are on the Adriatic), and baccala (salt cod) is particularly popular. Anchovies and sardines litter the tops of bites or are baked in. There’s always the sliced meats and cheese to satisfy the carnivore.

The biggest problem is getting a table. At the bar, All’ Arco (popular spot we were tipped off to), we found we had to get there at noon to get one of the few prized tables. But once seated, we could sip and nibble away to our hearts’ content.

Enjoy the images…..

Venice was built on the water and is surrounded by a system of canals. Everyone gets around by boat. Even the buses are boats – called vaporettos. You buy a vaporetto pass and go to a specific stop and catch a specific number vaporetto to get to where you want. They have LED billboards that tell you when the next vaporetto will arrive and where it’s going. Amazing.

It’s not just tourists on the water buses, all the locals use them too.

Venice is an expensive place to visit, even by boat. Marinas are 100+ euro a day. We were lucky enough to find out about an inexpensive local yacht club and booked a reservation. The place is well run, we can tie along side a dock (easy for boarding), the bathrooms and showers are clean, and we can walk to town. The people at the club are wonderful and we’ve had a great time getting to know the locals.

Flavio, one of the boat owners at the marina, has been gifting us with treats from his garden every other day. Fresh lettuce, violet artichokes (a local specialty), fennel, it’s a surprise every time he comes to visit. He’s also been great with local advice and recommendations (a must, as Venice is a total tourist trap and you need expert advice to avoid the pits).

We had just the right weather window of southerly winds before storms would hit, so we decided to sail straight from Montenegro to Venice, Italy (we would do Croatia coming south again). We waved goodbye to SV Priscilla (they were upping anchor so they could take our spot), headed over to Zelenika to clear out, and we were off.

We knew the first 24 hours would be motoring, letting the seas calm and the winds switch. It was uneventful and we were able to do a little bit of motor-sailing.

Eventually we went wing on wing with the jib poled out and the preventer on the main – then we took off like a shot as the winds filled in from behind. It was a rolly passage, but an amazing 17 hours of great sailing.

We opted to motor overnight as the winds died, to avoid some of the gale force southerlies that were expected from further south. Unfortunately we motored a little bit too far right into a dead zone. We left the main up and did a little bit of sailing, but it was mostly motoring into Venice.

We were surrounded by lots of fishing boats as we neared Venice, along with multiple stationary platforms. Luckily, the platforms were well lit and all the boats (unlike in the US) had AIS for identification (particularly useful as fishing boats tend to move in an erratic pattern, depending on the type of fishing they are doing).

Luckily it’s still early in the season for boating traffic, and there were very few boats coming into the harbor (boats zipping around the harbor is another story). It was tight maneuvering in the yacht club, but winds were light and we got ourselves sorted. Then it was off to clear into the country, always an amusing and patience-trying exercise.

The offices were well documented from previous cruisers, but the first immigration officer we spoke to insisted they didn’t handle passports, until he spoke to a colleague and then brought us into the passport control room (cue the eye roll). They got a bit more efficient from there and we were stamped into Italy and Schengen quickly enough. Then it was off to the Capatanerie to get our Constituto (boat papers). We had arrived at the end of the day, and the officer was leaving, but Trip nagged (nicely) the officer enough that he hung up his jacket and processed our paperwork right then and there. Then was excited to show us other islands in Italy that we should visit.
Welcome to Venice!

May 1. Our marina contract had ended and it was time to leave. We weren’t quite ready to leave Montenegro yet, so we headed over to the back side of Sveti Marco Island. Legend has it that soldiers once promised the gods that they would never wage war except to fight to defend themselves. To seal this pledge, they planted olive and cypress trees. Of course they soon forgot the pledge, and God struck down every one of them, leaving only the trees. More recently, Club Med had a base here in the 60’s & 70’s, and it was a summer playground for the young and beautiful. Now deserted, the island has changed hands multiple times with the idea of building luxury hotels and villas, but is home only to a goatherd and his flock.

We dropped the hook and settled back, eager to be at anchor again, but having to remember anew what the boat felt like when not tied to a dock. I inflated my paddle board and went out to explore, then later went for a swim while Trip played with a pre-birthday present.

Of course, life on the boat wouldn’t be complete without Trip playing Good Samaritan. Three young women floated by in a small boat, their engine having died after they made it out to the island. Trip gallantly dropped our dinghy into the water and towed them back to shore.

Tim from s/v Monty B later came over for a sundowner, and we reminisced about what a great winter season it had been. We also sat and admired the new cockpit light we had purchased from Amazon before leaving (thanks to Carol and Greg for the idea from their RV).

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon & our final BBQ at Porto Montenegro before we set off for the season. We were enjoying gin & tonics, BBQ chicken sandwiches, and the company of our fellow cruisers. Suddenly the air filled with smoke, and we were forced to get up as smoked from one of the grills filled the air.

Note to self, do not operate a grill on a plastic table. No one was hurt, they were able to extinguish the flames (though that table is toast), and we chalked it up to being in Montenegro. We will miss this place.