Southing it!

Turn, turn, turn: the season is turning from hot and balmy summer to the changeability of autumn, along with the rain, thunderstorms and the dreaded bora. So we little bunnies must scurry south while the going stays good. We are about 800 nautical miles distant from our winter home in Licata, so its time to make southing, and in good measure. We'd been dawdling up the Croatian coast, doing jumps of just a few miles, and idling away in lovely anchorages. But now its burn, burn, burn, doing 50, 60 and even 70 mile days.

Heading out of Venice, along the Canal San Nicola

Canal scenery

A building at the cross roads of two canals

Fishing huts near Chioggia

Town along the Venezian Lido

First stop was Chioggia, the southern-most port still inside the Venetian lagoon. We determined to go down to Chioggia internally, down the canals rather than go back out to sea. This was an interesting trip; lots of birdlife, unusual fishing shacks, and towns stretching all along the Venetian Lido, the long 'seawall' island that separates the lagoon from the sea. Now that we've experience at lagoon anchoring, we didn't bother with a marina, but just pulled to one side of a wide section of channel and tried to be inconspicuous to all the passing traffic.

Megan is beaming: an alongside berth at Marina di Ravenna

Italians like their marinas fancy, too.

Great idea; tiny keel sailing boats for the handicapped.

Central park and cathedral in Ravenna 

Next stop was a long haul to Marina di Ravenna, a coastal port about 10 km away from the medieval town of Ravenna. We had no options on berthing here, it was the marina or nothing. So we entered this huge marina (800 berths) with Megan dreading another encounter with mooring poles. She indicated her distress to the marinaro, who promptly led us to a huge along side berth. Megan's dreams answered!

It isn't Piza, but it sure is leaning.

Early Christian church

Ceiling graffiti

Mosaic dome

Just beautiful: the Basilica of Saint Vitale

Man, those early Christians could do Bling!

More examples

The Baptistry of Neon

Mosaic and painting

Ravenna, in the commune of Emilia-Romagna, was the last hidey-hole of the decaying Roman Empire. While barbarian Ostrogoths pillaged the rest of the empire and picked over the bones of Rome, the last remaining senators and patricians retreated to the small muddy island where they ruled from 402 to 476 BCE. Ravenna is renowned for its early Christian mosaics, which are bright and colourful, unlike the dark and moody decorations in many Italian churches. We visited 5 sites that showcased these mosaics, and they were astonishing. Even the street signs in Ravenna are mosaics!

Ravenna town street

Just another church

Mosaic street signs

After a day visiting the sights of Ravenna, it was back to the grind. We set off down the coast to Pesaro. We berthed on a municipal dock, but had to spend about 60 minutes doing bureaucracy with the Capitainerie (Coast Guard). I must say that the Italians have been very helpful and polite in all our check-in dealings. Formalities are always slow and painful, but we have had none of the Croatian brusqueness nor the money-hungry attitudes. The river berth was free.

Pavlov on the municipal dock in Pesaro

Interesting sailing vessels

Love these protected river berths.

Trucking on, we spent a night in the not-so-memorable Porto San Giorgio. Another 50 Euro per night marina, but this one really offered no facilities, even the toilets were locked to us. Every onwards, we headed off at first light to the Marina di Pescaro. Since leaving Venice, we have covered 223 nautical miles in 6 days, with only one rest day in Ravenna. Not bad going for us slow coaches (but I can hear the sniggers from the go-fast crowd). So we've declared a rest day tomorrow, we're off to explore Pescaro (a city completely destroyed in WW2) and catch up with a bit of boat maintenance. Arrivederci!

And finally, Venezia

We spent a total of 8 days in the lagoon, half at anchor, half in the marina. There is just nothing like Venice. I love towns that ban cars, it totally changes the living environment, But Venice is a large city with a population of 260,000, with the only transport by foot or water. Last year, there was almost 10 million tourist-nights, so you can imagine the impact.

Palazzo Ducal from the sea

One of Venice's few parks

Another imposing church entrance

We visited the  Palazzo Ducale (the Doge's Palace) on our last visit to the city. This is the building where the process of governing Venice was carried out.

Inner courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale

The Golden Staircase

Detail of the Golden Staircase

Just a corridor in the palace.

The immense size of these rooms of government, the elaborate dungeons, the sheer bulk of art (much of it by Tintoretto and his son) made sense given the number of Venetian forts and castles we'd seen along along the coast, beginning probably around Methoni in the Peloponnese and stretching all along the Greek coastline, through the Balkans and to Italy. Such wealth and power must have been concentrated here.

