Fill Up My Senses

Travel goal for the day: make it to at least 1-2 of the islands surrounding Venezia.
I got a much later start than planned, but still had plenty of time to hit a couple islands. My first stop was to the post office to send out postcards as this was on the way to the box stop for the water bus. When I finally found the street it was on and walked in, I realized I didn't have addresses for two of the cards. Rather than wait in line I opted to head for the island of Murano and deal with the postcards later.

Murano is the famed island where Venetian glass has its roots. All over Venice you can find shops in abundance with glass trinkets in their windows. Anything from glass bow-tie candy to ash trays to necklaces to abstract shapes to dinnerware can be found for purchase. I hoped taking a trip to Murano first before purchasing anything would enlighten me about the specialties of the glass and ensure I got authentic pieces. I started at the Glass Museum which was a bit anticlimactic. I had hoped for a bit more of a history lesson, but was only given old glass to look at. Some were exquisite and fascinating to see that glass existed in such intricate and delicate shapes well back into the BC era. The oldest piece I can remember seeing was from 1 AD. From here I started wandering the shops to see if there was anything that fit my taste. I grabbed an eggplant and meat (could have been ham or turkey) panini for lunch part way through my browsing. Most of the pieces for sale are quite large--even for necklaces the average size of the main piece was about 2-3" wide and usually 4-6 pieces total per necklace. Many were quite gaudy too. Nothing I could imagine anyone wearing except in a tourist resort. For example the lady wearing her 3" tall glass butterfly necklace. After walking back and forth about 7 times through the main sales area I finally stopped in to a place with earrings that were appealing thinking I could remove the ear piece and string the glass on a necklace. Eventually the shopkeeper came over and asked if I wanted to try anything on. I explained my predicament and she suggested I browse the loose glass beads and she would then put pendants on them for a necklace. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that before?? I was able to find 4 artsy pieces that were simple and tasteful for E17. Most of the ugly necklaces I saw were around E20-25 and not even close to what I was looking for.

I only had time to visit one more island before needing to be back for Maundy Thursday mass. I decided to buzz over to Burano (a good 25 minute boat ride away) where venetian Lace has its roots. My interest in lace is nill, but the chance to see another interesting island sounded nice. Unfortunately it started to rain and became quite windy when I arrived. I managed to walk through town, locate the bathroom and discovered the lace museum was closed. Being so cold and icky I stopped in a cafe for a hot chocolate which is literally like drinking liquified chocolate. The frothy, thick, tasty chocolate is like no other I have tried. After I warmed up a bit I went directly back to the water bus stop and headed back to Venezia mainland.
[Old building in the middle of the water on the way back in the rain]
I had about an hour to rest and head over to the church. After a quasi nap I booked a room for my one night stay in Genova before heading to Cinque Terre. I'm glad I got this taken care of, but it also put me behind for walking time to the service. I turned what I thought would be a 20 minute walk into a 10 minute one out of necessity. I arrived just before 7pm. What a neat service. This must have been a bit more traditional parish. They processed in the cross and bible, rang bells at certain times in the service and had a choir of men sing parts of the liturgy in Latin. It's surprising how beautiful sung Latin is when done in a stone/marble building. I also better understand the purpose of vestments--heat. These churches are flippin cold even in moderately temperate weather. It was probably in the high 40s outside and I could see my breath during the service. Bbbrrrr!!! We used a book with the liturgy in it, so I could follow along and participate in Italian. The one downside was that there was actually a sermon and it was all in Italian. I caught a few words, but not enough to understand the main theme.

Quite hungry by now I headed to a new restaurant. I arrived where my guide book said the place should be, but a differently named place was there and it was a bit too pricey for me to want to try. Since my meal my first night in Venezia was so good, I went back. The lady asked if I had a reservation to which I said no (who makes reservations anymore??--not in the US). With an exasperated sigh, she finished serving up a few drinks at the bar and then decided she could find a place for me to eat. It was so worth it! I sampled the grain sausage in balsamic vinegar which apparently comes with a large side of polenta. Had I known this ahead of time I probably wouldn't have ordered the tagliatelli with amaretti biscuits and smoked mozzarella. I'm glad I did though. I was stuffed to the max, but every bite was amazing! That has to be one of the best restaurants ever. There's nothing you can do after a meal like that except plop and sleep.

