After leaving Durres in Albania we were heading to Dubrovnik which was a 100nm so another overnight sail, my favourite, NOT! So after 24 hours we arrived and checked into Europe which started our Schengen clock. We can only stay in Europe for 90 days in any 180 day period. It makes the Med more limited because the Schengen area is so big but the countries outside Schengen benefit as they are getting more traffic.
We weren’t stopping much on the way up to Venice as we had to get a move so we hopped along the coast each day. We stopped in a lovely bay at Medulin, not far from Pula, where there was a Lidl. Now, you may wonder what we were getting all excited about, other fellow yachties will know exactly why, but Lidl offers a good selection of stuff which you don’t always get at the local supermarkets and Prosecco is a bargain!
One more stop and we headed over to the Italian coast and entered the Venice Lagoon. I hadn’t appreciated that there was a lot more to the Lagoon than just the Island of Venice. We had a couple of days before Gary and Shelley would be arriving. We entered via the Alberino entrance and headed to our anchorage for the night. The channels are marked with wooden posts. There are boats coming at you from all directions. Not many sailing boats visit the lagoon as it is shallow in places.
Our anchorage was at Poveglia Island . In 1776 it became a check point for all goods and people coming and going to Venice by sea. In 1793 a number of cases of the plague were found on two ships and so it became a temporary quarantine station and a permanent one in 1805, under the rule of Napoleon Boneparte until 1814. In 1922 the buildings were converted into an asylum for the mentally ill and then later used as a nursing home/long-term care facility, until its closure in 1968. Over a 100,000 people died on the island and it reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the world. It is prohibited to land on the island but those seeking out ghosts and such like to sneak on the island in darkness.
We had managed to find a place to leave the boat on Venice itself, without needing a mortgage. It was a local sailing club which was about a 35 minute walk to St Mark’s Square.
Venice is busy and we thought we’d have a long queue to get into some of the tourist sites but we were fortunate and only waited 15 minutes to get into the Doge Palace. The Palace was built in 1340 and was the main residence of the Doge of Venice. The Government Chambers were very ornate and housed the Great Council, the Senate and the Collegio
The Doge Palace has a corridor which is from the Magistrates Chamber across the Bridge of Sighs and into the Prison. The Bridge was built in 1614 and is enclosed and covered on all sides. The bridge got its name, as the story goes, from the sigh of prisoners going to their cell, taking a last look at freedom seeing the lagoon through the small windows. And yes, of course, we all gave a big sigh as we walked across.
We were quite a walk from the Rialto Bridge, so we decided to take the water taxi there and walk back. The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four bridges that cross the Venice Grand Canal. It was built in stone between 1588 and 1591 to replace the wooden bridge that had collapsed twice and partially burnt down in 1310. We thought we’d also visit the Rialto Market, another occasion we’d gone on the wrong day as it was closed! We’ve had a few of these on our travels.
One of the other big landmarks in Venice is St Mark’s Basilica which we are told is a must to see. Dare I say Ian and I were a little disappointed. I think because we’ve been to quite a few religious buildings now on our travels it wasn’t quite what we expected. It’s not as big as you think and dark. Although you don’t realise until you get closer, or at least the ones you can get close to, that the pictures around the Basilica are in fact mosaics which are pretty stunning. There are more than 8000 sq of mosaics covering the walls, vaults and domes of the Basilica.
After a few days in Venice we decided to take Cuffysark round to Burano and anchor outside the island. Burano is famous for its coloured houses and lace making. The area around made us feel quite at home as it looked very much like Walton Back Waters.
We also visited the Island of Murano, which is famous for its glass. We found an anchorage and took the dinghy in along the small canal. We visited a glass blowing factory as you would. It is an art that takes years, up to 20 years, of training. We were looking around a showroom and there was an area roped off. We must have looked affluent, don’t know how, but someone came and let us go upstairs and have a look around. The pieces there were amazing.
Venice and the islands in the Lagoon will definitely be a place to remember. It was a fabulous experience shared with good friends Gary and Shelley.
June 2023