Small committee room

Tintoretto wall art  - the scale is huge

Can anyone recall the title of this painting, it's a well known one. 

Ceiling decoration 

The room where the Council of Venezia held its meetings

Another Tintoretto on the ceiling

Wall fresco

A small part of the armoury 

We wandered to the Jewish Ghetto and to Arsenale, a complex of shipbuilding yards and armouries.

The entrance to Arsenale

A view into the shipbuilding yards

A rather hang-dog Venetian lion outside Arsenale

The Jewish Ghetto in Venezia

Courtyard of the Ghetto

Commemoration plaques for Jewish residents sent to death camps in Germany

Venice is very like Rome, you can just overdose on the miraculous. So we backpedalled, and tried to find the ordinary in Venice. The shops around the Rialto Bridge provided us with some gourmet food and a lovely restaurant for lunch.

Venetian delicatessen

Megan sampling the art work

Fruit and wine??

A memorable lunch stop.

We've had a few rain showers while we've been in the lagoon, and wind velocities that are reminicent of winter rather than balmy summer. We've heeded the warning that its time to start heading south. We have about 800 nautical miles to travel to Licarta in Sicily, our wintering site. We have about 5 weeks before our contract starts there on the 1st October. We need to get trucking, so stick with us as we blast down the east Italian coast. Ciao for now.

Venezia, ah Venezia

We'd been anchoring off the two small island of Burano and Murano in the Venezian lagoon. Burano is the traditional centre for lace production, from the time of the Venetian empire. Murano, of course, specialized in blown glass. We snagged ourselves a multi-museum pass thingie, which impels us to actually go to museums. The two museums on lace and glass though were fascinating. The lace was astonishing in its intricacy and three dimensionality.

Figure's embroidered into the lace

Intricate raised patterns

A lace shop in Burano 

Main square in Burano

We also paddled into Murano and looked at the glass factories and museums. Murano glass is beautiful, but the mass consumption of it by hordes of tourists put us off a bit. We did managed to find a beautiful blue bowl and some Christmas gifts in a small shop on a side street.

Pavlov anchored in 2 m, off Murano in the canal leading to the garbage dump!

Spit cosying up to Murano dock

Gorgeous church in Murano

Of course, blown glass chandeliers

Pre Renaissance glass

A blown glass model of a Venetian garden

Modern glass sculpture. The inspiration seems clear!

More modern glass sculptures

More glass in Murano

Murano bridge

Main canal in Murano

Murano clock tower

We were getting a bit exhausted dealing with the continual wash from ferries and assorted vessels while at anchor. So we bit the bullet and paid to spend a few days in Marina Vento di Venezia which I recommend very highly. We were charged 60 Euro a day, which is not too bad compared with what we have paid elsewhere. The marina is very calm, no wash!, and it's only a 10 minute ferry ride to Saint Mark's Square.

Pavlov suffering the luxury of finger pontoon berthing at Marina Vento di Venezia

A few of the marina's more goatish residents

Unusual traditional Lateen rigged boat

The narrow fairway into the marina

We bought a multi-day pass on the ferries. It was expensive, but we could jump on and off the ferries all day. It sure beat walking through all the tangled maze of Venezian laneways and getting lost, continually trying to read an incomprehensible map.

Ferry ride to the Grand Canal

God, not another impossibly gorgeous building!

More gondolas

When these carabinieri appeared, all the immigrant bag sellers ran!

The environs of Santo Marco. 

First ferry ride we took was along the length of the Grand Canal. This is the large main canal that esses its way through Venice

The grand canal

Spectacular palazzo's fronting onto the Grand Canal

The Rialto Bridge spanning the Grand Canal

We enjoyed the markets and atmosphere behind Rialto. The fish markets and small shops had a great atmosphere. Then it was time for some culture. We'd bought a museum pass, so we jumped into some of the museums around Santo Marco.

Sundial overlooking Rialto courtyard

A random back garden

Just another gorgeous church

I just dig the attitude

Rodin's "The Thinker". Always reminds me of Dobie Gillis.

A famous Klimpt "Judith II" 

A Miro that I liked.

We're finding that Venice is a drug best taken homoeopathically. Small doses, before tourismitits strikes is best. When fatigue and overload set in, we just hop on a ferry, take a mini sea-cure, then off into a new environment. Each ferry stop is like a whole different world, with a different purpose and vibe.

The onset of Tourismitis.

The industrial side of Venice

Art Deco railway station

Portico to the art museum

Beauty abounds

So, another day, another ferry ride. What will Venice present us tomorrow?