"Venice for the New Year"

Wanting to sort of realize how far in time we had leaped. Or just out of love for Italy and Venice being one of the wonders that people over consume. Or simply because of a nice offer at the right time? All of these and perhaps something more, not so much verbalized, but leading the decision making process. We chose Venice for the New Year. As a family.

Flying very early in the morning after a Tesla Uber drive. The kid's pick. Arriving there when the lazy coffees were just in prep mode, so we could have our picky selection of delicious starters/cicchetti for the morning.  So that I could take the morning photos of picturesque streets with rare visitors only. The Rialto bridge not yet under assault! If you can imagine that!

Arriving at San Marco's square later on and finding it bask in the sun was all worth it! By then we already got some competition amongst the other tourists, all hoping for a best snap or a best experience. It was seemingly a bit ominous already. Already a timid reminder of why we vacation in famous places not on special occasions. But never mind that, let me review some dear photos for sharing below, as difficult as that might be.

 St. Mark's Bell Tower, Palazzo Ducale and the Bridge of Sighs is pretty much were you start exercising your power of interaction with the masses and what is the slowest you could ever walk.

Yet the view of the gondolas, under the powering effect of the sun, afterwards quickly shifts your focus.

Then comes the less busy district of Castello, which offers you an oasis of some more unearthly bridges- Venice does have 435 of those- but also some more room to enjoy being there. Playing the Italian and feeling that La vita e bella! Drinking a glass of the much appreciated local wines or a plateau of the "cicchetti" that you would rather never stop saying: " keep them coming!"

With renewed energy, before even thinking of it, you have to get back to that marvelous San Marco Basilica, to view it with rested eyes. It feels even more wonderful and you stop at the unbelievable long entry line to not miss on the opportunity to also see it all from the inside out.

And you could now perhaps also tackle some shopping and start getting accommodated to the Murano glass products and Venetian masks that each tell a story. I have been for example told by a local lady crafting and painting the masks by herself that the long nose masks are a reminiscence of the old doctor masks, in keeping with the standard distance from the patient, limiting the chances for the physicians to also be falling ill. Also, that larger area of the mask, near the nose, was the place where various herbs were stored in, for coverage of pestilent smells and also to some extent, for self protection.

Then, if you have a sweet tooth, remember that Italy is the land of gelato and it is truly so, no matter the season. Fancy also a cannoli or two, it is time for spoiling!

The longest queue we have seen was in fact to a pasta place, so yummy treats at every corner...though our own preferences went rather towards the fish soup- best one we have ever eaten- and lasagna.

Then the gondola walks, which can be a treat for just you and your loved ones! It is not a travel, but a capturing of the city view from the waterfront side. And no, the expert gondola handlers do not sing you Italian songs along the way. That is just movies setting up false expectations.

Then come some more bridges and narrow streets and romantic scenery and no matter where you look, there is a superb place for taking memorable photographs.

And before you know it or rather before we knew it, time came to crack open the champagne and say Happy New Year in our own language, in the middle of the crowd, with fireworks popping into the sky. Time flies when it is best spent!

And upon the start of the New Year, feeling still much like having your traveler shoes on, you could proceed like we did it: to Padova and to Verona, by train. As Italy has such a convenient railway network, we did reach Padova city pretty much at the same pace with the city waking up following the recent year change celebration. We did have some nice old memories to pull close. And we much appreciated the city sights, once more. Starting with this lovely mini-Christmas fare, next to an old church and trees that created a scene of their own.

Verona we reached at the same time with the bulk of people hungry for a special first day of 2026. Arena di Verona being the start point of the city treasures discovery walk. The way to Juliet's house is the direction where people probably stroll to even without much awareness of this. It is the most crowded route, as a true landmark would always be. Verona did have our hearts won from long before and no update to share there. 

We could not have missed the stairs of reason for our photos album. For fun, both me and the kid threw our gloves down to my husband &his father and the wind carried those! I wonder what to read out of this!

Search for some freshly made fritole in this market here! 

The merchant's best window in town! ( To each his/her own!)

Unless you count for this light inspired beautiful display of poetry alongside the brand strength.

For closure, we did have to also squeeze in some sleep.

For the following colored adventure would be the Murano and Burano Islands. Anxiously expected.

...Ah, the most wonderful material for live postcards! If i ever am luckiest, here in Murano is where my dream house would be located! Words are plain compared to what the eyes can capture and what the heart can memorize. Leaving here below the spoilers.

Demos and workshops for working with the Murano glass are available and we joined one, resulting in a vase and horse being produced in parallel to the collection of our smiles.

One of the glass factory houses on the island, in itself a much photographed building.

Somewhere near here we stopped for Murano pizza and you can only imagine how good of a meal we have had!

Burano was almost ours only, at evening time, seemingly under the fog of magic. We splurged on presents, as we found the perfect fauvism-like cottage-owners in the selling business.

Our wondering through this smaller island of the colored houses did also bring us to this small and quaint pub where we enjoyed hot chocolate with cream, biscuits, plus beer for the less pretentious ones. 

Then back to the streets for some more exposure to this surviving trail of fauvism. Double checking to truly believe it.

Burano being also world famous for its lace production. Not so much part of our daily life now, which is why it receives just this short entry here.

Dear Torcello Island, we are sorry to state that we again missed you on our tour because of not enough hours in a day.  Hence there has to be yet another next visit date. It's settled!

As certain as was our late evening date with some wine, pasta and tiramisu!

The following day was supposed to be that of our journey back home, but due to flight delays, there raised the occasion to also visit the small town of Treviso. Which we did not find without charm either.  And then we got to spend one more day in beautiful Italy!

Ciao, bella Italia! Very much looking forward to our next encounter!