Travel to Venice and surroundings

So spring is at hand, despite today's light snow in Seattle, and with spring, one's thoughts turn to travel.  And none too soon, as I feel the oppression of a long, dark Seattle winter, cooped up in my house.

(I exaggerate -- there are worse places to spend a winter.)

I'm happy to announce to the remnants of my blog audience that, in two months, I will be returning once more to Italy.

In September of 2024, I did a solo hop, skip and jump around various destinations in northern Italy:  Rome, Florence, Como, Milan, Venice, Riomaggiore, Pisa, and Lucca.  Although I spent five nights in my old favorite, Florence, I otherwise planned my visit to each city to be merely a sampling -- not an in-depth study.  For a few -- Riomaggiore, in particular -- a sampling was all that was necessary.  It was an enjoyable visit, but it was also a small town.  For at least one of the others -- Venice -- I realized that further investigation would be necessary.

And so, my trip in May will be centered on Venice.  A shorter trip, overall, than my 2024 travels, I'll be gone only 13 days including air time across the Atlantic.  I'll spend four nights in Venice.  

Two years ago, I spent the short time I had in Venice mainly just walking the amazing, narrow streets of the city, crossing the web of canals  on small pedestrian bridges.  I made advance reservations to enter the amazingly eclectic San Marco Basilica and marvel at the combinations of various architectural and decorative styles -- including much that was Byzantine.  Also, on the spur of the moment, I jumped on a vaporetto and made the short crossing to the Lido -- a long island that is essentially a string of beaches.  I had read Thomas Mann's 1912 novel, Death in Venice, which took place primarily on the Lido.  I somehow was expecting the island to have remained frozen in time in Edwardian splendor.  Instead, its atmosphere reminded me of Southern California -- in a good sense, but as something of a surprise.

What I did not do in 2024 was visit Venice's numerous and impressive art museums.  Back in 1961, as part of my university's overseas study group, we had been taken through several of the art museums on a field trip.  I had learned to distinguish a Tintoretto from a Titian, favoring the former and learning, to my embarrassment, that "everybody" agreed that the latter was the more profound artist.  I also remember my feet aching so badly from standing in front of paintings listening to lectures that I almost sat on the floor for relief.

Older, and even less tolerant of prolonged standing, I intend now to visit museums at my own pace, appreciating the art more profoundly, hopefully, and caffeinating whenever I feel like it in museum cafes.  I also have a ticket for a performance of Bizet's Carmen at the famed La Felice opera house.  It was also in Venice, two years ago, that I discovered the value of the Aperol Spritz; I plan to further pursue that study this year.

I plan to visit just two other cities -- Trieste for two nights, and Bergamo for three nights.  Trieste has always fascinated me, ever since I was a young teenager, and read nightly in the newspaper about the division of the post-World War II zone of occupied Trieste zone between Italy and Yugoslavia.  That was long ago, and the city is now known by tourists, among its other attractions, for its Austro-Hungarian flavor combined with its Italian nationality.  My student group spent a day in Trieste, on our way to Yugoslavia, but I honestly don't remember much about the city.  I'm looking forward to exploring it.

My other stop will be in Bergamo, thirty minutes by train northeast of Milan.  I've never been to Bergamo, but, when preparing for this trip, read so much about the attractions of the city that I've decided to spend three nights there.  

While still in Venice, I may also make a short day trip to Padua, a city with a famous university and a number of other attractions.

I'll fly home from Milan on June 1.  If this blog still exists -- I've been very unfaithful in its maintenance -- I'll let you know what I liked and what, if anything, I would have skipped on this year's travels.