Not Quite Gilligan's Island

Far from sunny but not quite rotten, it rained all day which only compounded the travel issues of the day. I knew ahead of time there would be construction on the metro a few stops from Piraeus (the port city W of Athens where most ferries, boats and trains depart) and that I would need to take a bus to a spot further down the metro line. Frances, who I met at the hostel a few days earlier, had informed me of all this when she made the trip to Hydra with her Dad. The only thing I didn't know was that the X13 bus that kept circling past the spot where I was waiting for the bus went to where I needed to go. I ended up waiting a good 20 minutes for a bus I knew was headed in the right direction. Unfortunately I got off at the next metro stop only to find that there was still construction going on. Assuming I'd need to wait another 20 minutes for a bus, I learned from the next X13 bus driver that he was heading to Piraeus.

I finally made it to the metro stop where I was supposed to be to go one more stop into the town. Once in Piraeus I had to ask around for where the Hellenic Seaways Co. was so I could pick up my tickets. A guy directed me to a large building at Gate 7 with their name on it, but it was closed--being Sunday and all. I asked at a nearby ferry company where I should go and they said there would be a kiosk at Gate 8 on the docks. With tickets procured and a good 45 minutes before the boat left, I walked across the street for a cappuccino.
The ferry ride to Aegina Island was nice and smooth. When I got off the rain was just barely falling, but warranted an umbrella. I walked down to the nearby sight of a temple to Apollo and a very old city which had been built over multiple times throughout history. I was debating whether or not to take the bus across the island to see the Temple of Aphaia or to just wander around town for the next 3 hours in the drizzle and cold. I grabbed some lunch from a cafe which was delightfully warm and tasty. It was a pastry dough shell with ham, cheese and a thin spread of spaghetti sauce inside. When I returned to the bus kiosk, no one was there. I opted to just wander town and see some of the streets and shops. Most things were closed, but the architecture was nice. I'm sure in summer this is a sunny, bustling island. I dropped into a church and enjoyed the fresco icons painted all over the walls and ceilings. It was warm, smoke free and quiet inside.

Along the waterfront are numerous stands with pistachios for sale. Aegina Island is considered to have the best pistachios in Greece. Having had enough of the rain, I boarded my ferry back to Piraeus at 5:30pm. It was on this return trip that I discovered I had been using the men's bathroom both times on the boat. The pictures are so small and very hard to see on a moving boat. At least now I know why the guy was staring at me when I walked in on the boat ride over.

I meandered back to the metro, got my ticket and headed toward the metro car. People were making quite a commotion in Greek and it seemed like there wasn't going to be any metro from this station. Rather disappointed I inquired at the ticket booth how else I could get back to Athens. A bus runs from Piraeus to Syntagma Square in Athens, but the stop was about 10 minutes from the docks. The lady informed me which bus to take to get to the right stop to transfer back to Athens.

I missed the bus just as I was about to cross the street. After about 20 minutes another one failed to show up. I started walking and passed two of the three stops to the transfer point. Somehow after this I got horribly lost. None of the street names matched anything in my book (which I thankfully remembered to take!) but I did recognize that I was by the small marina. I happened across a street listed in my book and discovered I was a good 10-15 blocks from where I needed to be. Fortunately I found the bus stop I needed and in another half hour I was back in Athens only a short walk from the hostel.

What a long day! I still had to do laundry, pack up and figure out how to get to Korinthos the next day after checking out. Laundry went fairly smooth and I was able to wash just about everything with me for a pricey E5. I opted to skip the E2 dryer and hang things up in my room. Hopefully tomorrow's travels will be smoother.