Venice 2016: Hidden Venice Walking Tour

Whenever we visit a new city, we like to take a guided walking tour to learn more about the history, culture and any interesting anecdotes about the city.  We also like exploring areas off the beaten path, so the "Hidden Venice Walking Tour" sounded perfect.  

 

The starting point of the tour was on the famous Rialto Bridge, a stone bridge built by Antonio da Ponte in 1591, which spans the Grand Canal and connects the districts of San Polo and San Marco. Shops line both sides of the two inclined, covered ramps that lead up to a central portico where we were supposed to meet our tour guide.  Browsing the souvenir shops along the way, Yim somehow found us the one store that was selling glass pendant necklaces for one Euro, where the other stores were asking between 6-10 Euros for similar bobbles.  We proudly wore our purchases for the rest of the day.

We showed up early so that we could check out the Rialto Mercato (Market) and have a coffee before the tour.  The market was a bit disappointing as not many stalls were open even though we arrived around 10am.  We did find some interesting items at the fruit and vegetable stands, including clusters of peperoncino (hot red chili peppers), pre-packaged tubes of pizza and pasta spices, and unusually shaped, oddly flattened peaches.  Rich bought some dried candied kiwi and pineapple slices to munch on while we looked for our coffee shop.

Rich had picked the Caffé del Doge for us to have breakfast, based on TripAdvisor recommendations for a reasonably priced coffee shop in the touristy Rialto area.  Luckily we had the data plan on our IPAD to help us find it, since it was tucked away down the end of a narrow side street off the main drag.  We were able to get a table outdoors and enjoyed our coffee and pastries.  Just as importantly, this gave us an opportunity to use the caffé toilets prior to our 3 hour tour. Later on, we spotted pre-packaged tins or bags of Caffé del Doge coffee in shops and supermarkets which you could buy and take home as a souvenir.

On our walking tour, we learned that the island of Venice was formed in 810AD when refugees from nearby Roman cities fled the mainland to escape German and Hun invasions.  Venice seems to be origin of many concepts that we take for granted today including the wine bar, prosecco and cicheti (tapas) in terms of dining, as well as banking concepts such as credits versus debits, cheques and insurance (against ships sinking while crossing the sea).  In the pretty Campo San Giacometto (St. James), we saw an old sign labelled "Bancogiro", referring to ancient moneylenders who would turn (giro) the page of their ledgers in order to mark down the loan details, as referenced by Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice".  Carved into a pole was the minimum length of a fish that could be caught during breeding season, in order to protect the young spawn.  Further down, a sign lists different types of fish and their required lengths.  We were warned (not for the first time on this trip!) that the fishermen do not work on Sundays, so never buy seafood from the markets or order it at restaurants on Monday since it will not fresh.

Streets were identified by the products that used to be unloaded from ships.  We could still see carvings of oranges, wine barrels and mulberry trees (used to make silk) embedded on walls and doors.   Other than the major streets that are along canals, for the most part, streets in Venice are not named.  Instead, an address is referred to by district and a number between 1-6000 (e.g. Cannaregio 1234).  Unfortunately, the numbering was assigned based on the chronological order of construction of buildings and therefore are not sequential.  We saw one building in San Polo numbered 1541 standing next to another numbered 1894.  This makes it very difficult to find a place by its address, and even locals give directions relative to known landmarks or establishments.  This system is problematic for Google Maps which we found out first hand when we initially researched the location of our home swap.  We were told that the home was by the Lagoon in Cannaregio, but when we typed in the "address" in Goggle Maps, it indicated a location much further inland.

As we weaved from street to street in the San Polo district, we were shown some interesting sights that gave further insight into Venice's past.  We saw a door that had been deliberately shaped to allow a wine barrow to roll through it, and the "most crooked door", which illustrated how the sandy foundations of the island have shifted over time.  We walked down the "narrowest street", where I could almost rub my elbows against both sides of the walls at the same time.  The guide pointed out a crumpled wall that still suffered from the result of World War I bombings and indicated that the adjacent terraces were used to shoot at enemy planes.  She took us to the area that was once the "Red Light District" where prostitutes lived and paid soldiers for protection.  The Rampane family rented housing to the prostitutes in their palazzo Ca'Rampane, and today, the streets around this area are named "Carampane".

The walking tour answered a question that had been bothering me since repeatedly spotting different spellings of words like cicheti vs cicchetti and café vs caffé.  We were told that the Italian language used double consonants while the Venetian dialect (used mostly amongst locals) used single consonants.  One of the most interesting parts of the walking tour was the discussion about the history of the Venetian Carnevale masks.  We were told of the Catholic tradition whereby putting on the masks between St. Stephen's Day (Dec.26) and Ash Wednesday (46 days before Easter) allowed the "devil in you to come out and be purified before Lent".  Originally everyone regardless of class used the same white mask that did not cover the lips so that one could eat and drink.  Masks with holes for the eyes but painted red lips for the mouth were used for flirting.  A character wearing a special white mask with a long hooked beak and a black hat and robe plays the part of the "Doctor of the Plague" or "Doctor of Death".  These days, as the masks become more of a tourist attraction, they have become more elaborate, colourful and fanciful including a series of animal masks.

At the end of our official Hidden Venice Walking Tour, we opted to join the optional tour of the beautiful Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Church.  It took almost 100 years (from 1250-1338) to complete this church that was built for Franciscan monks who vowed to live in poverty and therefore had problems raising the money for the construction.  While the exterior is relatively modest in appearance, there are some art masterpieces displayed within, including Titian's Assumption hanging in the main altar.  Originally the monks did not like Titian's painting because it depicted the Madonna primarily in earthly red as opposed to heavenly blue and with long hair (only worn by the young or by prostitutes in those days).  But since the Doge loved the painting, the Frari decided to keep it.  The beautiful Monk's Choir, consisting of 124 elaborately carved and painted wooden stalls, was added in the 15th Century.

 Impressive funerary monuments or tombs line both sides of the nave leading up to the main altar.  The tribute to Titian was not constructed until the mid 1800s, centuries after his death in 1576, since he died of the plague and was cremated in order to prevent the spread of the disease.  Sadly, Titian was refused burial in the church that he painted his masterpieces for.  A pyramid-shaped tomb is dedicated to Italian sculptor Canova, who was Napoleon's personal artist and was sent to Paris after Napoleon's death to ask for the return of stolen artworks to Venice.  The monument is a reward for his success in this endeavour.  Beside Canova's tomb is the monument to the Doge Giovanni Pesaro, elected Duke (mayor) of Venice and member of the wealthy Pesaro family who owned the palazzo Ca'Pesaro.  The unique features of this tomb are the sculptures of four exotic Moors who act as pillars holding up the rest of the monument.  Between each pair of Moors is a frieze of a bronze skeleton holding the Doge's epitaph.  The various monuments in this church are quite eclectic in design, representing changes in style over three centuries.

Tired, hungry, looking for nice outdoor place to sit down for lunch and not wanting to walk a long way to find it, it felt like an oasis when we looked across from the church and saw a restaurant with available outdoor tables shaded by red umbrellas.  We rushed over and plopped ourselves down without even checking out the menu or the prices and ordered our usual Aperol Spritz and beer.  We started getting worried when the only slightly chilled spritz came with no ice, olive or orange slice and did not taste like it was made with the same proportional mixture that we usually get.  Then when we checked the menu, it did not seem as authentically Italian as the other places that we have dined at so far.   Making the best of it, Rich and I ordered melon and prosciutto to start while Yim and Murray shared a lasagna (a non-regional fare not found on any other menu we've seen in Venice).  As our mains, each couple shared the same "kitchen-sink" pizza that had more toppings offered than usual including ham, mushroom, artichoke, salami, onions, tomato sauce and cheese.  It felt more like something we would get in North America, but we were committed at this point and at least we were sitting down in shade.

We did wonder further when we noticed a small section at the end of the menu that seemed to feature Asian fare including spring rolls.  And then the waiter spotted Yim and myself and tried to promote these Asian dishes, which led me to a speech about how we needed to eat Italian when in Italy.  It was not until later on in the meal that the penny dropped and we looked at the name (Ristorante La Perla D'Oriente) of the restaurant, only to realize that we had accidentally stumbled onto one of the few Chinese restaurants in Venice.  No wonder the waiter looked confused when I denounced the thought of eating Chinese food in Italy, thinking "then why are you eating here?".

Regardless, the meal and sit-down did its job of replenishing and refreshing us, since we still had a big day and another long tour  ahead of us.  We were going to see the Doge's Palace and San Marco Basilica next.